Fuel problem?

[rfoster]

Morning all, hope you can help - last night whilst driving home I suddenly experienced a loss of power from the car. It still ran and idled okay but when you put your foot down it has a little trouble turning up the revs unless you do it slowly. I left it overnight and started it again this morning - ran perfect for the first couple of minutes, then this stumbling started again.
My guess is a fuel problem - blocked injector possibly? Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Richard.

[rfoster]

In fact we've jsut had a closer look and it's running lumpy 'cos it's only running on 3 cylinders - odd that one cut out last night and was then running again this morning (and now not again.) I've booked it in for a look - has anyone had similar symptoms?

[NJS25]

I had a similar problem this weekend, turned out to be a dodgy set of plugs.

The car had just been serviced, and the problem became apparent on the first proper run out. At first I thought it was fuel related, and the problem would only occur very occassionally, and tended to clear with revs. Eventually the car became undrivable, cut out, and idled very lumpy.

Changed the plugs and she fine.

Regards, Neil

>> Edited by NJS25 on Wednesday 7th July 13:02

[adrianr]

Don't rule out electrical faults just yet.

Spark pugs can crack, ignition leads can can work loose or short out, distributor caps can crack or get full of water, all of which could give the sort of intermittent problem you describe.

Ignition faults willl usually be worse in the wet, as water conducts. Looking at your profile you have a 98R - has it ever had leads and dizzy cap replaced?

AdrianR

[rfoster]

I've only had this one since March - when I bought it from Bell & Colvill it had just had the 'C' services so I would assume plugs were changed - not sure whether leads are changed though. I thought it may perhaps be a blocked fuel injector which cleared itself overnight (i'm not very technically minded.) I'll let you know the outcome on Monday!

[rfoster]

Well I found the problem last night - I checked to see whch cylinder wasn't firing - the second from the left. I pulled the spark plug lead and could see liquid covering the spark plug nearly all the way to the top. It's water or coolant, can't work out which and I don't know how it got there! It's not evident around any of the other spark plugs. Any thoughts?

[pley]

Rain?

[rfoster]

That's what I thought - but I couldn't work out how it's only got into one of the spark plugs.

[jb26413]

You can tell whether it's coolant by the smell...

[rfoster]

It only smells like water, but of course it could be very diluted. Is there a top gasket - I wondered if perhaps coolant has leaked through the cam cover gasket into the spark plug well of cylinder 2. Wish I could find a diagram then I could have a look!

[jb26413]

As best I know, the top cam cover does not hold water, the water jacket is contained within the head... you'd only get oil out of there if the gasket was weeping.

Coolant does have a pretty strong smell, shouldn't be that diluted I don't think. Most likely rain water coming in through the vents - when I open my lid (mk 2) after it's been raining, the engine gets a thorough wash!

Now it's all cleaned and dry, is the engine running okay again? I'd just keep an eye on it - make sure that your coolant level is not going down dramatically and that your oil is not creamy. In this weather, I'd expect the engine to get a bit wet.

[fergusd]

rfoster said:

Well I found the problem last night - I checked to see whch cylinder wasn't firing - the second from the left. I pulled the spark plug lead and could see liquid covering the spark plug nearly all the way to the top. It's water or coolant, can't work out which and I don't know how it got there! It's not evident around any of the other spark plugs. Any thoughts?

It'll be rain/washing water, it can't be anything else really, there's no coolant high enough in the head to get into the plug wells unless you've got a cracked head . . . which effectively NEVER HAPPENS so don't worry about it . . . water contamination of the plug wells is a very common problem on Elises, it can get past the plug cover and plug lead seals . . . it then causes mayhem . . . manic washing/jetwashing/heavy rain can all be causes . . .

Dry it all out, and see if it's ok, the plug lead may need replacing is it's contaminated, or it may be ok.

Fd

>> Edited by fergusd on Thursday 8th July 12:50

[rfoster]

Thanks, I'll give it a bloody good dry out and see how it goes. probably worth putting a line of clear silicone sealent along the spark plug cover strips so water can't leak in again.