Technical Stuttering loss of power on acceleration

[Tuga2112]

so, the hot readings being lower than the cold ones are indication of a HG failure.

ive seen a hg kit on ebay for 30 odd quid, does that seem about right as a price ? is there anything that would be advisable to do while doing that ?

this car is not hard to work on compared to the other stuff im used to, but considering the fact i gotta go to this effort, i may as well do whatever is at hand as long as its not expensive

 

[purf]

so, the hot readings being lower than the cold ones are indication of a HG failure.

ive seen a hg kit on ebay for 30 odd quid, does that seem about right as a price ? is there anything that would be advisable to do while doing that ?

this car is not hard to work on compared to the other stuff im used to, but considering the fact i gotta go to this effort, i may as well do whatever is at hand as long as its not expensive

It's no guarantee the head gasket is leaking but it's possible. This is where a temp gauge is useful as it would show if the car is overheating or hot gasses are getting into coolant from headgasket leak. Is it loosing coolant?

Any steam from exhaust? Any mayonnaise under oil filler cap? I'd expect to see one of these symptoms at least. Poor running without any of these symptoms might be a big hole in the gasket between the cylinders - but this should be more obvious with a compression test.

Get the best quality parts you can. Branded like Febi Bilstein, Victor Reinz, FAI etc... then carefully consider if you'll get the head skimmed.

Some people might try tightening the head bolts first to see if this had any effect.

Try unplugging lambda sensor first though. I had a faulty coil which cut out under load in the past - down to 2 cylinders. I've found a lot of unbranded parts on ebay are faulty junk.

In my experience blown headgasket is fairly obvious. Steam train smells, sounds different, overheating with overflowing coolant cap, missfires... presurised coolant hoses... bubbling noises from inside engine...?

 

[Tuga2112]

It's no guarantee the head gasket is leaking but it's possible. This is where a temp gauge is useful as it would show if the car is overheating or hot gasses are getting into coolant from headgasket leak. Is it loosing coolant?

Any steam from exhaust? Any mayonnaise under oil filler cap? I'd expect to see one of these symptoms at least. Poor running without any of these symptoms might be a big hole in the gasket between the cylinders - but this should be more obvious with a compression test.

Get the best quality parts you can. Branded like Febi Bilstein, Victor Reinz, FAI etc... then carefully consider if you'll get the head skimmed.

Some people might try tightening the head bolts first to see if this had any effect.

Try unplugging lambda sensor first though. I had a faulty coil which cut out under load in the past - down to 2 cylinders. I've found a lot of unbranded parts on ebay are faulty junk.

In my experience blown headgasket is fairly obvious. Steam train smells, sounds different, overheating with overflowing coolant cap, missfires... presurised coolant hoses... bubbling noises from inside engine...?

no maio.
exaust manifold has fumes..dont look like steam
temperature has been read using the computer. (i got the cables for it,) and the coolant sensor of the car was reading 89c
this was with a new sensor installed.
undertood the idea baout tightening the head bolts. thats something i would have considered many years ago, at the moment i have both the skill, tools and place, to just commit to a swap for the sake of being confident of the repair.

your description of blown head gasket symptoms doesnt match mine in the large part.
i get a different sound, and the fumes at the rear , no pressurised coolant but i do have some degree of coolant loss which is not "alarming" but certinaly not "normal" either.

 

[purf]

no maio.
exaust manifold has fumes..dont look like steam
temperature has been read using the computer. (i got the cables for it,) and the coolant sensor of the car was reading 89c
this was with a new sensor installed.
undertood the idea baout tightening the head bolts. thats something i would have considered many years ago, at the moment i have both the skill, tools and place, to just commit to a swap for the sake of being confident of the repair.

your description of blown head gasket symptoms doesnt match mine in the large part.
i get a different sound, and the fumes at the rear , no pressurised coolant but i do have some degree of coolant loss which is not "alarming" but certinaly not "normal" either.

Often the gasket is just a bit corroded from age and old coolant. Call it maintenance... I'm not that familiar with the 899 engine, water pump is on aux belt isn't it? The headgasket kit and new bolts usually cover most of the service items.

