C5 hesitation/power loss

custard · Post by **custard** » 03 May 2009, 15:52

hi there,ive got a 2002 1.8 petrol C5 SX
i had run the car low on petrol (computer showed about 20 miles left) before filling up
the next day the car was idleing roughly and was giving a hesitation on acceleration

if you accelerate very gently its nearly alright but trying to pull away normally gives a hesitation and loss of power.
the car will drive fine at motorway speeds but the hesitation will return on hills

hill starts are a nightmare with the car requiring massive reving and dipping of the clutch to get away

i filled the car and plonked some redex in hoping this would clear any crap i may have lifted running the fuel low but that tank has been used with no real effect

the car did flash an anti pollution fault a couple of days ago but was clear the next day.
up till this point the car was faultless and sailed through its MOT three weeks ago

any common faults on this engine that would cause this?

cheers

civvie · Post by **civvie** » 03 May 2009, 16:21

More then likely sucked up some crap from the bottom of the tank, that's the gamble you take running it so low on fuel. That used to happen in my early years when I used to do the same thing, then carb came out and a good clean of the jets usually cured it.

Civvie

Post by **myglaren** » 03 May 2009, 16:35

Check the fuel filter for contamination - if there is one - I believe that some C5 petrol models have no filter fitted.

Also take the lift pump out of the tank and check for that being blocked. If it is then a good clean wouldn't harm.

custard · Post by **custard** » 03 May 2009, 16:56

cheers for the replys

its typical,i rarely go under 1/2 tank but with night shifts i just CBA stopping for fuel

Post by **myglaren** » 03 May 2009, 17:03

For what it's worth, I always wait for the red light to come on the fill it up to the brim.

custard · Post by **custard** » 03 May 2009, 17:10

well ive looked over my lovely new haynes and i see no mention of a fuel filter so i can only assume theres one built into the pump,or at least a mesh or something on the feed

at least it appears to be failrly accesable.

custard · Post by **custard** » 04 May 2009, 11:05

well removed the pump
once you remove it theres a lower shroud tat can be removed showing a filter 'bag'
pretty much clear TBH and no real cap inside the housing

for anyone else doing this,buy a new rubber seal (as haynes states)
as i didnt

and its nigh on impossible to screw the lock ring down as the ring is stretched and gets caught in the screw

anyway the cars still the same

so whats next? do i start removing injectors? pump seems to be running fine with no weird noises or sounds like its struggling
or could it be conincidence and ive got a duff coil pack or summat?

KevMayer · Post by **KevMayer** » 04 May 2009, 16:38

Could this be a problem with timing advance or even just timing in general?

I had an escort once that wouldn't pull. Turned out it was a fault with the vacuum advance mech on the distributor.

I know the 1.8 has electronic timing control, but what if either the flywheel position sensor or the anti knock sensor were faulty?

custard · Post by **custard** » 05 May 2009, 09:01

this is what im wondering,if it was just one of those things that i was low on fuel and ha no bearing on the fault

custard · Post by **custard** » 07 May 2009, 16:51

right folks,so what we gonna do?
i had thought about getting a 2nd hand inlet manifold from Ebay or wherever and doing a straight swap?
saw a 2.0 one for £40 shipped.is it compatible with the 1.8 head?
if so £40 seem a fair price?

cheers

custard · Post by **custard** » 08 May 2009, 21:20

nobody?

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 08 May 2009, 21:38

Sorry, I don't get the where the manifold comes into this but as you're getting no replies I'm wondering if you've got some bad fuel as it happened shortly after refilling.

What does the anti-pollution fault indicate?

Is there any chance you can get the ECU plugged in or is this how you saw the above fault in the first place?

mooseshaver · Post by **mooseshaver** » 09 May 2009, 11:09

Have you tried anything like Redex?
It fixed a sticking valve problem on my Saxo petrol. Took 1.5 tanks of fuel but then it was back to how it should be.

I've also added the Diesel version to my C5 to clear jsut hesitation and it has worked on that too.

custard · Post by **custard** » 09 May 2009, 13:51

ive run through a full tank with redex
im now running through a 1/2 tank with a bit more concentrated dose
TBH i need to look at being more proactive as i cant safely use the car for the nursery runs as its just to unpredictable at junctions to be safe

the way i looked at it for the price of the 2nd hand manifold/injectors i could hopefully remove the chance(well near enough) of a blocked injector if it didnt clear the fault

anti pollution seems a fairly generic fault with the codes needing to be read to show whats being flagged up
this fault flashed up once before the car was playing up and cleared the next day
its done the same twice since having the fault

edit:

ahh i see people are listing the injectors seperatly

custard · Post by **custard** » 09 May 2009, 17:23

absolute long shot but any chance these would fit/match spec?

ebay
just they are local to me