b18u power loss

[Anadinolin]

On the way home today, cruising at a steady 65, tried to overtake a lorry...she would not pick up, even if I dropped gear. She has something wrong with the exhaust, I suspect baffles, could it be a blockage?

Theres also been some whistling sounds, like air or vaccume lines but cant find anything...my lights are also flickering bright and dim, so im guessing that my altenator has somekind of problem.


Enough rambling, would any of these give me the poor acceleration problem?
- Altenator starting to play up?
- Something wrong with gearbox? Maybe low gearbox oil (could explain speedo mystery)
- Could bearings be siezing up?
- Could I need new loom bits? (some of the wire has gone brittle)
- Found spark plugs are working themsevles loose, could it be this?
- Leaky radiator system? Temp sensor? Seems to be ok on the dash says the temp is ok, but I am loosing water. (oil level is fine)

[doingitsideways]

Yes.

Yardy

[Anadinolin]

All of the above..balls lol

[doingitsideways]

Right,

Back in my blue oval days, I had an Orion 1.6i Ghia (like a 460, only prettier, quicker, better handling, less reliable, but just as rusty)
Anyway, that had a collapsed silencer. It made it hilariously slow, with the most almighty hissing sound. Replaced with a Peco Big Bore 4 and I was soon chavving it up in stylee at my local McDonalds (Not the one I bought your tea/supper from though!)

Easiest way to check for vacuum leaks is to spray some easy start or carb cleaner around all the intake manifold and hoses etc with the engine idling and listen for changes in engine note.

Loosening plugs, hmm... Are you sure you're actually getting them tight in the first place?
The typically arrogant French engine has very tight spark plug apertures. As a result it's very tight to get a standard socket in at the bottom, meaning you often think the plug is tight, when it's still got a little way to go.

I'm presuming you've checked that your replacement HG has actually sealed properly?

I'd rule out 'box problems, I think they'd manifest themselves in other ways, like noise and reluctance to engage gears.

My best guess on this is an earth problem.
With the flickering lights you described, if you've got a main earth arcing out it'll wreak havoc with your ecu and ignition.

Steve

[Anadinolin]

Thanks il'll have a look at all of these bits, going to take off the exhaust, theres smoke comming from the o-ring area so its highly likely that it is going to be something up with the exhaust. might banger racer stylee it home lol

[Anadinolin]

Bad news I'm afraid - its looking terminal.

when i took the exhaust off to have a look, my downpipe and catless pipe where coked solid, the middle box was full of oil which i thought was from the old HG because i was only running on 2 cylinders with it...

today symptoms of what i suspect is either a blown piston seal or HG (doubtfull the block looked perfect when i put the new one on and has done 30k miles since) has reared its ugly head in a more sinister fashion.

the exhaust is throwing oil out of the back (straight through pipe, no baffles sounds awesome btw) and i'm getting bad backfire, stalling at every oppertunity. the engine should run fine with or without an exhaust. it got me to work this morning but stalled just as i got to the carpark. I was hoping that it was just electrical because it is very wet in essex this morning (when is it not) and the more i thought about it the more i thought oh fudge*

Im gonna give it another coating of WD40 and then seeing if i can get it home, if not then i dont know - im strapped for cash

[Anadinolin]

stupid question, and i dont know why i didnt think sooner, do i have a condenser and points system behind my distributor? :S

[TurboZutek]

Running around with a blocked exhaust will wreak havoc on the piston rings in very short order. That compression has to go SOMEWHERE and if it can't go out the back it goes out the bottom (like a curry, I guess)!

As for the flickering lights, 400's alternators and wiring are a sore spot with me. I lost a 460 to a fire because of Volvo's excellent design of alternator wiring, so worth a check on yours. Volvo 'band aided' the problem by installing an 80amp MEGA-FUSE on some cars... Wish I'd had one on mine!

Fingers crossed there's a solution on the horizon for you matey!

Chris...

[doingitsideways]

Unfortunately, it does sound like your rings have gone

Stem seals would never let that much through, not enough to spit it out of the exhaust anyway, it would burn off 90%.

Again, a leaking HG would never let that much through either.

Hang on... Didn't you change the rings when you did the HG??

Oh, no points on yours mate, just a simple rotor arm... They're not from THAT far back into the dark ages!

Hope you manage to sort something out with it mate, it being your Gramp's old motor and all!

Steve

[Anadinolin]

Yeah, I did change the rings, which is why its a bigger bummer. Got home tonight and did a pressure check, piston 2 nill psi.

Gonna call the peeps who made the rings to get warranty replacements. Hopefully won't be much hassle. Got a spare gasket set, so ill be doing that again. Bah. Hate doong work in freezing cold. Gonna take a day instead of half, to stop for brews.

The ignition coil has decided to become a culprit, so ill get that replaced while im at it.

This weekends jobs,

Rings
Gasket
Exhaust
Investigate altenator
Replace temp sensor and check wiring
Coil pack