rb968
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| posted on 3/5/12 at 03:28 PM |
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Westfield 1.8 Zetec misfire
Went to see a friend last night we helped build a Westfield with a bog standard 1.8 zetec on injection with MBE ecu.
It's always been a bit rough when started but then used to settle down. Never seemed to pickup to a fast idle when cold though.
He has had few runs out but mainly short runs, it hasn't done many miles since it was built.
It's been misfiring and bogging down when you open the throttle a decent amount. If you let it idle and slowly build the revs it will rev no
problem but blip the throttle and it coughs and stutters and backfires.
We checked the plugs which were pretty black. Gaps were correct at 1.3mm as per the build manual, so we cleaned them up but made no difference.
We started checking for air leaks etc but could not find any. Wiring all looks ok except for the lambda where the 4 wires just fell out when my dad
went to check the plug into the loom. I'm guessing that a dodgy reading from the lambda could well be at fault.
Is it usual for a cold start to still work with a custom ecu? Or will he just have to hold some revs on for a few minutes?
We are going to run it with the lambda disconnected to see if it's exactly the same then wire it back up and see if improves.
Any thoughts?
Rich
[Edited on 3/5/12 by rb968]
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Xtreme Kermit
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| posted on 3/5/12 at 08:30 PM |
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Sounds like wiring it up would be a really good idea...
Not an expert here but I understand that there is a cold running enrichment area of the map that usually takes care of startup.
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BaileyPerformance
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| posted on 3/5/12 at 10:46 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rb968
Went to see a friend last night we helped build a Westfield with a bog standard 1.8 zetec on injection with MBE ecu.
It's always been a bit rough when started but then used to settle down. Never seemed to pickup to a fast idle when cold though.
He has had few runs out but mainly short runs, it hasn't done many miles since it was built.
It's been misfiring and bogging down when you open the throttle a decent amount. If you let it idle and slowly build the revs it will rev no
problem but blip the throttle and it coughs and stutters and backfires.
We checked the plugs which were pretty black. Gaps were correct at 1.3mm as per the build manual, so we cleaned them up but made no difference.
We started checking for air leaks etc but could not find any. Wiring all looks ok except for the lambda where the 4 wires just fell out when my dad
went to check the plug into the loom. I'm guessing that a dodgy reading from the lambda could well be at fault.
Is it usual for a cold start to still work with a custom ecu? Or will he just have to hold some revs on for a few minutes?
We are going to run it with the lambda disconnected to see if it's exactly the same then wire it back up and see if improves.
Any thoughts?
Rich
Hi, you dont really need the lambda, it will only be used by the ECU when the engine is warm and at light throttle.
I would change the plugs, cleaning them is not always going to help.
If all the plugs are black it running way too rich, if just one or two are black its got a missfire - if so, plugs or coilpack are a fault.
If none of the above helps, You should really get it mapped, sounds to me its way out.
[Edited on 3/5/12 by rb968]
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Dusty
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| posted on 4/5/12 at 12:01 AM |
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Zetecs are sensitive to running too rich. It kills the plugs and they missfire.
Ford changed the plug gap advice from 1.3 to 1.0 years ago for the zetec!
If it starts easy and then bogs it sounds like it's way too rich. Sounds like it's in desperate need of mapping. Take new plugs with you
to fit during the session. Fairly pointless fiddling with it if you are not pretty familiar with aftermarket injection/MBE software/basics of start
mapping/warm-up temperature correction/idle control/transients/main fuel maps.
I run omex and they don't recommend bothering with a lambda for normally aspirated engines.
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rb968
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| posted on 7/5/12 at 04:14 PM |
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Thanks everyone. Dusty, we were just looking at he obvious things to explain it running so badly where previously when we drove it it was fine,
although it has always felt down on power. He mbe ecu from Westfield is in theory plug and play but it is pretty old so I am sure it would benefit
from a check over and a mapping.
We will change the plugs, reconnect the lambda and see how it goes.
[Edited on 7/5/12 by rb968]
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