Just bought a 1.9 205 gti, and its just passed its mot. however, its seriously lacking power - the engine revs fine when in neutral, but as soon as its put under load (in gear) it splutters and burbles without giving much power at all. also, it backfires quite a bit. and ideas or solutions would be very much appreciated!

Cheers guys

Tom

Take the air flter out and see if it makes a difference.
A new set of plugs wouldn't do any harm either.

Clive

Find a 405 gti with the mi16 engine and swap the 2 round.

The very similar engines but the mi16 is 16v and more power full.

[Edited on 5/7/05 by clbarclay]

Ignition timming?

Cack in the dizzy cap?

Probably just needs a good service and try what the others have said. Replacing engine seems a bit extreme!! but you never know!!

Alot of moden engines sound rough when they need servicing.

Could just be plugs, I am not familiar with the injection system on these if it has a flap type air flow meter it could just be sticking. It is also worth checking for vacumn leaks and also the fuel pump presssure. Also worth doing a compression test.

Strangely although I have never owned a PUG I have tha puka Snap DataCheck 200 that reads and clears the fault codes on these that I have been wanting to sell for a while.

[Edited on 5/7/05 by britishtrident]

dizzy caps are a weak spot on them,if it has the plastic bag over its worse(typical french)

cheers guys, will eck the plugs and leads tomorrow (only prob is im still in bristol and my tools are at home, along with GTS .

thanks again
Tom

air flow meters on these things can cock up with ease , a temp sensor will make things bad aswell.

as mentioned by those above, on mine both the airflow meter and dizzy cap gave trouble. Especially with the wet weather now I'd take the cap off and check for damp in it.

With the airflow meter, carefully prise off the black plastic top and check in it for dampness and that the spindle moves ok and that the slider track inside is intact. You can get a few extra miles out of a knackered one by tweaking the slider spring to exert a touch more pressure on the pads.

quote:

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Originally posted by clbarclay
Find a 405 gti with the mi16 engine and swap the 2 round.

The very similar engines but the mi16 is 16v and more power full.

[Edited on 5/7/05 by clbarclay]

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If its a car with out a cat then follow the instructions below. If it has a cat, then its probably the lambda sensor.

Check the Ignition amplifier module as this can cause ignition problems under load. These are about £40 from eurocarparts.

If its still backfiring, its either over fueling, or the ignition timing has been retarded too much to allow it to run on unleaded.

Fueling is adjusted on the AFM, idle speed on the throttle body

To advance retard the ignition loosen the dizzy cap slightly and twist it clockwise or anti clock wise. You'll know if your advancing the ignition timing as the engine revs will rise, if they fall your retarding ignition.
easy way to set ignition timing is to get engine upto normal running temp advance dizzy slightly, start car moving 5mph, stick it into second and floor accel' if it pinks back of ignition, if it doesn't keep advancing ignition until it pinks then back it of.

These engine run best on shell optimax as you can advance the ignition to standard settings. The ignition has to be retarded so much to run on unleaded pug stopped advising how much to retard ignition as power dropped to 115is bhp.

If you set the ignition timing for optimax the car will pink on 95 ron unleaded.

Does it idle OK, should be around 900 rpm and steady, if its hunting you need to clean out all the breather pipes to the throttle body they get full of mayo crap.

What were the MOT emission values?

[Edited on 6/7/05 by awinter]

crikey, 3 posts in a row from leicestershire!!

Just to hijack the thread, my k plate 1.9 was decatted by the previous owner, am i going to have problems come mot time?

its done 150,000miles (little history, so could well be replacement engine) but still goes well, only prob i have is the oil press on dash doesn't work, anyone know where the sender is/if its likely the problem?!

I also need to sort out the front suspension as it wanders like crazy whn floorng it/lifting off the car changes direction

I've been following the ppc build of their track car, but most focus on the locost than diversify and spend the money on the pug, especially as it's high milage ad only cost £500 off ebay!

Ned.

ps I'm not from leicestershire

pps do they all have remote filters on them or has someone put a kit on mine to relocate it to the front bulkhead?

[Edited on 6/7/05 by ned]

If you do an oil change and clean out all the engine breather pipes you may be OK as my standard 8v 1.9 engine had rediculously low emissions regarding HC's and CO.
The CAT engines don't have the same tweakability as the ECU control both fueling and Ignition. They also have a much lower Compession ratio and are a good basis for a light pressure turbo applications.
Let us know how you get on at MOT

Not sure about remote filters, you don't see many late 205 Gtis, I can find out though.
Standard early cars came with a small air oil cooler, later cars came with a water oil cooler, what has yours got if anything?

As for locost or modded engine tin top, I run both (or I will when the sylva is finished) 309 gti Mi16 with twin 45 Dellorto's and a sylva striker ZX9r

cheers for all your help guys - i changed the leads and plugs, and it was sorted, then the next day (this morning) same prob!
in the end i have traced it to crap in the dizzy, so disconnected it and cleaned again - i hope it doesnt need doing every day!
im not sure about the ignition timing, whether its supposed to run on optimax or usual unleaded, ill geve optimax a go next - will i notice much difference?
one thing, its idling at about 1500 cold, increasing to just under 2000 when warm - should i be worried?

opened her up for the first time today, its pretty giuck, i love the ride and cornering already!
Tom

no need to be woried about the idle but it should idle at 900 rpm when warm. The auxillary air device on these engines do go to pot over time but cleaning all the breather tubes out to the throttle body and the 2 pipes to the oil filler cap will help with idle. The idle speed screw is on the throttle body to reduce it.

You will only see any benifit of optimax if you advance the ignition as described