Hello chaps,
I come to you cap-in-hand in desperate need of some advice. My car is a 1999 Punto 60SX.
About 6 months ago it developed this weird stuttering/hesitation problem. Mainly when cold and when accelerating from a low speed.
Tried a few things but no dice, it was annoying but the car was drivable. Since then the fuel economy has been getting worse (from around 43/44 MPG to 38/39). Could be due to winter, but I started noticing it in August.
So last weekend it started doing the 'thing' more frequently. Like every time I accelerated from a stop. Basically it was kangaroo-ing for a few seconds after take off, no matter how much gas I used.
I thought it was time to take a good look. I took off the HT leads and a couple of them were a bit corroded, so I put it down to that and drove to Halfords. On the way it was EVEN WORSE, like it was firing on 3 cylinders? I changed the leads outside the store, but it was exactly the same.
It is now undrivable. There is no power, major stuttering and it sounds like "bom-bom-bom-bom", not the nice purr I'm used to.
Ok, here's what I've tried.
Checked oil and water - all good.
Compression test - all good.
HT leads - new
Spark plugs - 10k miles on them (Bosch Super 4s) but in good condition. No real clues on the plugs. A bit sooty maybe?
Coils - new around 2k miles ago (one of the things I tried recently).
Injector - Tried another one (that was previously OK). Car was exactly the same.
Valve Timing - Spot on.
I should add that it got progressively worse over the weekend; first it was just hesitation (but otherwise OK), then it got really bad (idle still fine, but borderline stalling when applying power to the wheels), then it was bad all the time, even at idle - when cold, hot, whenever.
So. Any ideas? Fuel pump? Bad spark (ECU?)? I'll do any test you recommend and report back. I'd really appreciate your help.
Regards,
ST
I come to you cap-in-hand in desperate need of some advice. My car is a 1999 Punto 60SX.
About 6 months ago it developed this weird stuttering/hesitation problem. Mainly when cold and when accelerating from a low speed.
Tried a few things but no dice, it was annoying but the car was drivable. Since then the fuel economy has been getting worse (from around 43/44 MPG to 38/39). Could be due to winter, but I started noticing it in August.
So last weekend it started doing the 'thing' more frequently. Like every time I accelerated from a stop. Basically it was kangaroo-ing for a few seconds after take off, no matter how much gas I used.
I thought it was time to take a good look. I took off the HT leads and a couple of them were a bit corroded, so I put it down to that and drove to Halfords. On the way it was EVEN WORSE, like it was firing on 3 cylinders? I changed the leads outside the store, but it was exactly the same.
It is now undrivable. There is no power, major stuttering and it sounds like "bom-bom-bom-bom", not the nice purr I'm used to.
Ok, here's what I've tried.
Checked oil and water - all good.
Compression test - all good.
HT leads - new
Spark plugs - 10k miles on them (Bosch Super 4s) but in good condition. No real clues on the plugs. A bit sooty maybe?
Coils - new around 2k miles ago (one of the things I tried recently).
Injector - Tried another one (that was previously OK). Car was exactly the same.
Valve Timing - Spot on.
I should add that it got progressively worse over the weekend; first it was just hesitation (but otherwise OK), then it got really bad (idle still fine, but borderline stalling when applying power to the wheels), then it was bad all the time, even at idle - when cold, hot, whenever.
So. Any ideas? Fuel pump? Bad spark (ECU?)? I'll do any test you recommend and report back. I'd really appreciate your help.
Regards,
ST
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