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Technical 1.4 16v Sporting lack of power

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Technical 1.4 16v Sporting lack of power

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Dan B

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Sep 9, 2012
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Hi everyone!

First time poster but I`ve been following this forum for a while now.

I recently bought a Grande Punto Sporting 1.4 16v for the missus. It`s bog standard as far as I can tell with the Starjet engine in it. It looks the part but it`s gutless!

This car is supposed to have 95bhp it feels like it has 50! The missus says that her old 1.1 106 would compare on the power front!

Having drove the car I quite agree that it`s useless. It has no power in any gear and just feels flat right through the rev range. The 0 - 60 time is supposed to be around 11 seconds I clocked this one at 21 seconds!

The car has only done 39000 miles on a 56 plate. There are no engine management lights or warning lamps illuminated. No current or stored faults on the ecu ( when checked with my basic obd code reader ). I`ve visually checked all the electrical connections, plugs wiring and vacuum pipes etc. I even whipped the spark plugs out for a look ( look very white / grey like it`s running very lean? ).

I know this engine has VVT, EGR, PDA etc, could one of these systems be faulty and not throwing up a warning light? What about a stuck flap in the inlet or something along those lines? It seems to idle fine and will cruise along at 70mph although it does take all day to get there!

Any help or ideas would be greatly recieved!

Danny.
 
I know it's obvious but is it defo the 16v. Take a pic of engine with cover off and post up
Dan B said:
Hi everyone!

First time poster but I`ve been following this forum for a while now.

I recently bought a Grande Punto Sporting 1.4 16v for the missus. It`s bog standard as far as I can tell with the Starjet engine in it. It looks the part but it`s gutless!

This car is supposed to have 95bhp it feels like it has 50! The missus says that her old 1.1 106 would compare on the power front!

Having drove the car I quite agree that it`s useless. It has no power in any gear and just feels flat right through the rev range. The 0 - 60 time is supposed to be around 11 seconds I clocked this one at 21 seconds!

The car has only done 39000 miles on a 56 plate. There are no engine management lights or warning lamps illuminated. No current or stored faults on the ecu ( when checked with my basic obd code reader ). I`ve visually checked all the electrical connections, plugs wiring and vacuum pipes etc. I even whipped the spark plugs out for a look ( look very white / grey like it`s running very lean? ).

I know this engine has VVT, EGR, PDA etc, could one of these systems be faulty and not throwing up a warning light? What about a stuck flap in the inlet or something along those lines? It seems to idle fine and will cruise along at 70mph although it does take all day to get there!

Any help or ideas would be greatly recieved!

Danny.
Click to expand...
 
DSCN0038.JPG

DSCN0041.JPG

DSCN0042.JPG

DSCN0043.JPG

It must be 16V cos they dont make a 8v Sporting in petrol?!
 
I hope someone can clear this up, to me that engine looks way to small and whats more confusing is the old style fiat logo on the cover!? engine swap maybe :confused: mind you ive never seen a sporting engine and cant find much on google.

I have a T-Jet which has the 1.4 16v but with the turbo and my engine pretty much fills up whole bay! Looks nothing like that! pulling out of turnings onto main roads much be horrible :eek:
 
I would take this to a garage and have it checked it. From sight only I have to agree with MISC, it looks like there has been an engine swap, please correct me if I am wrong anyone but could it be possible that a previous owner has broken the original engine cover and opted to fit the one that is on there now. This would give reason to the old fiat logo on the cover but would not account for how small the engine looks in the bay.

Over the past couple of days there has been a few threads made over the lack of power in the 1.4's.
 
It`s deffo a 1.4 16v guys! I know it`s the starjet engine. They seem to be a bit of a rare beast from what I can see. Im quite sure that it`s a problem with one of the systems on the engine. Either VVT or PDA. It has a camshaft variator and electric over vacuum actuators to close off half the inlet ports. To me it seems as if one of those systems is faulty.

If it was a plug or coil pack it would throw up an engine management lamp Im quite sure.
 
If it's not anything we've suggested, why don't you just take to a damn garage rather than keep saying its not this and it's not that. We've all tried to offer advice and help, so rather than write post after post of guesses and theories, get someone who knows what there doing to look at it
 
matty seasider said:
If it's not anything we've suggested, why don't you just take to a damn garage rather than keep saying its not this and it's not that. We've all tried to offer advice and help, so rather than write post after post of guesses and theories, get someone who knows what there doing to look at it
Click to expand...
Yeh thanks for that! Im not doubting anybodys theories but different members will all have different levels of advice! I thought that asking before just taking it to a garage might be the way forward and may also help others in the future. Is that not what the forum is for?
 
dave said:
when did it last have a new air filter?

does the car have standard size wheels and tyres?
Click to expand...
Air filters is new and standard sporting wheels and tyres fitted. Will get a better look at next weekend and update if I find anything.
 
When is the car nexy due its MOT or Service? or has it had either recently?

I believe your car needs to be seen by a professional as we could be here for the rest of the year guessing at what it could or couldnt be. Given the seriouness of the problem I think I would be taking the car to my nearest Fiat garage and let them hook it up and have a look.
 
Hi my gp 1,4 16v starjet 95 hp had/have the same problem !
tested the vvt solenoid valve (it was jammed) fixed!
intake sliding door must be cleaned it stuck sometimes! (underway)

and i have no warning lights !!!
 
Hi Dan.
I can't fully open those images, however, from looking at the thumbnails, it looks identical to ours which is the 1.4 16v.

Things I'd check.

Firstly in neutral, what does it red line at. Can you get RPM up to and maybe above 6,500, and does it rev OK.

Secondly, many, many years ago, I had a gearbox fail on a Ford Escort. I swapped it with another from the local breakers yard, which turned out to be the wrong one.
It looked identaical to the one I'd taken off, but the gearing was definately different, which had a massive impact on it's performance.

It might be worth trying to contact the previous owner, maybe they could shed some light on it. Maybe they wouldn't know of a repair job if they sold it with a fault, but they may know about a fault which would assist in your diagnosis.
 
Last edited:
I was under the impression that the VVT on the starjet is driven by oil ?
If this is the case, and if Dan has a Starjet, (which looking at his images, looks identical to ours), how does it work ?
 
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