General Poor acceleration and whoosh sound at Low RPM

[Burak]

Hi,

I just joined the forum of Fiat for my Bravo 1.4 T-jet 150 ps. It is well maintained by myself and i have noticed that something is a problem when I accelerate fully the throad, rpm is around 1,500. When i do the acceleration there is a whoosh sound coming from the front. Also this issue takes some power from the car. Bigger problem when i go for long distance, i need more torque for little speed up. For example, when I’m on a highway at 110 km/h on 6th gears and need some torque, there is a whossh sound coming from front.
I checked on OBD2, there is no any sign or warning.
Has anyone faced the similar problem like this? I will appreciate for any help.

 

[eeeno]

You could use lower gear for acceleration. 1500 is quite low rpm, so you could use a lower gear. When coming to highway use 3rd or 4th gear to accelerate and so forth. 5th, and 6th are for driving with constant speed. Probably you knew all that. Whatever it may be, it's possible that the clutch is slipping just a bit if rpms don't match the speed anymore. Also the state of the VVT solenoid is one thing to check. Has it ever been cleaned? Also the spark plugs need to be exactly the right ones and in good condition, also filters in changed regularly.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I would check all the intercooler hoses and pipes are attached and look very carefully for cracked and split pipes. Also check the intercooler its self has not been damaged by road debris. Also consider the turbo, check the wastegate operation. Turbos can be noisy if there is any damage to an impeller blade but this would not normally cause power loss. Check the air filter is also tightly fixed and the the air box not broken and that its firmly attached to teh throttle body.

 

[Burak]

You could use lower gear for acceleration. 1500 is quite low rpm, so you could use a lower gear. When coming to highway use 3rd or 4th gear to accelerate and so forth. 5th, and 6th are for driving with constant speed. Probably you knew all that. Whatever it may be, it's possible that the clutch is slipping just a bit if rpms don't match the speed anymore. Also the state of the VVT solenoid is one thing to check. Has it ever been cleaned? Also the spark plugs need to be exactly the right ones and in good condition, also filters in changed regularly.

Of course it is quite low rpm to speed up, but i mean if there is air leak, it gets the power down. I have read the forum to understand the problem, i wrote because i didn’t find it.
Clutch was changed recently.
I just cleaned MAP and MAF sensors, throttle and checked the area for leaking. Also spark plugs and ignition coils are checked, they have changed 10.000 km before.
But i haven’t heard the VVT solenoid. You mean turbo’s solenoid valve?

 

[Burak]

I would check all the intercooler hoses and pipes are attached and look very carefully for cracked and split pipes. Also check the intercooler its self has not been damaged by road debris. Also consider the turbo, check the wastegate operation. Turbos can be noisy if there is any damage to an impeller blade but this would not normally cause power loss. Check the air filter is also tightly fixed and the the air box not broken and that its firmly attached to teh throttle body.

I checked the wastegate and solenoid, it works properly.
I have chance to see the pipes but i need to wash all area because it seems dirty, impossible to understand oil leaking . If any chance i will record the noises to show to fix it quick and better. Thank you for replying.

My main question is i can hear the noise at low rpm and go up line at low rpm (2000~). The noise is not coming at high rpm’s.

I will check what you said and write the result if i see something.

 

[Burak]

One more thing that i forgot to add in here. Sometimes for checking i make a connection with OBD to see fuel LTFT and STFT. I know from my last observations that values are constant. But right now they are not. I checked them because of unstable acceleration.
What causes this problem, i really have no idea, maybe they are related with each other.

 

[eeeno]

I checked the wastegate and solenoid, it works properly.
I have chance to see the pipes but i need to wash all area because it seems dirty, impossible to understand oil leaking . If any chance i will record the noises to show to fix it quick and better. Thank you for replying.

My main question is i can hear the noise at low rpm and go up line at low rpm (2000~). The noise is not coming at high rpm’s.

I will check what you said and write the result if i see something.

You might not be able to hear the noise at higher rpms. I'd start looking from the accessory belt area. It may be the alternator freewheel pulley stuck, causing the belt tensioner movement and noise. It's just a guess. I suspect that on my car. So you might start hearing the noise after you release the accelerator? Those pulleys can be replaced, but it requires a special tool. Also if alternator voltage is not good, it's better to replace it completely. Of course the alternator itself can make noise too.

I don't know if the TJET version has variable valve timing VVT or infact if it has two of them. But if the screen of the solenoid is dirty, it will prevent the operation of the VVT system and cause poor performance. It should be on the valve cover. Only one little hex bolt is holding it.

You should check the pcv hoses too if you already haven't.

Of course coolant is always fine and you never need to top up? If so, then you're lucky. Lack of power, well it's not completely impossible to have a headgasket beginning to leak. Hopefully it's not that.

LTFT and STFT can only be read with Multiecuscan. Chances are that your generic obd tool is reporting them incorrectly. I get crazy unstable values and still no fault code and car runs ok.

 

[The Panda Nut]

My garage man cleaned the VVT solenoid on our panda when the cam belt was done. The car runs much better, picks up quicker and stsarts better since Im not sure what is cause and effect here but its worth cleaning these things. Again I dint know if the multiair is Variable valve timing or not so this may be irrelevant.

