Momentary reduction in power???

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:57 pm

I was driving back from Geraldton this weekend and driving just south of Enebba, WA it felt like my motor had for mysterious reasons, started to fade in power... 10-33% drop in power? Yet this is in a vehicle that I already need 1/2 throttle or more to maintain 110km/h on a flat road and no headwind.

It got so bad for about 5-10 minutes in the rolling hill terrain, that up a 5% grade (5m every 100m?) that my speed dropped to 96 km/h at full throttle in 5th gear, and when I switched to 4th gear I was topping out at 102-103 km/h, full throttle. I was seriously concerned that my motor would just die on the highway. It didn't sound funny, just quieter than normal, as if my motor was going to sleep. Normally at highway speeds if I'm near full throttle, the manifold pressure makes the engine have a "mild growling noise" only this was gone when I was unable to maintain speed. I pulled over to have a look and make sure that everything was still connected; air cleaner, leads etc. I turned the cabin heat on to see if that might help. Stumped, I got back into my car and the power was like normal again.

I think after I regained power, once I heard some vibration around 80-90 km/h and 5th gear at full throttle, yet I tried the same speed in 4th at full throttle and the vibration went away. I suspect this vibration is gone.

*An EJ swap is sounding more attractive,
even if it means I'm riding a push bike to work for a few weeks.
I think I can wait at least until summer though.
November or later would be ideal to avoid cold/rainy conditions, commuting by bicycle.
But if you can help me a identify and fix these gremlins, it'd be much appreciated.

Thoughts?

taza · Post by **taza** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:02 pm

I can't help mate but thats not good to hear about the matter. Atleast you got home. Plus with 310,000km on the clock of the old girl atleast shes still running. An EJ swap would be really nice for you, probably better fuel economy and more power aswell as reliablity since the egines old and done a few km

ps. You might want to do a trip report thread. Just a thought. Also if you do I will add some photos up.

Taza

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:04 pm

taza wrote:I can't help mate but thats not good to hear about the matter. Atleast you got home. Plus with 310,000km on the clock of the old girl atleast shes still running. An EJ swap would be really nice for you, probably better fuel economy and more power aswell as reliablity since the egines old and done a few km

ps. You might want to do a trip report thread. Just a thought. Also if you do I will add some photos up.

Taza

trip report thread? Which sub-forum should I do this?

I think I need to get my tachometer installed finally.
Would have been nice to see how fast the motor was spinning.
maybe get the bloke who installed my immobilizer.
I found he worked quickly, was very good and fair-priced per hour.

At highway speeds even normally, my motor is so quiet it's a bit hard to tell what RPM it's running at.

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:09 pm

^^ Later in the trip, I was actually backing off the throttle to keep from exceeding 124km/h on a road that might not have been flat.

Funny how that problem was intermittent.

taza · Post by **taza** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:43 pm

You can do a trip report here.
forumdisplay.php?f=15

Just say what you did, where you went, post some pics, etc... Any good or bad things about it and or the car.

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:09 pm

taza wrote:You can do a trip report here.
forumdisplay.php?f=15

Just say what you did, where you went, post some pics, etc... Any good or bad things about it and or the car.

Nope, can't post there.
My membership status doesn't allow me to post in the Western Australian sub-forum.

No one wants to read it in the engine thread?
My thread's all about the engine anyways.

taza · Post by **taza** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:20 pm

forumdisplay.php?f=24

otherwise try here in camping and travel.

MTB92 · Post by **MTB92** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:29 pm

you will probably find that you were just travelling up hill and into a head wind.
you can be going up a decent hill out there without even noticing, and out near the coast it can blow a fair old gale. i have driven that road in my L and had exactly the same sort of thing happen, unless it was missing or something i wouldn't worry about it. also could have had a dodgy batch of fuel from Gero adding to it!

btw Taza, I might get up that way over the summer break from uni, you will have to show us the tracks up that way if i do!