Put a straight edge on the cylinder head face and check it with feeler gauge for low spots. If it hasn't overheated badly and its not too corroded then I'd not bother getting it skimmed.

 

[Tuga2112]

Often the gasket is just a bit corroded from age and old coolant. Call it maintenance... I'm not that familiar with the 899 engine, water pump is on aux belt isn't it? The headgasket kit and new bolts usually cover most of the service items.

Put a straight edge on the cylinder head face and check it with feeler gauge for low spots. If it hasn't overheated badly and its not too corroded then I'd not bother getting it skimmed.

the coolant is definitely very old. it was very brown. and i swapped with new, and within 3 minutes of runnign the engine was brown again.
it needs changing again. but next time im going to do a hose flush first

 

[Tuga2112]

head is out, its straight, the gasket itself wasnt "stuck" or "glued" to the sides as i would expect, and came out 99% intact.
i have tested the valves for leak with petrol and no petrol sipped through,

do i need to replace the piston rings ? im at a loss. my experience with cars is always with japanese engines from the 90s. those that never go wrong, apart from changing the head gasket before, i never took apart an engine before and im pretty much clueless as to the basics.

 

[purf]

head is out, its straight, the gasket itself wasnt "stuck" or "glued" to the sides as i would expect, and came out 99% intact.
i have tested the valves for leak with petrol and no petrol sipped through,

do i need to replace the piston rings ? im at a loss. my experience with cars is always with japanese engines from the 90s. those that never go wrong, apart from changing the head gasket before, i never took apart an engine before and im pretty much clueless as to the basics.

No you don't need to change the piston rings. These engines are not expensive to replace, at least currently so if an engine was that far gone I'd suggest replacing it with a good second hand one.

Just take the opportunity to check the core plugs (aka freeze plugs) and front water pipe in case they are rusted.

Replace the water pump, timing belt and tensioner. Cam cover gasket also with the dab of silicone on the corners of the cam bearing journals.

The valve stem seals can be replaced but you could leave them if you want. They are not usually a problem.

 

[Tuga2112]

new head gasket installed and new head bolts.
problem persists,
i guess im going back to the checks over all the bits that were swapped 300 miles ago as mentioned there is a possibility of a premature failure there.

 

[purf]

new head gasket installed and new head bolts.
problem persists,
i guess im going back to the checks over all the bits that were swapped 300 miles ago as mentioned there is a possibility of a premature failure there.

At least it's had a major service now and you have checked the exhaust manifold gasket off the list! Does the engine cut out completely or get progressively worse then cut out? Lambda sensor - are the electrical connections in good condition - are the 4 pins inside the amp connectors dirty or corroded?

If you floor the accelerator pedal can you keep it going at all or not?

 

[DRSIK]

Thanks folks - now running great

Also since I have swapped the bottom end to a 1.2 (so smooth on power delivery)

I found one of the vacuum hoses was a bit perished in the middle ( I had been checking the ends)

 

[Tuga2112]

At least it's had a major service now and you have checked the exhaust manifold gasket off the list! Does the engine cut out completely or get progressively worse then cut out? Lambda sensor - are the electrical connections in good condition - are the 4 pins inside the amp connectors dirty or corroded?

If you floor the accelerator pedal can you keep it going at all or not?

ive not given it a standing test run yet, but on the driving test run the behaviour changed a bit. although the problem with bogging down is still there.

I Have taken out the injector and gave it a sonic bath. there was 2 burts of... something coming out of it while being treated which im hoping was clogging the injector.

after installing i ran the engine in idle for a bit and when it felt warm it didnt bog down. i will be giving it another run soon. im really hoping a partially clogged injector was the issue, otherwise i will be plugging the computer to the car and checkign what readings i get, compare cold with hot and fingers crossed something will be obvious.

 

[Tuga2112]

done a rather extensive run now, nearly an hour driving in mostly city conditions and the car didnt bog down at all. it feels a bit low on power, but that may just be a side effect of both having a passenger adding weight to the car (which im not used to ) together with the fact i was driving something very different just 10 minutes prior to this test run.

fingers crossed this will be my last update and cry for help in this thread thanks for everyone's suggestions.