With a turbo, the air pressure builds up till about 2000rpm when it peaks and the wastegate opens. the noise up to that sort of engine speed suggests a turbo issue, as does the loss odd power when the sound is generated, MES should give information on boost pressure.

Have you also checked that the exhaust has not been damaged / narrowed by hitting something.

Suggest you check the inlet manifold is also undamaged.

 

[StevenRB45]

To me that would suggest boost leak somewhere as Pandanut says.

Pretty much all other options would not lead to a whoosh noise.

 

[Burak]

You might not be able to hear the noise at higher rpms. I'd start looking from the accessory belt area. It may be the alternator freewheel pulley stuck, causing the belt tensioner movement and noise. It's just a guess. I suspect that on my car. So you might start hearing the noise after you release the accelerator? Those pulleys can be replaced, but it requires a special tool. Also if alternator voltage is not good, it's better to replace it completely. Of course the alternator itself can make noise too.

I don't know if the TJET version has variable valve timing VVT or infact if it has two of them. But if the screen of the solenoid is dirty, it will prevent the operation of the VVT system and cause poor performance. It should be on the valve cover. Only one little hex bolt is holding it.

You should check the pcv hoses too if you already haven't.

Of course coolant is always fine and you never need to top up? If so, then you're lucky. Lack of power, well it's not completely impossible to have a headgasket beginning to leak. Hopefully it's not that.

LTFT and STFT can only be read with Multiecuscan. Chances are that your generic obd tool is reporting them incorrectly. I get crazy unstable values and still no fault code and car runs ok.

Since you said the VVT solenoid , i checked a couple of times to be sure but it is not existing in -Jet’s according to my searching. If it is i would say thank you and problem would be solved.
Alternator noise is like bearing noise and i would hear it. But since you said it I’m obsessed about it and searched it many times. unfortunately it is not related. But after solving this whossh noise issue, I’m going need to take a look for it.
Hope that it is not headgasket because there is no water leaking, I’m keeping under the control.

 

[Burak]

My garage man cleaned the VVT solenoid on our panda when the cam belt was done. The car runs much better, picks up quicker and stsarts better since Im not sure what is cause and effect here but its worth cleaning these things. Again I dint know if the multiair is Variable valve timing or not so this may be irrelevant.

With a turbo, the air pressure builds up till about 2000rpm when it peaks and the wastegate opens. the noise up to that sort of engine speed suggests a turbo issue, as does the loss odd power when the sound is generated, MES should give information on boost pressure.

Have you also checked that the exhaust has not been damaged / narrowed by hitting something.

Suggest you check the inlet manifold is also undamaged.

Hi,
Thank you for replying in advance.
I will check the turbo again but it was checked from a turbo specialist and he said it is working like a monster, but you might be right about it.
I need to check intake manifold which is to hard to understand because it is located in back of the engine and there is no smoking machine in these workshops. I watched a couple of videos for it, some guy is connecting a hose and they are puffing the fume into the hose. my last solution is going to be this.
I also need to make exhaust check.
Started the topic in forum because maybe there is a chronic issue for T-Jet’s and i would fix it quickly, but it is not going to be easy.
I will keep here posted.

 

[eeeno]

Hopefully this elearn material can be helpful to you.

https://4cardata.info/elearn/198/2/198000000/198000003/198000005/198001694

 

[Burak]

Hopefully this elearn material can be helpful to you.

https://4cardata.info/elearn/198/2/198000000/198000003/198000005/198001694

It is going to be so much helpful for me. Thanks a lot.

 

[Burak]

Hi again,

Luckily, i found my problem… and it is nonsense.
Yesterday vehicle did not start in standart, it reset itself, climate, technical info, everything.
Today it didn’t start, i checked the battery, somehow it got loosened. Now, it is working properly.
Thanks to everyone for precious information.

 

[eeeno]

Hopefully the issue doesn't reoccur after ECU had reset itself. It takes a little time to learn the new parameters and usually it'll learn to misbehave again. You're lucky if it doesn't do that. Loose battery terminal would usually set many erratic fault codes.

 

[The Panda Nut]

THanks for letting us know the outcome.

 

[Burak]

Normally i check everything in my car, but it was also surprise to me. Battery connection was unstuck. It means that if there is a problem, start with base control.

Thank you guys for everything.

 

[Burak]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to inform everbody that there has been some issues with my weird Bravo…

First think is that i had some boost leak problem in my car and i thought that i fixed it with changing battery and some cleaning but apparently it didn’t. Some pictures are attached.
My turbo housing and exaust manifold were completely cracked! It causes many times and money. I thought that after replacing them, all problems will be fixed but it didn’t.

I have still have a whossing sound at low rpm.(after 2000 rpm with full throttle) it is the first problem. I decided to check it with OBD and i saw P1080 code and it says connection problem as permanent fault.
Another problem is that at low rpm’s when i press fully throttle, it is like clutch slipping. But i change the all set of clutch equipments with new ones.
Engine is getting high temperature, engine cooling fan is working with every 5 minutes when i in the traffic.
It is like I’m driving an old car, acceleration is quite poor, fuel economy is very bad…
I was searching for P1080 problem on internet, i saw something but i didn’t understand clearly. It is also attached. I have clutch slipping so that is why I interested with this topic.

For the love of God, anyone knows about this problems? Because it is really bad and there is no good technician and I’m really stuck with these problems…