Car not performing need your assistance

[sharkie]

Hi to all of you ,got myself a 97 black estate VR4 ,have had 8 galants and a GTO but always wanted one .
It,s in nice order throughout and when I have put my footdown there are only distant objects .
When I got the car the owner was sincere and said that sometimes in low revs it will judder a bit and it happens but is quite random and a bit annoying but now if I slam my footdown it will take of like lightning then stop ,judder, if I press further it does nothing so i have to back off then rev up again but too much and it stops ,starts so evenyually I have to slow right down , i can also hear the turbos hissing ,the car wants to blast into outer space but can,t!
I think it must be the fuel supply ,must admit have bought 95 ron from tescos but last owner said he did that and ocassionaly put in super unleaded , so maybe the cause is clogged up fuel injectors. If that is the case which is the best treatment to clean them or maybe this is not the problem . I hope some of you experieced guys can help me out ,I need to get this beast performing again!
Thanks ,
Sharkie.

[AlanDITD]

Is it an auto or a manual? Any modifications to the car.

So sometimes the power is there and other times it isnt?

[sharkie]

Thanks for your reply ,the car is an auto ,only mod is a K&N style filter ,forgot to mention the engine bay was very hot as well during and after driving ,could feel the heat throgh the open window though the temp gauge was fine

[Gowf]

There is a whole world of things that it could be. Like you said fuel delivery could be an issue, it could be that the relay is playing up and the pump isnt getting the 14v..... It could be spark blow out, but from what you said it would be a fairly extreme case of it.

But as alan said, a bit more of a description of the car would be of some help.

cheers

gareth

[Gowf]

Beat me to it......

They do run really hot, so dont worry to much about that. It would be good if you could get some form of data from the car. Taking it to a R/R for a power run would allow you to get that, and make a diagnosis from the data gathered there.

[sharkie]

Sorry should have added that the power is always there just when it comes to footdown it goes up to 3rd then just seems to cut out if I force it it screams like crazy and the turbo hiss is loud so eventully have to back off

[AlanDITD]

Thanks for your reply ,the car is an auto ,only mod is a K&N style filter ,forgot to mention the engine bay was very hot as well during and after driving ,could feel the heat throgh the open window though the temp gauge was fine

They do get very very hot, Hearing your turbos hiss is a bit odd, i can here them spool but hissing is a very differnt sound from spooling.

Anything else you can tell us?

[Gowf]

Ah ok....... do the revs remain stationary, or do they rise even though you appear to have hit a wall?

[sharkie]

Hi well cannot remember looking at the revs but I know they were high and then I hit a wall , prior to this had been in a lot of stationary and slow moving traffic ,happened once before but before that it was fine ,from previous experience has usually been clogged injectors or faulty plugs in other cars but this is not any old car!

[AlanDITD]

Hmm could you show us a picture of the K+N filter please? You sure this isnt fuel cut an after market filter can induce this earlier than it should depending on how its installed

[sharkie]

Hi sorry cannot send you a picture yet but will do as soon as possible ,trouble is I have got 10 days of work ahead of me non stop so I will drive my galant most of it but I will also drive the VR4 to get rid of the existing petrol which I will treat then replace it with optimax and if it still happens will check the sparks and at least i can eliminateproblems one by one , who knows Tescos might be selling crap fuel again !

[Turbo_Steve]

Sounds like fuel cut. Reckon you've got a vac pipe off.

[Atik]

Where about are you based? Maybe a local club member can have a quick looksee?

Does 'sound' like a vacuum pipe. My car recently split a vacuum pipe which was hissing really loud and idle was very lumpy causing crap acceleration low down in the revs. IT was a simple fix to chop the split bit off though. Check all the pipes are in where they need to be and run your fingers along the pipes to see if there are any splits or cracks.

[sharkie]

Shall inspect all pipes ,thanks mate !

[sharkie]

Hi I live near Lymington in Hampshire and always in the Bournemouth area and have seen a few VR4,s so if anyone is about let me know ,also you guys should have a meet down here sometime as this place amazing ,hey I live on a holiday park so if any of you are around let me know !

[Mark 4]

Lymington is very nice indeed. Wife and I always visit there when we have a weekend in the New Forest.

I'm near Brighton, not anywhere near an expert on the car yet but I do know about pipe routing and boost leaks. If you come this way at all I'd be happy to take a look.

[sharkie]

Cheers Mark very kind of you , if I go to Brighton will contact you or if you come this way let me know ,is it possible to post directly to a member ,sorry but toatally new at this !

[White Lightning]

It does sound like fuel cut ... but regardless you should stick to using Super Unleaded at least these don't really like normal unleaded. I always put V-Power in mine.

[Spirit]

Yep, you can click on their username and either "page" them or "private message" them

[apeman69]

the owner was sincere and said that sometimes in low revs it will judder a bit and it happens but is quite random and a bit annoying

If it was in a high gear and low revs: sounds like FUEL CUT

but now if I slam my footdown it will take of like lightning then stop ,judder

Sounds like FUEL CUT

if I press further it does nothing so i have to back off then rev up again but too much and it stops ,starts

Repeatedly attempting to gun it during what sounds like FUEL CUT will more than likely result in FUEL CUT.

so evenyually I have to slow right down , i can also hear the turbos hissing

During FUEL CUT I have heard repeated short blasts of 'hissing'. It isn't constant but seems to continue until I stop abusing the accelerator and i don't think it was coming from the turbos. Sounds like somebody pressing the trigger of a pressurised airgun quickly on and off. Once I've hit fuel cut I've never continued to gun it and the noise ceased as soon as I lifted off a little. Also felt as though the seatbelt had been forced into my chest.

,the car wants to blast into outer space but can,t!

For that you need one with a moonroof.

I think it must be the fuel supply ,must admit have bought 95 ron from tescos

Forget that 95 sh!t immediately!

If you've got one of those cone type air filters (with the factory airbox removed) then this will probably make the situation worse. I only experienced fuel cut with the factory airbox setup when I increased the boost on my auto Legnum to 0.9 bar with a manual boost controller. If you're running standard boost and a cone filter (and assuming you are hitting fuel cut) then changing back to the factory airbox setup could improve the situation. If you have some form of boost control then try reducing it a bit (when you've got a quality fuel in the tank).
If you're unsure of what fuel cut is then 'search is your friend'..... Aaaaarrrrggghh!!!

Seriously, best of luck with this.