Good advice mogwye, I just had a look at the Haynes manual re setting the injector plunger free play and it recommends turning the adjusting screw back 225 degrees.

Anyone know what is correct,180 or 225 degrees for both ASZ and BLT engines ?

jamwatn, have you checked the hard plastic brake servo vac pipes ?

They have a habit of cracking causing low/poor vacuum which can also effect VNT, EGR and anti shudder.

I found the brake pipe split on the wife's SE, we weren't aware of a problem but once fixed not only did the brakes work better but unexpectedly the engine also performed so much better.

Mine is a 1.4 TDI 80 bhp - BNV Engine - I found the above procedure that I have explained seems to be the critical element in delivering the best MPG.

 

DB

Edited 22 May, 201511 yr by mogwye

I've had a little look at the vacuum system, however I will go over it thoroughly next week.

The hose to the vnt actuator holds vacuum ok so should indicate it is leak free.

With the car running, pulling the vacuum manifold from the n75, shows the action of the actuator as fast when air is released so should rule out any movement problem.

Has anyone ever tried adjusting rod length?

I hear shortening it can decrease spool times and lag. Can't think why this would have changed though.

I'll also be boost leak testing next week.

Gave it a good run tonight.

First and second were a little more responsive after 2.5 k rpm however unlike when I first got the car, the low down power was just not there.

It means to get anywhere, the engine has to be revved harder, the throttle has to be pushed more and that reduces economy.

Third gear and onward are the major major problems as it's almost like someone has pulled the maf off after 3k rpm and it's revving up but the torque and power are reducing.

It means overtaking or passing vehicles on dual carriageways takes huge effort.

Sorry to keep posting I'm just hugely frustrated and I am hoping that someone out there can help me get the performance I used to experience from the car that made be proud to have a Fabia again and remember my holiday for the driving rather than the holiday itself!

Have you checked what I posted earlier ?

 

DB

Yes I advanced the timing to 0.6. Not checked hard plastic yet.

Anyone know what is correct,180 or 225 degrees for both ASZ and BLT engines ?

 

It doesn't really matter, the point is that you're ensuring that each unit injector is getting a full stroke of its piston without bottoming out and binding, half a turn seems plenty to be honest but if you want to go half a turn plus a bit for luck then do that.

OK thanks

I hadn't realised this adjustment could be a problem, I will check my wife's 07 and my sons 06 vrs as soon as I get chance.

One last question, is the rocker cover gasket re usable or do I need two new gaskets before I start ?

The rocker cover gasket will re-use ok, handle with care.

 

The above procedure to be done with a cold engine.

 

DB

OK thanks mogwye.

I was going to set lash, however I'm not sure that it was relevant to my original post or if it would make any difference to my car?

After a couple of weeks, I'd say the car improved following timing correction however once again overnight, it lacked performance, power and low down response. There was also the classic 'whoosh'noise I had frustratingly hunted for months in my old Fabia.

So naturally I checked for timing issues thinking it may have slipped out. Nope, identical 0.6.

I checked for boost leaks.

Nothing! Held air in the system perfectly.

I checked for sticking vnt or vacuum leaks. Nothing! Holds vacuum and releases smoothly and quickly on the vnt side.

I'm starting to think now that it could be God trying to annoy me?!

Can I add that today I've been in the low fifty mpg figures.

Also on low throttle, it's very jerky which might give some pointers to the problem?

If jerky I would reset the torsion value back to 00:00 for comparison.

DB

Will do. Minus 0.5 to plus figures made a lot of difference so 0 probably is a good idea.

Fed up of tweaking stuff really. Feels like guesswork!

It's been a few weeks and I wish I could report good news but I'm afraid it's not great.

It was good for about two weeks where my fuel economy increased to 60ish mpg on a run, up from 50 something. I also got 450 miles plus from forty quid.

Now it's back to useless mode. You have to hold lower gears for longer, low throttle does nothing really and finally performance is slow. Power seems to just 'peak' and disappear.

Nothing's cheap or free to try anymore, I'm considering MAF or MAP. It does sometimes feel like the MAF has disappeared.

Logs are identical!

Any more ideas before I give up hope?!

My last post before I give up:

 

This is where it gets weird. Yesterday I was doing some routine work on the interior light which has been bodged by someone in the past so I had the battery off. I went inside for an hour or so (enough for the ECU to reset).

Reconnected the battery and locked the car up as normal.

Later on I needed to go out so started it up. Immediately the throttle seemed responsive. A light touch would accelerate enough to barely need to use the throttle through the gears. Performance was back, all the way through the gears. Finally it felt like a 'fast' car again and back on spec, feeling great to drive. Even the fuel economy shot up.

I haven't even touched the engine apart from disconnecting the battery. I am using different fuel this week so I figured it might be the ECU resetting to default values on different fuel.

Till this morning.

When I drove it today, I was once again disappointed beyond belief. It's totally back to rubbish again!

 

Explain that!!!!?

what engine code is the engine?

 

i would suggest have you blanked off the vaccum pipework after the EGR delete?

is the ASV still in place if it an BLT engine code?

 

check the vaccum bottle on front of engine and for a test blank the vaccum pipe to this also

 

so all you should have left to the N75 controller is feed from the back of the tandem pump, feed to the turbo and then feed to the airbox all other vaccum pipes should be blanked off

 

the symptoms you are describing could be related to sticking vnt/vanes, blocked CAT (remove it would be 1st thing i'd do) or a boost leak  

Engine is asz.

Anti shudder is still in place so there is a vacuum pipe in place for this but all others have been checked and are fine as pressure is still in the vacuum pipes several hours after engine stop.

Confusingly, vnt must be fine as the boost logs are ok and there are no spikes.

It must be something electrical as after the ecu reset, it certainly felt better.

Anyone got anymore ideas please? Or do I give up?

A little update:

 

Though this thread has become more of a blog now, I think I've managed to claw back a little power. By chance, I thought I'd change my air filter and my fuel filter (despite the fact they were only changed about 5k ago.)

The car feels a little more pokey however still no way on par with when I first drove it (approx 10k ago).

 

Still looking for more suggestions and as always, I'll add to this if I get any further for reference for anyone else!!

Have you used vcds ? It seems like it was in limp mode and the battery off has reset it. It will only be a matter of time untill errors put it back in limp, if thats the issue.

I've used vcds and it logs perfectly!

Definitely not limp mode, I've experienced limp mode and it's far from limp mode in terms of power.