Daewoo Lanos down on power!
Discussion
I’ve got a 1998 Daewoo Lanos 1.4 (8 valve), No laughing please!!!
– I purchased it 5 years ago for very little money and was only intended as a throw-a-way car to tide me over. I have to say though it’s been a great little cheap run-around. High motorway mileage but well cared for with full history and more service receipts than you can shake a s
tty stick at. Never failed an MoT so I kept it as a spare for knocking around town in.
The only problem is there has always been a distinct lack of power at the mid to top range which I have decided to investigate. It has always started first time on the button and runs smooth & sweet but something is definitely holding back its full power potential (lol). Pulls away briskly but when engine is under load (i.e., approaching inclines) there doesn’t feel the oomph that it should have and you have to start working the gears to maintain speed. Or if I’m coasting along a flat road at say 40 or 50 mph, there feels little response if I floor the throttle with just a gradual and slow build up of speed. Now for comparison I have driven another Lanos of the same year & engine size and that one had much more throttle response to mine.
Engine is in good condition, well maintained and never uses a drop of oil or fluids between servicing. Timing has been checked (new cambelt fitted), compression test shows all cyls are equal with good psi and using a vacuum gauge connected to inlet shows good vacuum at the high end of the scale at tickover with no flickering of the needle. Injectors, coil pack, lambda, tps, iscv, fuel pressure regulator, crank sensor & various other bits have been replaced along the way but still the distinct lack of power.
From what I’ve read a common problem with these motors can be heavy cam lobe wear and I’m wondering if this may be the cause of the problem - although would that show up on the compression or vacuum test? Any thoughts welcome as I’ve made it my summer project to get this mean machine back to full strength again.
– I purchased it 5 years ago for very little money and was only intended as a throw-a-way car to tide me over. I have to say though it’s been a great little cheap run-around. High motorway mileage but well cared for with full history and more service receipts than you can shake a stty stick at. Never failed an MoT so I kept it as a spare for knocking around town in.The only problem is there has always been a distinct lack of power at the mid to top range which I have decided to investigate. It has always started first time on the button and runs smooth & sweet but something is definitely holding back its full power potential (lol). Pulls away briskly but when engine is under load (i.e., approaching inclines) there doesn’t feel the oomph that it should have and you have to start working the gears to maintain speed. Or if I’m coasting along a flat road at say 40 or 50 mph, there feels little response if I floor the throttle with just a gradual and slow build up of speed. Now for comparison I have driven another Lanos of the same year & engine size and that one had much more throttle response to mine.
Engine is in good condition, well maintained and never uses a drop of oil or fluids between servicing. Timing has been checked (new cambelt fitted), compression test shows all cyls are equal with good psi and using a vacuum gauge connected to inlet shows good vacuum at the high end of the scale at tickover with no flickering of the needle. Injectors, coil pack, lambda, tps, iscv, fuel pressure regulator, crank sensor & various other bits have been replaced along the way but still the distinct lack of power.
From what I’ve read a common problem with these motors can be heavy cam lobe wear and I’m wondering if this may be the cause of the problem - although would that show up on the compression or vacuum test? Any thoughts welcome as I’ve made it my summer project to get this mean machine back to full strength again.
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff