My sister in law has just bought an s plate felly 1.3 mpi, and is having a couple of problems

1 ocasionally it wont start, spins over ok, just wont fire

2 the thing is as flat as a fart and very hesitent when accelerating

ive had a quick look round and cant see anything obvious, ive cleaned the hall sensor and checked all sensor connections . im going to give it a service next week,

any body got any ideas on the problems?

Engine coolant temperature sensor springs to mind, before getting one, remove the old one and check to see if the thermostat has broken up, if it has replace the complete thermostat assembly. A throttle body clean would help as well.

thanks for that , but is has had a new sender and stat recently

Fuel filter blocked or valve clearances too tight?

what are the tappet clearances dave?

:)0.25mm exhaust valves, 0.2mm inlet valves.

Or a loose 8 thou in English!

You could try earthing the temperature sensor. Tap into (do not cut) the brown/white wire from the sensor with a wire and connect directly to the battery negative terminal. Check that the throttle cable is not too tight as well.

could also be....

air leak in inlet manifold or throttle body (buttons to replace)

dicky coil pack

MAP sensor connection corroded (will be green in appearance and can be cleaned with a cotton bud and electrical contact cleaner)

very dirty throttle body (carb cleaner spray will clean this)

Cheers chaps, got the car at my house so will play with it in the next few days