16v - No Power - Help

[neilc]

Right my Mk1 Clio 1.8 16v has been playing up for ages now and if I cant get any ideas from here I am going to have to bite the bullet and pay Renaults super high prices to have a look :(.

The car tick overs fine but when driving it hard there is no top end power, like all the torque has gone. It hits a wall most of the time at about 5k and just splutters and stops reving, some times it even does it lower down.

Like the car is over fueling or something.

So far I have changed.

Water pump (then all of the above started)
TDC
Coolent sensor (white square one)
lamber
fuel pump
fuel filter (couple of months ago)
throttle pretensionometer (second hand)
ECU (second hand)
new plugs
Idle control valve (second hand and cleaned)
dizzy cap, arm, leads and coil have all been tested and have been told they are fine.
also tried a second MAP sensor and checked all the pipes

and still after all that, no change :(

any one have any ideas ??

[Andyvalver]

I had the same problem as you a while back. Mine used to hit a brick wall at 5k :? then it got worse and was idleing all over the shop and sometimes it cut out and wouldnt start. I replace alot of stuff like you have. The one day i decide to take off all eaths and sand them shiney and bolt them back on super tight. Its been fine ever since. Your problem could be an earth. Clean up the box earths and the earth straps

[Mattie]

tryd cleanin your throtle body m8?

[neilc]

already done that :(

ps. couldnt beleve how many earths there were lol

[neilc]

tryd cleanin your throtle body m8?

Carb cleanerd it to death :)

[Andyvalver]

Sounds silly but even a piece of grit under an earth connection can **** up the running of your car.

[neilc]

I will give them another look just to be sure.

[matty]

Checked fuel filter and also tried any fuel system cleaners like Forte? My valver always seems to go better when its had its regular 6000 mile dose of Forte or similar and fuel filters often get neglected.

Have you run out or petrol recently causing crap from bottom of tank to get into fuel lines etc?

[neilc]

I had the fuel pump replaced and pressures check out.

Always run on Optimax aswell.

[kj16v]

Valvers' designed to run on 95 RON. IMO The only benefit of running Optimax is to Mr. Shell's wallet!

What about the injectors? On other cars I've used Gunsons Colour Tune to pinpoint what's going on in the engine. Really useful for checking for fuel or spark problems.

Marybe a leak in an inlet-side gasket. Sometimes you can't hear them.

[neilc]

optimax just seems to give it a better kit and it has been run on that for over 18+ months

Not sure on the injectors but all the plugs are the same colour and dont suggest any problems.

[Mattie]

lukin at results from a test 5th gear carried out on a standard clio and golf GTI and the new scooby, if ur car is a performance car, optimax will increase the bhp, on the golf GTI it was sumthin like 3 or 4bhp IIRC

[neilc]

going to try a second coil and leads today off of my mates 16v just to make sure it isnt them.

[neilc]

Could a faulty Air temp sensor cause all this troble ???

Thats the only sensor I touched before all this started.

[neilc]

going to try a second coil and leads today off of my mates 16v just to make sure it isnt them.

made no difference :(

[gtbloke]

Try a rolling road tune... they mite be able to point you in the right direction m8

[neilc]

Renault have it this moring so see if they find anything.

but this morning was fun as 3rd flat out was 60mph

My wife in our Mk5 Astra 1.8 16v was killing me lol

[gtbloke]

Deffo not well is she.... my old j reg non-cat valver pulls 90+ in third :D

shes a right flyer !!!

let us know what they find...

[neilc]

Will do :)

[neilc]

Right renault say the car is fine and there are no problems.

But then they didnt push to get the problem but all the sensors and things are working fine.

Took the engineer out to show him what happens, put it this way, top of second gear he was holding the dash lol.

the are going to do a compression test on Monday but I am thinking the worst and reckon it needs a rebuld :(.

[Andyvalver]

Its summet stupid mate, im sure. Mine used to do it. Nail it through the revs and at 5k it just stops pulling. It took mine a lifetime to get through 3rd gear lol. Its ok now though.

[neilc]

I wish mine would sort its self out lol

[Andyvalver]

You tried resetting the ecu? Dissconnect the battery for half hour and then try.

[neilc]

that and a second ecu

[gtbloke]

Have you checked the air intake for any blockages?

[VIPERONE]

hmmm add extra earth to your speedo sensor wires behind dash...
get a mate to press gas pedal down..view the throttle body is it opening correctly?

replace the 4 relays in the black box inside the engine bay (nr the ns suspension turrett...rt one r same.

check alternator wiring and all injector clips

check exhaust system is freeflowing

place 2 x extra earth braids on the block and gear box

check fuel pipes are ok.

get a compression check.

[neilc]

Renaults Report

Checked the engine management system for stored fault codes, all clear, carried out cylinder compression test, all cylinders very good 250-260psi, carried out several extended road test, did experience the lack of power when trying to accelerating, trace the fault to be lack of fuel delivery, new fuel pump will be required.

all that cost me £176.25

and now I have got to take it back to the garage that fitted the new fuel pump and get them to fit another.

[Andyvalver]

:shock: bet its not that. Renault know **** all mate.

[neilc]

well its one of there pumps so they have got to replace it for FREE :D

[VIPERONE]

you rigged up a fuel pressure check?

[summeh]

more like 150-160psi for the comp figures mate... no way u get those figures on valver engine.

[neilc]

Renault checked the fuel pressure

[wilber1986]

i Know this is really old thread but its the only one i can find that has the same problem as me!! was there ever an answer to the problem of restrictive high revs??

cheers

[Wobba]

Looks like fuel pressure due to failing pump.

[Coops]

when mine did this it was due to the cold air feed i had rigged up crushing in on itself and restricting the air flow into the engine, so check all you induction setup for blockages/knackered filters etc

[Chris H]

if those compression results are right i.e. over 200 psi then the valve timing is wrong, should have been checked first.