J242

all is well in the tank, fuel level seems to make no difference. problem still exists with fresh oil (minimum). could it be electrical? something shorting maybe? as the battery seems to have started draining overnight occasionally, and there sometime seems to be a slight delay after turning the key before engine turns over. also the stereo (non standard) turned itsself off/on a few times recently while driving along. havent been able to notice any other patterns of when it happens other than long fast left-handers. motorway exits etc.. can be flying along at 70ish *cough* then mid-corner the power loss hits. if i nurse the accelerator it will just about maintain 60mph max, while flooring the accellerator causes it to slow down more. changing/reselecting gear seems to solve the problem for around 2-5 seconds before it starts up again, and will continue until I can give it a good thrashing on country lanes. a brisk lap or 2 around a service station just wont do, even though it drives perfectly normal upto 50-60mph. thanks for the help so far, still hoping we can get to the bottom of it on another note, it has been suggested the cat could be damaged/blocked, could this be a possibility?

would still like to check the tank etc for crud if at all possible?

how the heck do you open the access hole under the back seats? im assuming it unscrews? cant shift it

tank is always pretty full

heh, oil level is fine. slightly overdue for a change and it was cheap asda oil though, and it was indeed a left hander. i had it in my mind it was more to do with steering or something, as it didnt sort itsself out until after i had thrown it around a few corners on country lanes, and fealt as if possibly only one wheel was driving..

driving down the M54 i think it was about a month ago, going round a long corner at perfectly reasonable 70 mph when half way around the car just seemed to lose power. continued driving and all seemed well upto 60-65mph, at which point it became juddery and gutless and simply refused to go faster. problem stuck until a while later after a thrash around country lanes. this seemed to clear up the issue, and on the return motorway journey all was well. forward to yesterday, same road, same corner, exactly the same thing happened again! any ideas?

what if they told you 'here have a tenner'

could i get away with a 200bhp vrs engine? would it involve much modifications etc? brakes and suspension are going to be upgraded

im thinking bigger.. more powerful, as much as can be fitted under the bonnet. and there is a lot of space under there

currently driving an X reg Felicia Classic 1.3 MPI, 65k miles excellent condition other than a few dents/scratches, drives beautifully and goes like stink. im looking for a replacement engine/gearbox etc, as much power as possible without too many complications. am looking at spending around £5k on parts and doing most of the work myself where would be a good place to start?

what are you putting in its place? and arent cats worth money?

lower ball joint i bet

the wheels will get very warm depending how fast you are driving from the friction between tire and road. besides isnt it an advantage for the tires to be nicely warmed up?

can we just confirm the yellow cable from the starter motor was checked? mine was dislodged with the help of a speedbump. its possible the fixing itsself is still intact, but the wire inside broken. still not 100%, but the more you say, the more it sounds like exactly what i had

find the starter motor in the engine bay, think it was on the right near the gearbox somewhere. there is a yellow cable leading from it. check this connection. i had the same problems recently and this is what it was, seems to be rather common? if you have problems finding it ill find/take a pic. hope this helps

sounds like the yellow cable connecting to the starter motor has come loose? thats what id check first

i know exactly what you mean with the rotational grinding noise, my felicia developed the same about a week ago. Yet to figure out what it is. To make matters worse, I get a knocking noise when initially using the throttle/brake as well since yesterday. I plan on having a little looksee tomorrow, see if I can figure out what it is unless somebody beats me to it here not the first time somebody has had the same problem at the same time either

my 1.3 MPI idles at 850, fast idle is around 1100 (cold mornings, etc). everything standard, hope this is useful

the rev limit doesnt kick in on the red line, some point beyond there. i know its unmodified in any way because my mother bought the car brand new and only her and myself have driven it, well maintained though ill be going for a drive shortly, maybe ill put my wellys on..

exactly which felicia's are you talking about? I want to know what the rev limit is on mine but too scared to try lol, have taken it up into the red before.. mine is a 2000 Felicia Classic 1.3mpi - goes like stink, dont believe its only 68bhp I have the spark plugs mentioned above, seem to improve reliability but not sure about performance. looking for other ways to improve it though, currently saving the pennies to replace exhaust

how did it affect performance?

sensibly early if anything

dont rule out the bottom ball joint, both of mine had issues with knocking noises but no apparent play in the joints

is it possible to trigger the boot open cable from the outside of a locked felicia at all?

115+ by speedo, 112 according to satnav. 0-60 in 11.2. sweet for a pretty bog-standard 1.3 i think?