Hi all I am new to the forums and I have had a look on here about sdi being slow. I just checking to make sure its not the car really.

Anyway today was its first maiden voyage, around town seems fine , however I got on the m40 to go to work doing 65mph in 5th as soon as I get to the hill I have to put it in 4th and it will struggle to stay at 55 mph.

Then later went up a steep hill on country roads and had to leave it in 2nd all the way up (Poor thing) .

I know there's a million posts like this, so I do apologise in advance

Depends how steep the hill was.

It's not a very powerful engine but should be able to maintain speed on the motorway.

My old felicia would struggle to stay at 60-70 mph on hills on the motorway.

Our old Pug 306 with a 1.9 D (non turbo like your SDI) but that would manage to do 60, 70 or 80mph up hills without loosing speed or having to change down.

Could be an EGR fault. Try disconnecting the EGR for a bit and if it improves then that's the culprit. Probably needs a clean.

Phil

Thank you for the reply philje123.

Well I did m40 from junction 11 to 6 Had to drop it down a few times to 4th to get it going.

Well I have a 50 miles back home commute so I will disconnect on my lunch break and see. Will this mess any ECU setting up? As I had a fiesta and any time you disconnected anything it had to relearn it or something.

Btw just checking as I have no tools with me can the EGR be disconnected by hand?

I'm not entirely sure if it would put the EML light on or not. On my pug I literally just disconnected the power connector to the solenoid and had no light etc but not sure on the Fabia.

I don't think it will put a light on as the SDI doesn't have a MAF.

To disconnect it is literally just a case of unplugging it.

Phil

Thank you again phil, will attempt it in a few hours and go and get fuel and see how it goes. Its located at the front on the exhaust manifold?

Like been said depebds on hill. But i have a sdi estate and very very rarly have to drop to go up hill never on motorway.

big bobz, thank you for your post when its flat its seems okay, It could be the clutch as it does have a high biting point.

By all acounts thats quite normal as mine is quite high also but never had any problems mine is 117k on it and is fine

Thats good, thank you again big bobz, I brought mine with 94,000 on the clock. The other thing I have notice left over night it takes a while to start once started its fine, maybe that could be a indercation of something

A faulty MAP sensor can cause this kind of problem. Also it's worth checking the air filter.

I don't think the SDI has a MAP or MAF sensor as it has no turbo.

Scrap that. It has a MAP but no MAF.

Phil

I have an SDI and it has no problems on motorways I have never had to put it into 4th gear. I drove from Crawley to near Basingstoke when I picked it up, M23, M25, M3. Then drove to Leicester and back last week, M4, A34, M40, M1 and don't have to use 4th. My driving style is quite sedate though, only do about 75mph tops!

I definatley have to drop to 4th on very steep hills or even 3rd, but thats really steep A roads.

It's not a very responsible suggestion but perhaps you could measure 0-60 or top speed? That should give you an idea of how much power you are getting.

I cant edit the post for some reason, was going to add this:

Was the M40 the bit coming into South near Beaconsfield, I've not been on that so I can't tell you but I would be suprised if I had to drop a gear. The engine is going at about 3,000 at 70 I think which isn't that low a gear.

My sdi was alright on motorways etc, could sit at 70mph fine but like you say on hills it wasnt great.

Wow so many helpfully people . Just had a look at the EGR value could not see any wires near it, only saw the vacuum hose on top its missing a clip but its still a very tight fit. MAP sensor which fits into the side of the air box which is held on by a clip I took that out blow on it and put it back. Drove it to the petrol station seemed okay still but that all on flat roads.

Wow so many helpfully people . Just had a look at the EGR value could not see any wires near it, only saw the vacuum hose on top its missing a clip but its still a very tight fit. MAP sensor which fits into the side of the air box which is held on by a clip I took that out blow on it and put it back. Drove it to the petrol station seemed okay still but that all on flat roads.

If the sensor is on the side of the airbox, then this car has an intake manifold temperature sender (no MAF, no MAP).

If you've checked the air filter, then the fuel filter would be the next thing I'd consider changing. When was it last changed?

The SDI isn't exactly a rocket, but if the car hasn't got a boot-load of stuff and there are no passengers, the 64hp should be enough to maintain motorway speeds - even uphill.

64bhp? Is that it?

Hi rwbaldwin thank you for your reply. The air filter and fuel filter are bran new. With the EGR value where to you disconnect that as i will disconnect it and drive the car home see if its any better.

Yep thats it, a standard 1.9 none turbo engine. Making them pretty much pullet proof really...

No power so clutch and flywheel are good for many miles.

No turbo to fail so thats a bonus.

64bhp? Is that it?

Yes. They are non-turbo and use an old tech fuel pump to control the fuelling etc. Only driven a felicia with an SDI in but it felt quicker than the power would suggest due to the extra bit of torque over the similar powered petrols.

You would disconnect the vacuum hose as this then stops it from opening up.

Phil

Just to clarify, I just disconnect the vacuum hose on the EGR and see if there is any improvement ? Thank you again all.

Edited 4 December, 201213 yr by banburybeetle

Think you may also need to stick something like a screw up the pipe to block it off.

I can't promise you won't get an EML light on though with this.

Phil

Thank you again phil, Well I hope EML will go off when I connect it back up. I do hope this is causing it.

bullet proof except for the gearboxes which are constructed with cardboard and some stickyback plastic.