Engine juddering

[xsaravtr]

Got a 1.3 87 Maestro and sometimes when I accelerate or climb a hill it seems to judder, almost like a misfire. I've checked the plugs and given the dizzy cap a clean but it still does it, getting dangerous now with it happening as missus pulled onto island.

Can anyone help please?

[D87 SMW]

For some strange reason, both the Rover 45 and Rover 75 which my dad drove today had similar problems. (51 plate and X plate respectively)
Then again, so does my 1998 R reg Maestro. :banghead: I would have thought it to be the plugs, or distributor, but could it not be duff fuel, or the wrong adjustments of the carburettor...?
In fact, F705 SRY acted like this once, it was fine after revving the :censored:'s off it. Load of brown lumpy fluid shot out the exhaust. :banghead:
BTW, what is the mileage on it?

[xsaravtr]

30,500 I've tried reving it and putting redex in carb a nd plug holes and it seems to make no difference, it was fine until about a week ago. the Carb was tuned and cleaned just before christmas so should still be fine, its had texaco and sda fuel in it this week and niether makes any diffirence also use valvemaster every so often.

Would too mch oil cause something like this as missus topped it up a bit high other day?

[D87 SMW]

Originally posted by xsaravtr
Would too mch oil cause something like this as missus topped it up a bit high other day?

Possibly. I put a little too much into R514 RVJ, and it was very uneven. This could be your problem.

[Austin-Rover]

When was the last time you took it for a good thrashing? A good run on the motorway may do it some good if its been doing some short runs for the past few months and hasnt been warming up.

You say it happens when your accelerating, have you got the choke pulled out suffieciently, i know this happens to me if i need to make a quick getaway from a junction and i dont have it pulled out far enough.

[xsaravtr]

Missus drives it so it hardly ever gets thrashed or taken on Motorway, it happens when engine is warm and cold

[H48HPE]

is the carb topped up with oil? are all the vacuum pipes connected and none have holes in them?

it sounds to me like its not getting enough fuel coming through when you put your foot down which makes me think the carb oil isnt topped up.

i do get that problem with my car, but only when its not fully warmed up, the engines runs nicly then you put your foot down and it coughs and jumps out into wherever your going. I tend to pull the choke out just before I go to make sure the fuels going to be there. then switch it off once going.

My car got overfilled with oil by about half an inch once and it was ok. couldnt comment on a serious over fill though.

Andy

[xsaravtr]

there is a biggish metal pipe which goes to the bottom of the engine which is loose. think it comes from below the air flow meter

[G51 NAV]

Originally posted by H48HPE
is the carb topped up with oil? are all the vacuum pipes connected and none have holes in them?

it sounds to me like its not getting enough fuel coming through when you put your foot down which makes me think the carb oil isnt topped up.
Either that or new dizzy-cap & leads

[E_T_V]

Check all the vacuum hoses and top up the oil in the carb damper. Then treat it to a new set of plugs, HT leads, distributer can and possibly rotor arm.

That will most likely cure the problem.

If not come back and we'll see what else we can suggest.

That metal pipe won't be the problem, they always come loose rust and fall off, it doesn't effect things much, and not at all when warm (the pipe just takes warmer air from around the exhaust to help it run smoother when cold. When warm no air is taken from there).

[xsaravtr]

Just took it on a good drive to Kingsheath and back and when it was warm it didn't seem to do it. So could it be that pipe?

[H48HPE]

it could well be that pipe thats contributing to it.

it sounds like a problem that exists with mine as Ive said above, the engine runs fine without choke but if you try a fast start from standstill it doesnt get enough fuel. easy answer is to pull choke out two notches just before you go then return it once its in second gear. an easy habit to get into. I find once the temp gauge is well on its way to the first quarter marker theres no need to do it anymore

Andy

[E_T_V]

That warm air intake won't help matters, but it isn't a major problem if it isn't there, mine ran happily for a year with it missing entirely! :)

Have you identified anything that makes the problem worse?
i.e. Wet weather, Cold weather, full throttle part throttle, choke in or out? Because that will help give us an idea of what it could be. If the engine misses when cold and wet first thing in the morning but then is fine all day long it could well be HT leads, distributer, etc.

Until my car temperature gauge is up to 2 bars above cold it still needs the choke to pull off and go up hills or it coughs and splutters.

Next time it does it try and pull out the choke and see if that helps it could be that you are turning it off to early or reducing it too much too soon.

Has this problem just happened over night so to speak or has it been gradually getting worse?

My guess still would be HT leads plugs etc, as that was the cause of my similar problems, combined with the fact that my distributer cap was loose :banghead: Or the vacuum system which is the cause of many a poor running 1.3.