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 8:40 am

MTB92 wrote:you will probably find that you were just travelling up hill and into a head wind.
you can be going up a decent hill out there without even noticing, and out near the coast it can blow a fair old gale. i have driven that road in my L and had exactly the same sort of thing happen, unless it was missing or something i wouldn't worry about it.

also could have had a dodgy batch of fuel from Gero adding to it!

btw Taza, I might get up that way over the summer break from uni, you will have to show us the tracks up that way if i do!

It's a nice drive, rolling hills through "wildflower country", supposed to be a bit faster.
but it sounds like it's better for me to stick to the flatter coastal road through Lancelin/Cervantes/Leeman.

I fueled up at Shell in Gero.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 3:01 pm

2nd Hand Yank wrote:I think I need to get my tachometer installed finally.
Would have been nice to see how fast the motor was spinning.

What do you think it will be "spinning" at? Buzzing would have been my choice of word!

I think you'll be surprised how high these little engines rev at speed.

I'll get you to post up your thoughts on 100km/h and 110km/h in 5th and I'll let you know what my factory tacho reads

Cheers

Bennie

taza · Post by **taza** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 3:11 pm

I would be taking a guess that its about 3500-4500rpm at 100-120km/hr. Since my Foz does 140km/hr at 4000rpm and 110km/hr at 3250rpm haha
Im keen to know though.

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:50 pm

El_Freddo wrote:What do you think it will be "spinning" at? Buzzing would have been my choice of word!

I think you'll be surprised how high these little engines rev at speed.

I'll get you to post up your thoughts on 100km/h and 110km/h in 5th and I'll let you know what my factory tacho reads

Cheers

Bennie

My motor's quiet. It's very hard to tell.

I think the Owner's Manual recommends 4th for passing under 110-120km/h...

Will have to give that another look.

I like your new photo on the mountain.
What kind of lift and tyres do you have on your L Series?

100 km/h in 5th is fine for cruising, but a bit crap for accelerating.
I would assume it's 3500-3800 rpm.

110km.h is fine for 5th, even moderate acceleration.
3700-4000rpm?
(relatively

) hard acceleration 4th is still better.

brockharro · Post by **brockharro** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:50 pm

this happens in my brumby get about 20km then it would just die wouldnt get above 90 then pull into a servo turn it of start it up then it would be fine agian

any hints ??
cant do ej as a p plater

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:08 am

Ok. So an L series with 3.7 ratio diffs does the following:

~4000rpm in 4th @ 100km/h - actually I'm starting to doubt myself, could be 110km/h
3250rpm in 5th @ 100km/h
A tad bit over 3500rpm in 5th @ 110km/h

And if you're game you can do 100km/h in 3rd @ about 5500rpm from memory

When you have an EJ you don't need 4th for easy passing, just a little bit of pressure on the throttle pedal and you're all good to go!

That pic is at the Lock with Mt Feathertop in the background, the lift is 3 inch and the tyres are 27 inch with 14 inch scorpion rims and stock offset. Love them! I'm now back on my roadies for towing/braking reasons, the "little boots" @ 23 inches.

Brockharro:

Get your dizzy checked for shaft play, and check the electronics in there - they can be really temperamental, work all day one day then kick up a fuss the next. Sunnie is at this point at the moment but is not starting at all. I put a new coil on and he ran for 3 minutes perfectly, started first go, but then he died and wouldn't start again...

Cheers

Bennie

brockharro · Post by **brockharro** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:45 pm

cheers bennie
i hope theres no shaft play i just got a reco one in and i checked the cap and the rotor the other day there both fine i think
i might have to go get a new coil and see

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 7:37 pm

had my own momentary loss of all power on a few right turns tonight - made it home. No idea at the moment

MTB92 · Post by **MTB92** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:48 pm

steptoe wrote:had my own momentary loss of all power on a few right turns tonight - made it home. No idea at the moment

i had that a few weeks ago. would die turning a corner and then be fine once i got around it... figured i would sort it out when i got home, until the car stopped completely. ended up on the side of the road with smoke pouring out the bonnet. one of the screws holding the battery down had come loose, worn a hole in the side of the battery and had leaked acid everywhere and then started a fire once it shorted. got a helova fright!

always gonna double check those screws now!

