Car experts, help required...

digitalscream

Emp_Fab said:

Jesus, you're a worrier aren't you !  Just drive the damn thing.  You need to concentrate more on your test than the car you happen to have at the moment.

I did, and it went rather well. Turns out that I'm not a terrible multi-tasker - I can worry and do other stuff

paulnb57 said:

I would suggest, if it hasn't jad a proper run, then there is nothing to worry about, the steam is normal from a cold engine, sometimes of following a cold car, water can be seen dripping from the exhaust, thats why short runs car exhausts rot quickly, from the inside out...coolant level wont drop, ticking over on the drive....
One on the road, reasses.......

Oh, and good luck with the test!

Cheers...been out driving a few times since Tuesday, for no reason at all

I do have a bit of a problem with the car, but I'm not sure whether it's a consistent problem yet. After filling up, I pulled away and for about 10 seconds there was practically no power and it was phut-phutting. Then it came back, and was normal...but it did it again later that evening. A bit of research suggests it might be crud in the fuel injectors - presumably stirred up by filling the tank; I can imagine why that might've happened straight after filling up, but later in the day? Hmmm.

Axe_meister

Fill up with premium fuel or stick some engine cleaner in the tank.
Which version of the K-Series is it?
120,135 or 160 BHP?
If 120 you can replace the throttle body with a 52mm one, if you can find a VVC plenum (inlet manifold) and replace the paper air filter with a high flow panel filter (Don't bother with a cone filter) you are good for about 135-140 BHP without a remap.

Axe_meister

You can also get a thermostat that cuts in at a lower temperature again helping to prevent HGF

digitalscream

Thanks, @Axe_meister - it's the 120, and frankly...I don't think I want any more power out of it. It's scary enough as it is  You have to remember, I was learning in a Peugeot 208 1.2, so there's a hell of a leap in terms of grunt between that and the ZR.

olafgarten

digitalscream said:

Thanks, @Axe_meister - it's the 120, and frankly...I don't think I want any more power out of it. It's scary enough as it is

I really want to get an old hatch at some point, new ones are so heavy, even with loads of power, they aren't exciting enough. A new Gti weighs 1300 kg! 

digitalscream

olafgarten said:

digitalscream said:

Thanks, @Axe_meister - it's the 120, and frankly...I don't think I want any more power out of it. It's scary enough as it is

I really want to get an old hatch at some point, new ones are so heavy, even with loads of power, they aren't exciting enough. A new Gti weighs 1300 kg! 

Well, I'm having plenty of fun with this one - sure, it's only 115bhp at 1100kg, and there are plenty of little niggling things about it, but...I love this car

My other option was a Ford Puma - if you can find a 1.7 that's not rusted to hell, I'm pretty sure they'd be a ton of fun too.

Axe_meister

I'm not on my 3rd K-Series equiped car.
1st was a Rover 414 the Engine was the only think going for it (1.4l 108BHP)
2nd was a rover Elise S1, I tuned the 120BHP engine upto 180BHP, could have gone further but costs would have been much higher and at the expense of low end grunt.
3rd and current an MGTF with the 160 VVC Engine.

Alas with the VVC mechanism I'm pretty limited in terms of what I can achieve in tuning without ditching the VVC mechanism.
For all it's faults, I've not had an engine that revs quite so freely.
Worst engine for revving was an old 4.6l tuned rover V8, produced about 260BHP but took an age for the revs to build up.

FX_Munkee

If you want to clean the injectors, get some wynns or equivalent from the usual places. Don't put it in a full tank of fuel.
Wait until you're down to the last 1/4 of the tank, chuck it in and do an "Italian tune up" ie thrash it a bit for about 20-30 miles. Then refill the tank.

digitalscream

FX_Munkee said:

If you want to clean the injectors, get some wynns or equivalent from the usual places. Don't put it in a full tank of fuel.
Wait until you're down to the last 1/4 of the tank, chuck it in and do an "Italian tune up" ie thrash it a bit for about 20-30 miles. Then refill the tank.

Just been to get some Redex and shoved it in. Feckin' thing did it again pulling out of Halfords car park - tried to join traffic to the right (from a hill, no less) and was doing about 5mph even with it floored, nearly got hit from behind and the side. Then, after a couple of seconds, it kicked in and I flew off the mark.

Until I've managed a good few journeys without it happening, I'm going to have to be bloody careful about how much of a gap I need. Definitely not going near a dual carriageway for now...I just don't trust it.

Axe_meister

Does the issue happen at a certain throttle position? Could be a flat spot on the throttle sensor (lambda sensor?)
So when the throttle is open at that position the engine management thinks there is no air, so no fuel is pushed into the engine. You open up or drop the throttle, and fuel is pushed in but, the suck/squeeze/bang/blow cycle is interupted, so it takes a few cycles for the engine management to catch up, once the revs are up over a certain range, i.e. cruising at speed you don't notice as much, just a little flat spot in the rev range.
I had exactly this problem on my Lotus, £24 for a new sensor.

digitalscream

Axe_meister said:

Does the issue happen at a certain throttle position? Could be a flat spot on the throttle sensor (lambda sensor?)
So when the throttle is open at that position the engine management thinks there is no air, so no fuel is pushed into the engine. You open up or drop the throttle, and fuel is pushed in but, the suck/squeeze/bang/blow cycle is interupted, so it takes a few cycles for the engine management to catch up, once the revs are up over a certain range, i.e. cruising at speed you don't notice as much, just a little flat spot in the rev range.
I had exactly this problem on my Lotus, £24 for a new sensor.

I don't think so, although it is always when I'm pulling away at a junction. With that said, today I've been listening to the engine while driving in different ways (boy-racer / sensible / economical) just to figure out how the car behaves and where the engine bottoms out in various gears, and I haven't noticed any flat spots.

Axe_meister

The Revs may be masking the issue.
Stick in Neutral, and slowly depress the accelerator.
Otherwise, try pulling away in 2nd rather than first just in case there is a transmission issue.