[H48HPE]

for what its worth, i would replace that pipe, its cheap enough from rover and i think it helps with running issues a bit. If you give the car a full service with quality (my choice is unipart) parts then I think a noticable difference will be seen. whilst on the subject of servicing what oil do you use? My car gets Duckhams semisynthetic, which is good stuff. I tried castrol GTX but that didnt like the A series engine and emulsified in my breathers, might be worth checking yours to see if its a similar story, in mine there was emulsified oil right into the carb. that cant have been helping matters although at the time I had other running problems so couldnt tell is the emulsified oil was effecting running.

[MaestroMatt]

Unipart Silver is my oil of choice and is often reduced from >£20 to £8 for 5l at Rover. Not sure if it is at the moment though.

[Beaker]

Originally posted by H48HPE
for what its worth, i would replace that pipe, its cheap enough from rover and i think it helps with running issues a bit.

Probably even cheaper from the MotorFactors, nothing special about it, its only a pipe.

As you say if the car has the problem when it is warm, it is unlikely to be that pipe.

If it does it when warm or cold it could be the dizzy cap. I remember mine used to judder lots when warm and lose power, pressed my foot down on the accelerator it would clear and race off up the road (obviously not too good when there was snow/ice on the road). A new dizzy cap cleared that problem.

[Beaker]

Originally posted by MaestroMatt
Unipart Silver is my oil of choice and is often reduced from >£20 to £8 for 5l at Rover. Not sure if it is at the moment though.

What is Unipart Silver, is it semi-synthetic? Do they do Unipart Bronze and Gold as well ;). Sorry for question's just not heard of it before. It does sound good for £8 though, seeing as that is about what semi-synthetic would cost you from the motorfactors.

[MaestroMatt]

It is semi-synthetic 10w 40 and it extremely high-quality (hence it usually being over £20). There is an audible difference to the running of the car between that and other oils.

[xsaravtr]

Ok I'll try dizzy cap and leads. What can I expect to pay for them? and is there a Maestro specialist in Birmingham?

[H48HPE]

Skatiechik:
As you say if the car has the problem when it is warm, it is unlikely to be that pipe



xsaravtr:
Just took it on a good drive to Kingsheath and back and when it was warm it didn't seem to do it. So could it be that pipe?

H48HPE:
for what its worth, i would replace that pipe, its cheap enough from rover and i think it helps with running issues a bit.

H48HPE:

'nuf said.;)

Andy

[Beaker]

No need to be picky, I was actually reading from a post further up the topic which said the car did it when it was warm.

Originally posted by xsaravtr
Missus drives it so it hardly ever gets thrashed or taken on Motorway, it happens when engine is warm and cold

I was also only pointing out that you can buy the warm air intake pipe from any motorfactors probably cheaper than Rover. Its only a pipe nothing particularly special or complicated about it.

[E_T_V]

A set of plugs will be under a tenner, 6 or 7 quid when I got some last weekend.
HT leads something similar, maybe upto 10-15 quid.

Find your local cheap motorfactor shop, I'd avoid halfrauds or anywhere like that or you'll get fleeced for probably double that.

I don't know of a maestro specialist in birminham, but the parts are so common any motorfactors will have them, most will have them in stock too. Have a look in the yellow pages for adverts with a few shops in your area. give them a ring and see if they have the bits in stock and how much they'll cost. It'll take you about half an hour to fit it all. While you are under the bonnet double check all of the vacuum connections are good and not cracked or leaking and top up the carburettor piston damper with engine oil.

[E_T_V]

As I said the warm air intake pipe only really is of use on REALLY cold mornings to make it run a little smoother. None of our maestros have ever had a good one until recently and they ran fine for 250,000 miles.

Does the temperature gauge behave itself? I.e. take a little while to get up to around halfway then sit around that level no matter what the car is doing (e.g., stuck in traffic or blasting down a motorway)?

[H48HPE]

my temp gauge goes up to the first quarter and then sits there (after about 8 to 10 mins driving), if I sit in trafic it goes up to the half way marker. If yours does similar theres nothing wrong with it.

[E_T_V]

The reason I was asking is that if the temperature doesn't go up to a normal level (i.e. half way up - unless it is a diesel!) then the engine is running colder than it should be (perhaps from a sticking thermostat) which means that when the mixture is set up at normal temperature (halfway up the gauge) will be too lean at these engine temperatures giving rise to poor running which means that you have to use the choke to compensate. Mine sits between 2 bars below middle to 2 bars above it after the car has warmed up.

In a more conscise way if the normal temperature reading has dropped since you had the carburettor tuned (probably caused by a sticking thermostat), then the mixture will be too lean giving poor performance.

If your normal temperature is around 1/4 the way up and only gets hotter than this in standing traffic I'd certainly think about checking the thermostat or the temperature sender. (unless it is a diesel which always seem to run cold)