So after having replaced the spark plugs, leads, rotor cap, rotor arm and the rotor itself. Im still having problems with this car.

The acceleration is still very sluggish, a friend of mine has the same car with the exact same engine and by comparison mine feels like it's lacking atleast 10 hp.

I have checked the breather pipes and it is breathing :D And run a diagnostic test without any error codes comming back.

I tried disconnecting the temperature sensor, when car was at operating temp. Idle didn't change.

During acceleration it feels like it's choking, like something is blocked.

And when im in low gear and thrash it, it gains speed very strangely, 1000 rpm at a time with a litle pause inbetween every 1000 rpm. Not much but noticable.

Idle is "rich" car reeks of petrol and it stays around 800 rpm with the occasional missfire.

Since there are no codes im guessing a sensor maybe is partially broken, MAP or temp sensor. Or maybe the ignition is adjusted wrong? The rotor/distributor maybe needs alignment with stroboscope?

Anyone who has experienced anything like this and can point me in the right direction?

How old is the CAT ? could be partially blocked/collapsed ?

The car has done about 130k miles and I don't think it has been replaced during it's lifetime. Is there any way to determine wheter the cat is bad without removing it?

So after having replaced the spark plugs, leads, rotor cap, rotor arm and the rotor itself. Im still having problems with this car.

The acceleration is still very sluggish, a friend of mine has the same car with the exact same engine and by comparison mine feels like it's lacking atleast 10 hp.

I have checked the breather pipes and it is breathing :D And run a diagnostic test without any error codes comming back.

I tried disconnecting the temperature sensor, when car was at operating temp. Idle didn't change.

During acceleration it feels like it's choking, like something is blocked.

And when im in low gear and thrash it, it gains speed very strangely, 1000 rpm at a time with a litle pause inbetween every 1000 rpm. Not much but noticable.

Idle is "rich" car reeks of petrol and it stays around 800 rpm with the occasional missfire.

Since there are no codes im guessing a sensor maybe is partially broken, MAP or temp sensor. Or maybe the ignition is adjusted wrong? The rotor/distributor maybe needs alignment with stroboscope?

Anyone who has experienced anything like this and can point me in the right direction?

 

If the car reeks of petrol then at a guess unless there is a major injection problem - you are not running on all cylinders. Petrol pouring down the exhaust will damage the catalyst (can melt the core!). This happened to my 1.4 Octavia a few years ago, my twin wasted spark coil pack failed causing the car to run on two cylinders - I drove like this for 10 miles (went surprisingly well!) before the coil pack was fixed - but it failed it's next MOT. I changed the CAT and it passed (and has done since) and seemed to drive like a rocket afterwards in comparison( can only presume it was partially blocked).

 

You've replaced the usual culprits, except possibly the coil.  I think your engine has a single coil with distributor etc, not too expensive so worth replacing first although a new CAT isn't too expensive these days either.

 

Might be worth having a compression test to check valves/bores

 

Did replacing plugs/leads etc give any improvement - or did it make it worse.

 

What has changed since the car last ran well? New cam belt?

Edited 22 December, 20169 yr by bigjohn

If the car reeks of petrol then at a guess unless there is a major injection problem - you are not running on all cylinders. Petrol pouring down the exhaust will damage the catalyst (can melt the core!). This happened to my 1.4 Octavia a few years ago, my twin wasted spark coil pack failed causing the car to run on two cylinders - I drove like this for 10 miles (went surprisingly well!) before the coil pack was fixed - but it failed it's next MOT. I changed the CAT and it passed (and has done since) and seemed to drive like a rocket afterwards in comparison( can only presume it was partially blocked).

 

You've replaced the usual culprits, except possibly the coil.  I think your engine has a single coil with distributor etc, not too expensive so worth replacing first although a new CAT isn't too expensive these days either.

 

Might be worth having a compression test to check valves/bores

 

Did replacing plugs/leads etc give any improvement - or did it make it worse.

 

What has changed since the car last ran well? New cam belt?

 

Thanks for the response!

 

Replacing the ignition parts did not give any performance improvement, but it did help with the starting problems I was having on wet days.

 

The car has been like this ever since I bought it, and during my time I have replaced the cambelt, waterpump and the ignition parts, in the engine compartment.

 

I gave it some throttle today listening for odd noises and I could clearly hear a rattle from the middle-silencer/cat Area. I am not completely sure wheter it's coming from the cat

being internally defective or if the whole assembly is just rubbing slightly against something, the middle silencer is brand new. 

And in this same area I hear a pop every time I rev the car and quickly release the throttle, this pop I am sure is coming from the Cat; What I am not sure of is wheter this "pop" is fuel detonating in the Cat, or if it is the effect of it being clogged. I think I will have to investigate this further...

 

I also disconnected the temp sensor driving back home from work, the car ran surprisingly better but still felt a bit clogged  :D