Xantia 2.0i splutter

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bostwickenator
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Xantia 2.0i splutter

Post by bostwickenator »

Hi guys,

I'm getting a little bit of splutter say one in ten times that I pull away from an intersection particularly after driving at highway speed. Any idea what might be causing this?

I was thinking about getting some injector cleaner just to give it a shot. Do they actually work? Is there one someone would recommend to me?

Cheers guys,
Alex
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Post by davetherave »

I always go for redex, seems to do the job for me.
Perhaps more details on the car may help with diagnosis!

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Post by addo »

Weak spark, possibly?
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Post by handyman »

If it is a 2.0 petrol injection and it happens after a high speed run, chances are its the coil pack starting to break down or a duff plug. A session on a Lexia will identify the problem.

Injector cleaning fluid does make a marked difference, providing the injectors are not duff. Wynns is my prefered brand, but I have used Forte and Redex and they work equally as well.

H
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Post by bostwickenator »

Cheers guys Redex it is then. Hopefully it isn't the coil pack :|.
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Post by bostwickenator »

I ended up using some injector cleaner which seemed to help somewhat, never stopped it completely mind you.

However it seems to be playing up again. I've moved house and now do about 6km at 100km/h each morning. At the end of this stretch there is a roundabout and 4 out of five times it will splutter off the line here. I wonder if I can borrow the testing kit off my mechanic I only have OBDII stuff.

Can someone explain why the coils would have a harder time after a high speed run. I can't figure that out.
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Post by Timmo »

if its spluttering when warm/hot engine then i'd put it mainly down to not enough spark, i used to get it on a set of plugs in the 16V bx all the time, but i used to use All the rev range Most the time! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
with a spirited drive home from work i could get a new set of plugs missing and slow starting when hot in one trip!! :shock: swapped the coil over for a new one and on the same set of plugs 6 years later!

is also worth going through the engine bay and finding as many of the multi plugs as you can and giving them a clean up and a light smear of vasalene or similar and cabletieing them back together, and also cleaning up and fitting additional Thicker Eathing cables! makes a big difference as the cables deteriorate over time and for just over a tenner from the local auto electrical place a good investment!

the MI16 engine Loves a good strong spark, and the 2l 16v lump in the Xant's is a similar deritive of it so would make sense!
After All, I am the Cornish one!

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Post by handyman »

It might be time to change your idle valve/stepper motor as this controls fuel delivery at lower throttle openings. Ideally get your car onto a Lexia as that will diagnose the fault. EOBD machines wont read all the fault codes and may flag up red herrings.

As for the coils, at high engine RPM, the coils have to work much harder, as they need to generate power, get switched and then de-energise and then repeat the process in the flash of a gnats **** :shock: . This puts a considerable load on the coils and if they are going to fail or faulter, it will be at that time of charge/discharge. Lesson over. :roll:

You should also check your spark plugs, both for aging, condition and gap, as these do have a bearing on acceleration and general running. Check to see that you donot have a loose spark plug, as the threads in these engines can get damaged and allow a plug to loosen. If you cannot get one out, ie seized, do not force it as that will strip the thread.

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Post by bostwickenator »

Just drove in to work and I had a bit of a play with the engine on the way (sorry fellow motorists). Even at 80km/h pushing the throttle open quickly can cause a little splutter. Going to head to my father's and borrow his tools to check the plugs.
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Post by Timmo »

If after a clean up they behave fine but return to spluttery id look at the coil pack! See if you can borrow agood spare one to test just incase,
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Post by bostwickenator »

Hmmm I probably could borrow one actually, not a bad idea. How much would I be looking at to buy one roughly.
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Post by addo »

Seriously, I went through all this two years ago. New stepper motor, new coil pack, new plugs, other sundry sensors and bobs, exhaust pressure checks.

Get it on a Lexia; this will stop the guessing right away. Even better if you buy a faux Lexia plus older laptop, and learn how to drive it.

In my case, the stumble was poor crimping inside the positive battery clamp. Lexia didn't show this - but in displaying operating conditions, it would have saved equal of £700 on replacing bits that were prefectly OK.
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Post by bostwickenator »

Actually now you mention it my battery leads were quite loose. I went out took them off and wrapped a couple of turns of solder round the contacts to make them very very snug. I'll see how it runs tomorrow morning. Otherwise I'm off to get it hooked up to a Lexia
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Post by DickieG »

bostwickenator wrote:Even at 80km/h pushing the throttle open quickly can cause a little splutter.
When an engine is accelerated the voltages produced by the coil/s to fire the spark plugs increases significantly so the misfire could be due to a duff plug, coil or a poor electirc connection. Bearing in mind how cheap spark plugs are it might be worth replacing those to eliminate the obvious.
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Post by bostwickenator »

Just back from my dad's house. We got the spark plugs out and had a look they were .8mm gap plugs but the feeler gauge showed 1mm+ of gap so a little light bending later they are back in and I haven't had a splutter yet. I'll give it a few days.
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