Weird problem...loss of power

deez · Postby **deez** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 6:32 pm

Hi guys,

Today when I was driving home from work I was doing about 60-70km/h on a slightly hilly road. I was going uphill in 5th when suddenly the car seemed to be having a seizure. There was no response from the throttle and the revs dropped. I changed down a gear, stepped on the gas again, it reacted sporadically and then refused to react to throttle again. So I changed down to 3rd and kept trying, and after about 20 seconds everything came back to normal.

Has anyone had similar problems before? What could be the cause of this weird problem? I wasn't running on an empty tank so don't think that is the issue.

AJ · Postby AJ » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:08 pm

could be crap in the fuel filter

fish · Postby **fish** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:33 pm

dodgy alternator / flat battery

SPy vs. SPy · Postby **SPy vs. SPy** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:54 pm

Boagsey Boy had the same problem a few weeks back.

My Brother had it last week in his company ute

DEAD/Dying Battery.

should read 12~13.5 Volts when not motor not running

motor off, turn on headlights, should drop no lower than 11.5

whilst motor is running (over 2500rpm) should read no higher than 14.5 and preferably not much lower either.

Gel Cells, if indeed that is what is in the car AND should be are pernickety about Float Voltage.

Also there should be a production date on the battery.
1-3 yrs should be fine
3-5 should be OK
5+ doing well if it's still going
7+ pretty much unbelievable these days

Boags · Postby **Boags** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:09 pm

My problem was different - it felt like the handbrake was on the whole time I was driving

the car was just dragging its a$$ around.

New battery has fixed 99% of the problems, although I think the other 1% is just me thinking to myself; \"It really isn't powerful enough, is it? NEEDS TURBO!\" :roll:

Boags

deez · Postby **deez** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:28 pm

SPy vs. SPy wrote:Boagsey Boy had the same problem a few weeks back.

My Brother had it last week in his company ute

DEAD/Dying Battery.

should read 12~13.5 Volts when not motor not running

motor off, turn on headlights, should drop no lower than 11.5

whilst motor is running (over 2500rpm) should read no higher than 14.5 and preferably not much lower either.

Gel Cells, if indeed that is what is in the car AND should be are pernickety about Float Voltage.

Also there should be a production date on the battery.
1-3 yrs should be fine
3-5 should be OK
5+ doing well if it's still going
7+ pretty much unbelievable these days

Thanks heaps for that Spy! I went downstairs and measured it with a voltmeter...ran though all those tests and the voltage is pretty consistent with what you got there...so that doesn't seem to be the problem either unfortunately....the battery had a October 03 date on it, but not sure if it is a good brand as it seemed to be a Jap one from when it was still in Japan.

I may run it for a few days and see if it comes up again. Thanks again for all your help guys

SPy vs. SPy · Postby **SPy vs. SPy** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:29 pm

Boags'MX5 wrote:My problem was different - it felt like the handbrake was on the whole time I was driving the car was just dragging its a$$ around.

New battery has fixed 99% of the problems, although I think the other 1% is just me thinking to myself; "It really isn't powerful enough, is it? NEEDS TURBO!"

Boags

Yeh! but you get too much wood from an SE, you can't handle the truth.......

Boags · Postby **Boags** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:19 pm

Deez... Check your harmonic balancer isn't going apesh!t while the car is running. Red5 had a similar occurrance a few months back and, well, we replaced her stuffed short nose crank at the last dodgy day. How many ks on the car, and when was the timing belt replaced? :frown:

SPy - Shuddup! My actual comment to PT was that it \"felt more like a 2 litre than a turbo 1.8, because I couldn't feel any of the kick in the back you get in the SP.\" The SE is nice (and nicer than stock NB8B) for many reasons, and none of those reasons are that it is powerful, it just isn't. My wood is for something else big boy... :shock:

deez · Postby **deez** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:32 pm

Boags'MX5 wrote:Deez... Check your harmonic balancer isn't going apesh!t while the car is running. Red5 had a similar occurrance a few months back and, well, we replaced her stuffed short nose crank at the last dodgy day. How many ks on the car, and when was the timing belt replaced?

Er...I dont even know what a harmonic balancer is...lol...I'll look that up somewhere, thanks

What should I be checking for though?

The car had the timing belt replaced at about 95 thousand k, and right now its done about 114 thousand k...

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:12 am

the harmonic ballancer is the pulley which attaches to the end of the crank.
It also runs all the accecories belts.
its the one just above the sump. Lowest position.

if it wabbles.......thats where the issue is. go & check it. if it does wabble......cross that hurdle if you get there.

This is what it looks like

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:17 am

If it does wabble.......good chance that you can call you mechanic incompetent.

rvlovell · Postby **rvlovell** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 7:47 pm

Could be plug leads. Very similar symptoms to my NA when one of the leads failed. But really it could be anything.

deez · Postby **deez** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:08 pm

Thanks for all your suggestions guys

The harmonic balancer appeared fine when I had the car on idle. It spinned smoothly and didn't make any weird scary noises...

Hmm....

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:20 pm

well.....start with the cheap options like the leads.

but also check to see if you can feel movement in the pulley

tk421 · Postby **tk421** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:27 pm

I had exactly the same thing happen to me once, worse still it was on a club run. Yah know what it was? (I'm almost embarrassed to say :oops:

) the battery - a panasonic had lossened itself to the point where it slid forward and one of the terminals touched side of the bracket holding the battery in ,effectively earthing / shorting itself against the chassis. Power dissapeared as you describe (not surprisingly)The battery still lasted a while (like 6mths) after that but eventually shat itself. Did you noticed any electrical smell at the time?

Steve