Idleing problems...help!

[B685 OLP]

Hi everyone.

Experiencing some problems with the Efi. Seems ok when driving (although a little lumpy) when i come up to traffic lights for example and press down the clutch the revs die and it stalls. It starts first time again and continues on its way until the next time i have to stop. Does it merely require a tune up or could it be something more sinister (for sinister read money!).

All help is appreciated cause we have just moved into a new place and she is now needed more than ever!

Many thanks

Frase

[C191JOE]

I'm not sure about this but there is a recent thread about slow running problems and it turned out to be a fuel filter which needed replacement.
But that was I think a maestro and it might be to do with a need to check timing as well.

[B18 GPC]

Just a small tune up .. twist one of the carb screws up a touch ;)

KKW had a running fault until last time i stuck a jerry can of optimax in , but its been good since then

[e692wtt]

I'd suggest cleaning out the throttle bypass - the aperture controlled by the stepper motor on top of the throttle body - for a start (disconnect the wireing and it just unscrews, but leave the ignition turned off). Carburettor cleaner will do the trick, maybe with cotton wool buds too. This cured my (now long gone) Montego VDP 2.0i Auto's stalling and poor running problems (especially as the engine warmed up)

A clogged fuel filter (as in last but one post above) could be a factor, if memory serves they are meant to be changed every 40,000 miles and do tend to get forgotten.

It's possible it could even be a 'dodgy' batch of fuel from the last fill up, as Graham says above. This isn't unknown.


But much more likely is the throttle bypass needs cleaning (as above), or maybe a leak into the air inlet manifold or hose on the engine side of the air mass meter, weakening the mixture off. Try spraying WD40 onto possible leakage points in the system with the engine idling, and if the revs change then you've found the air leak.

It's probably something dead simple - it's just finding what... but they're not complicated setups.

[B685 OLP]

Thanks all for your help. Strangely, after this problem occured early last week, i have not encountered it since. I took it on a bit of run and it seems to be running ok again although fuel consumption is still quite high. Could it be down to a bad tank of petrol after all?

Cheers

[e692wtt]

Run it and refill it when this tank of fuel is low, using something like shell optimax I would say. That will tell you if a bad batch of fuel has been imported. As I say, it's not unknown nowadays.

One thing - while you have been moving house, have you been doing lots of short journeys that you usually wouldn't do? That can cause an engine to run less well and more roughly, especially if it never warms up properly on the short runs... it might be worth taking the car for a good run, get it warmed up over say 40 motorway miles and see how it runs then.

[B18 GPC]

i could have said ..

make sure your air pipes are all there.. After some one took my induction filter from under my bonnet... leaving alot of un-nessary air intake being done , flooding the engine with air , not fuel anymore..

theifing :fim:

[E_T_V]

i could have said ..

make sure your air pipes are all there.. After some one took my induction filter from under my bonnet... leaving alot of un-nessary air intake being done , flooding the engine with air , not fuel anymore..

theifing :fim:

And in english for us all please?

[e692wtt]

i could have said ..

make sure your air pipes are all there.. After some one took my induction filter from under my bonnet... leaving alot of un-nessary air intake being done , flooding the engine with air , not fuel anymore..

theifing :fim:

That won't work on an EFi (this is the engine we are discussing), if the pipe between the air mass meter and the throttle body goes walkies then the engine won't start as no fuel will be supplied (no air detected as being taken into the engine, because the pipe's not there to pass the air from the air mass meter to the throttle body and inlet manifold). The engine just wouldn't start.A split in this air pipe, or any air leak(s) on the engine side of the air mass meter may well cause problems though. It could even be an air leak on the vacuum hose between the inlet manifold and the ECU.

However...

A missing air pipe (or pipes) could cause major problems on a carburettor-equipped engine though :thumbup: .

[B18 GPC]

A missing air pipe (or pipes) could cause major problems on a carburettor-equipped engine though :thumbup: .

Well its a gap in the piping now , where the K & N Airfilter Was...