AMacdonald Posted January 30, 2010 Report Posted January 30, 2010 (edited) My old Alhambra (just past 200K !) has developed an annoying misfire at 1800rpm. It's only occasional and it happens generally when accelerating through 1800rpm so I don't think it's the throttle pot. It can happen when the engine is cold or hot. I've replaced almost all the vacuum hoses except for the one that goes off to the ECU. I don't fancy removing the dash to get to the ECU but the hose does have a very worn stretch in the engine bay where it's been rubbing. I'll crop it and replace from there onwards once I get a suitable hose connector. Is there anywhere else I should be looking? Edited January 30, 2010 by AMacdonald Quote
AMacdonald Posted January 30, 2010 Author Report Posted January 30, 2010 (edited) Whoops should be in the technical section. Can a moderator move please? done :( Edited January 30, 2010 by gregers Quote
seatkid Posted January 30, 2010 Report Posted January 30, 2010 Maybe once a month I get the briefest misfire when accelerating hard - just as if the engine misses one or two beats. I put this down to not having changed the fuel filter for over 60,000 miles - could be water - i have noticed some air bubbles in the clear fuel pipe going to the pump - could be that. Quote
AMacdonald Posted February 1, 2010 Author Report Posted February 1, 2010 Maybe once a month I get the briefest misfire when accelerating hard - just as if the engine misses one or two beats. I put this down to not having changed the fuel filter for over 60,000 miles - could be water - i have noticed some air bubbles in the clear fuel pipe going to the pump - could be that. Thanks for the suggestion. I hadn't thought about the fuel filter although the fact it always happens at particular revs is odd. Quote
AMacdonald Posted February 6, 2010 Author Report Posted February 6, 2010 (edited) Looks like you were right. I replaced the filter this morning and after one or two bouts of stuttering all seems well now. There was an alarming amount of air going up and down the fuel pipe for quite a while after but a 10 mile test run seems to have cleared that. To be honest, I've no idea when the fuel filter was last changed. It may have been the last time it had a dealer service which was over 100K ago! Edited February 6, 2010 by AMacdonald Quote
AMacdonald Posted February 6, 2010 Author Report Posted February 6, 2010 (edited) Famous last words! It lasted about 20 miles before an occasional misfire showed up. It gradually got worse until, a further 20 miles on the engine lost almost all power and every few miles would die completely, as if the fuel cutoff solenoid was cutting out. Turning the ignition off and on would get it back but at low power. My elderly copy of VAGCOM was showing an intermittent B+ or short fault with the needle lift sensor. I investigated and found one of the spade connectors disconnected from its' wire. I remade that (and cleaned the cutoff solenoid connector) but the power loss remains. The fault is now listed as "short to ground - intermittent" but I can't find anything else wrong. Would a detected fault with the needle lift sensor force a drop into limp mode? Edited February 6, 2010 by AMacdonald Quote
AMacdonald Posted February 7, 2010 Author Report Posted February 7, 2010 Well I looked at the needle lift sensor wiring again and decided to renew the last few inches of it completely. So far (famous last words again no doubt) all seems healthy again. The halfords decoker seems to have made a nice difference as well - the whole car just feels perkier now. Quote
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