2nd Hand Yank · Post by **2nd Hand Yank** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:17 pm

El_Freddo wrote:Ok. So an L series with 3.7 ratio diffs does the following:

~4000rpm in 4th @ 100km/h - actually I'm starting to doubt myself, could be 110km/h
3250rpm in 5th @ 100km/h
A tad bit over 3500rpm in 5th @ 110km/h

And if you're game you can do 100km/h in 3rd @ about 5500rpm from memory

That sounds about right.
I would assume with a weak 4 cyl engine, acceleration below 3500rpm is a waste of time.

I might have tried 3rd, pushing 100+km/h.

I did have 4th at around 120ish km/h and that sounded pretty aggressive.

When you have an EJ you don't need 4th for easy passing, just a little bit of pressure on the throttle pedal and you're all good to go!

Sounds like my 08 Civic.
I could glide from 110km/h to 140 km/h in 10-12 seconds at barely over half throttle. (full throttle in about 8 seconds)
Cruise was something like 1/4 throttle.

With my L Series and EA82
light throttle pressure + 5th = topping out at 85-95 km/h
I have to use deliberate throttle opening just to maintain a safe speed on our 110km/h freeways.
Your's is the same?

That pic is at the Lock with Mt Feathertop in the background, the lift is 3 inch and the tyres are 27 inch with 14 inch scorpion rims and stock offset. Love them! I'm now back on my roadies for towing/braking reasons, the "little boots" @ 23 inches.

Is that legal in Victoria? I love that stance.

23 inchers? That's the stock 185/70R-13's or smaller?

Brockharro:

Get your dizzy checked for shaft play, and check the electronics in there - they can be really temperamental, work all day one day then kick up a fuss the next. Sunnie is at this point at the moment but is not starting at all. I put a new coil on and he ran for 3 minutes perfectly, started first go, but then he died and wouldn't start again...

Cheers

Bennie

Do you think my dizzy could be at fault? I didn't hear any additional wind noise when I started losing speed. It was a subtle drop, but felt like I was stuck with 1/2 throttle.

No doubt, fresh air instead of under-bonnet air would help, so I intend to fix my stock snorkel soon...
And I'm considering a dual-snorkel set up!

Driver and passenger side snorkels.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 8:48 am

Battery loose - my first thought. Seen a battery loosely fitted to a Suzuki, bigger than what it started with, brakes applied in a hurry, engine stopped and pos terminal burnt a hole through the bonnet

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:33 pm

2nd Hand Yank wrote:I did have 4th at around 120ish km/h and that sounded pretty aggressive.

That is correct, 120 in 4th would be about 5000rpm. I checked 4th at 100km/h and the engine's sitting just high of 4500rpm, so my guess would be that 120km/h would be ~5000km/h.

2nd Hand Yank wrote:I have to use deliberate throttle opening just to maintain a safe speed on our 110km/h freeways.
Your's is the same?[?QUOTE]

Nope, the EJ22 is less than that. Plus with the added cruise control I don't need to use the throttle anymore

2nd Hand Yank wrote:Is that legal in Victoria? I love that stance.
Not without engineering, something I want to do with the next body. For now I shit my pants everytime a cop looks sideways at me

2nd Hand Yank wrote:23 inchers? That's the stock 185/70R-13's or smaller?
I think that would be it, I haven't looked at my tyre size but that's what it's diametre is.

2nd Hand Yank wrote:Do you think my dizzy could be at fault? I didn't hear any additional wind noise when I started losing speed. It was a subtle drop, but felt like I was stuck with 1/2 throttle.

Nah, it's probably boredom and a brief head wind that made you think you lost power, trust me it can happen! When your EA82 cuts out and you roll to a stop and won't start again, that's when you need to be concerned about it!

And dual snorkels?? Personally I don't like that look, but each to their own. Will one be a dummy? If not, how will you hook it up under the bonnet, and if you go with the EJ, how will you hook the two up?

Cheers

Bennie