[StevenRaith]

So the other day I noticed the car was feeling a bit flat in power delivery. Checked oil, on the lowest marker - oopsy.

Topped it up, and bosh, power back to normal.

Today, went to do a tip run, low power again. Damn. So pootled it over and got what I think was a backfire, although I didn't feel anything through the seat/steering/chassis. No rattling or grinding or owt. Pulled in at the tip, checked engine bay - looks fine. No smoke, nothing obviously missing.

It seems to rev fine from idle without load, but I'm wary of chasing it through the redline if the VCT ain't kicking in and possibly misfuelling it.

Any suggestions on where to start? I'm giving it half an hour to let the oil settle to see if it's low again; if it is, I've got a *major* oil usage problem. If not, then I've got a *major* other problem I suspect

[StevenRaith]

Interestingly, hooking up the trusty ODB scanner shows it's running on what it believes is one of two O2 sensors; now, does anyone know off the top of their head if a Millenium should have two lambdas or just one? It might be it's not clever enough to know that it's a single sensor system?

Also, would a popped lamda explain low power?

[StevenRaith]

Other notes: Feels like the torque restrictor never clears; when faulting, it is reluctant to rev and feels like it has about 60hp at most, and it's not too urgent about deploying those either.

Took it for a high speed run because 'screw it' and coming back into town after complaining about going above 80, it came back to life, lunging forward in second, third and fourth as per usual.

P0443 fault logged, although I'm told not to necessarily believe that one, as it covers a multitude of sins.

Have bought a box of fuses though as I believe there can be shadiness in the fuse box.

Grr....and it's MOT time too, could do without this />

[happy-kat]

Milly will have only one HEGO I believe.
Be like a hawk on your oil level.

[StevenRaith]

OIl level seems fine.

Will just have to see how it behaves this week....

Oddly, when faulting, it sounds like the exhaust if blowing, which clears up when it's running normally.

I'm at an utter loss, frankly.

This post has been edited by StevenRaith: 08 February 2015 - 10:58 PM

[StevenRaith]

Hmm. Now getting a swooshing noise which is moving lower and lower down the rev range. And it's sounding metallic.

Dreaded bottom end failure? What does that sound like? NO real extra rattles or clatters yet....but I'm not wanting to fire the engine up.

Lack of power would be explained by crank not seating right, hence no oil pressure to fire up VCT, yes?

[Fledge]

I was thinking coil pack until that last post which is strange. Check to see if all four exhaust pipes are hot. If one is cool then it's only running on three cylinders and could be a coil pack or leads or spark plug.

[StevenRaith]

It's been suggested it might be a leaking injector, which I haven't had a chance to check.

I'm still thinking (hoping) fuelling. Bottom end bearings, I'm told, would be far more obvious - and more clanky/clunky. Oil pump bearing possible, causing drop in oil pressure meaning no VCT action?

Is there an fuel pump on the engine side (high pressure) etc that would make a noise in relation to engine revs?

Annoying that my problem is power *above* 3000rpm, as plenty of posts on lack of power below it!

Edit: Also, when struggling it sounds like the exhaust is blowing - and at idle, it might not push as much air through as when under load - possibly an excuse to get a sports cat?

This post has been edited by StevenRaith: 10 February 2015 - 09:00 PM

[Black Kat]

Could be your cat or exhaust starting to block up and cause a restriction. If your down in the southwest I'd have a look at it for you.

[StevenRaith]

Northeast dude, but my tame mechanic took a look at it and reckons the cat has collapsed; his colleague mark dealt with a similar issue on a TD VW van recently and it's pretty similar symptoms.

Cat ordered, he'll try it tomorrow and poke around further if needs be (IE might have blown a the manifold gasket, etc)

[StevenRaith]

Hmm. Cat doesn't look blocked although thanks to that L-shaped pipe at the end of it, it wasn't immediately apparent. Also, every stud, nut and bolt was seized, rounded or seized and rounded, and my tuna had to go pick the kids up so didn't put too much time into cutting it open etc!

New cat going on tomorrow, if that doesn't fix it, what the hell else could be causing it to be utterly breathless above 2500-3000rpm under load (it revs fine when stationary)

This post has been edited by StevenRaith: 13 February 2015 - 12:27 AM

[StevenRaith]

Cat was blocked - after spending all day under my car yesterday, I dropped in on Jonny this morning on the way to work. He showed me the cat. Shaking it makes it clunk, and turning it upside down makes shiny bits of metal fall out!

New cat on (after no small amount of trouble with more weird stud problems, a gasket that wouldn't seal, etc) and it seems it's healthier. MIssed my man earlier tonight, but he said he'd head out and pick me up tonight as he's coming into town anyway. Then I can throw ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD at him (About £200, not bad given the cat was £100 and he's probably put about six hours into it now!) and give it a longer run and test.

Tomorrow. Tonight, I am getting the car back and having a beer.

[StevenRaith]

Car back, pulls hard to the redline, crackles gently on the overrun (I was wondering what had happened to that!) and is otherwise sounding rorty.

Think there is still a slight leak around the cat, but we're going to see if it has any issues at MOT time. I think I have a CV going anyway. That, and poor Jonny May has seen enough of the car the last few days and likely wants a break from it!

Basically, nightmare job by the sounds of it

[happy-kat]

Great news you found the issue

[StevenRaith]

I'm more concerned that I might only have found a symptom, TBH.

Gonna have a sniff around the fuelling system to see if anything seems out of place later on today. Otherwise, drive it and see how it behaves.