Technical loss of power problem

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Technical loss of power problem

peterainbow

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Jul 10, 2008
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hiya, well my panda has started having a problem with accelerating, it's a bit odd in that if i put my foot right down the engine seems to come back to life and it also seems to happen more when going uphill doesn't always happen, but once it starts doing it on a trip seems to stay 'broken' also seems to affect 3rd/4th gears more almost feels like theres a blockage somewhere that putting my foot down pushes away, once at the higher speed ( eg 30 in 3rd ) then the problem isn't felt anyone any ideas? cheers pete
 
Assume this is a carbed engine.

Sounds like a blocked jet. When pushing your foot down, you invoke the accelerator pump that squirts extra fuel straight into the venturi which masks the lack of properly mixed fuel from the jet. That would be my guess.

You probably notice the lean mixture more going uphill!
 
My thoughts too, although an air leak making it run lean might be temporarily overcome by the accelerator pump chucking a richer mixture in. Might be worth checking round the manifold for leaks.

Mike
 
if you have a Panda with a distributor, a "popped" vacuum advance unit is a common cause of inlet leaks.

Pull the vac advance pipe off at the carb end - if you can blow through the advance unit, it's shot.
 
sorry forgot to say it's an injector engine with the computer so is the blocked jet in a cylinder or elsewhere what can i do to fix it?
 
The problem with my Panda was a knackered inlet manifold gasket. try spraying a little easy start where the inlet manifold meets the block and see if the engine picks up revs. If it does, you know it's definitely the gasket
 
just to be clear it doesn't happen all the time so for example this morning on the way back on a trip it was terrible feeling like it would stall but later today the car was perfect again
 
Does the injector light also come on when this happens? If it is you probably need a new lambda sensor and all will be well.
 
Does the injector light also come on when this happens? If it is you probably need a new lambda sensor and all will be well.
nah had to replace that last year after the annoying light :)

went out with it tonight and no sign of any problems at all

thats whats partly driving me nuts
 
my mums car is driving us mad she is 76 and needs her car!!! Her engine keeps losing power. It only happens sometimes all of a sudden you will be driving along and lose power all off a sudden you sit there for ages we had green flag out about five times been in 4 garages they don't know what it is? Then it will be ok again but just keeps happening. You would almost think she had put petrol in and its a diesel or dirty petrol she hasn't any ideas
 
Not familiar with the injection cars, but had a similar problem on an earlier one..... After assuming fuel and stripping down the carb, replacing the fuel pump etc etc traced it back to a failing electronic ignition distributor. The car would start fine and run ok from time to time but would stutter and bog down from time to time, needing to be knocked out of gear and revved hard to get it moving again....
 
hiya, well my panda has started having a problem with accelerating, it's a bit odd in that if i put my foot right down the engine seems to come back to life and it also seems to happen more when going uphill doesn't always happen, but once it starts doing it on a trip seems to stay 'broken' also seems to affect 3rd/4th gears more almost feels like theres a blockage somewhere that putting my foot down pushes away, once at the higher speed ( eg 30 in 3rd ) then the problem isn't felt anyone any ideas? cheers pete
I had similar problems with my fiat stilo and it was my crankshaft sensor also known as a landis/air oxygen censor its easy 2 fit urself but sometimes its hard 2 get dont buy a universal 1 go to fiat cost £68 and takes about 20min to do it or u could take ur old 1 out and clean it with wd40 and small fine wire brushes
 
I had similar problems with my fiat stilo and it was my crankshaft sensor also known as a landis/air oxygen censor its easy 2 fit urself but sometimes its hard 2 get dont buy a universal 1 go to fiat cost £68 and takes about 20min to do it or u could take ur old 1 out and clean it with wd40 and small fine wire brushes

There different. How could something mesauring the crank position measure oxygen levels too. Oxygen levels are checked by the Lamda, pre CAT, crank sensor measures position of the crank to assist timing/injection
 
I had similar problems with my fiat stilo and it was my crankshaft sensor also known as a landis/air oxygen censor its easy 2 fit urself but sometimes its hard 2 get dont buy a universal 1 go to fiat cost £68 and takes about 20min to do it or u could take ur old 1 out and clean it with wd40 and small fine wire brushes

As per what CLXCraig said, and I'll also add that you should NEVER attempt to clean a Lamda sensor, certainly not with a wire brush, as they are very easily damaged.
 
There different. How could something mesauring the crank position measure oxygen levels too. Oxygen levels are checked by the Lamda, pre CAT, crank sensor measures position of the crank to assist timing/injection

They are indeed different things :)

As per what CLXCraig said, and I'll also add that you should NEVER attempt to clean a Lamda sensor, certainly not with a wire brush, as they are very easily damaged.

Agreed, mainly as cleaning the outside of the sensor case won't clean the bit that measures the co2 levels which is inside the main case. :p

I cleaned a lambda sensor once using blow torch and tapping it / flicking it with finger (wearing gloves not to burn myself) to remove some carbon deposits, but idn't help much.

Lambda sensors are a user serviceable part and SHOULD be changed at set intervals just like spark plugs etc ;)
 
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