Running rich? Losing power? Idling rough?

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:44 pm

Has anyone experienced these problems with their FTO, more precisely a mivec one? After i've had mine sitting for a while, let it warm up, then drive it into mivec territory, it starts running rich, idling rough, losing power and just generally behaves like a pain in the arse! Ive had an EFI scan carried out by a local mechanic, but he couldn't find any problem with any of the codes read by the machine. Any ideas?

payaya · Post by **payaya** » Sun Apr 04, 2004 11:16 pm

how do you know its running rich? A good way is to take out a spark plug and analyse the colour of the tip.

ive had similar thing happen to my other car, it was the cat convertor, check it out.

Post by **smorison** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 12:53 pm

i think you need to let it warm up for a bit longer i get this occasionally (or i think its the same thing).... is your manual or tip?

my tip will stall on occasions when your at idle, if yours is manual i wouldn't expect this to happen.

does the note of the engine change dramatically when you put your foot down (sound like a cylinder out or something wierd like that)

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:28 pm

It just smells really fumy, but it doesnt stall. Its a manual, and it does have that really weird sound to it, like a cylinder out or something.

Blk-Jet · Post by **Blk-Jet** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:34 pm

If you running rich then it's only a good thing. Yeah, your economy will go through the roof but your engine will be running a little cooler as the extra fuel helps to cool the cylinder. Running rich isn't bad at all and won't be giving you those problems, unless its running a 1:1 scale but hen it wouldn't even start, you'd flood it!

Don't push the car atm, last thing you want is your engine throwing in the towel. Nurse it, it could even be running lean! This is the worry end of the fuel maps.

Smorison sounds right, one cylinder might be out of wack! In that case, get your mechanic to pressure test your heads and see what results you get.

Post by **smorison** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:52 pm

bascially what i've found is that the car isn't really at its full operating temperature....

so your driving it to hard to soon... keep it out of mivec for the first 10 minutes of driving (if you let it warm up before you start driving then 5 minutes of driving should be ok)...

MADFTO · Post by **MADFTO** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:11 pm

Mivec doesn't engage when the engine restricted due to the engine being too cold =)

Hmmmmm, just sounds wierd that it'd only be happening after mivec. Need more information I suspect. If it was happening all the time, and worse during cold start, then yeah.

From what I'm getting from your original post, the problems only start happening once you enter mivec range. So it doesn't happen until you get the mivec cams engaged???

It almost sounds like the mivec solenoid sticking/staying open . . .

If your car was running rich enough to cause problems like rough idle, you'd be hearing backfire =)

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:08 am

I just noticed that i didnt clarify myself too well. It doesnt do it all the time, only for a few minutes or so after its started. It rights itself after that,no backfiring, just rough idle. It just seems strange because it isnt a consistant problem, it only lasts for a few minutes and only after its been driven into mivec for the first time after cold. It still does the 5k rpm cutout when its still really cold. Am i worrying about nothing? I thought that if this was happening, it maybe effecting the car mechanically also. Maybe plugs is the first port of call.

MADFTO · Post by **MADFTO** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:46 pm

Alright, another question, about roughly what RPM does it idle at when cold?
Also, it should smooth out if you depress the accelerator after a certain RPM, what RPM is this???

Also, when was the last service you had, what rating oil were you using and what's the ambient temperature about when you start it up (ball park figure don't need specifics) =)

Just trying to rule out oil being too thick at cold. . . =)

Oh, one more thing, do you have any stains around the exhaust tip and do you see any smoke while it's idling at normal operating temp?

Sorry if the questions seem random, I'm just trying to think of symptoms =)

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 7:51 pm

Thats ok mate,i appreciate the help! When its not playing up, it idles at around 1200-1500k rpm on cold, not exactly sure,but it doesnt seem abnormal. It doesnt smooth out at all until it fixes itself. It is overdue for a service, but only by 2k kms,the last being 7k kms ago. I had it done by the local mitsubishi dealership down here, as i didnt know anywhere else to take it at the time, and it was the first one id had done for it. It doesnt seem to react to any particular temperatures, it does it anytime of day, in any temperature. When i was in melbourne a few weeks ago, i got a hold of some optimax (coz we dont have it here!) and filled the tank. That night when i was in town, it started playing up, and it was blowing a bit of smoke then. I run it on normal 98 ron pulp down here and it doesnt blow smoke at all. It seems to be a bit strange, huh?! Its getting serviced next tuesday, and im going to get the plugs replaced. Anything else my mechanic should look for while he's there?

Post by **smorison** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 8:22 pm

the optimax thing is easy to explain: your car de-tuned itself for lower ron rated fuel, when you put optimax in it took a while to adjust and ran rich... running rich is fine for the engine just not the hip pocket.

are there any performance shops in tassy??? i'd take it to them and not a dealer, couple of reasons why:

1. dealers use apprentices to work on your cars.
2. dealers will have no experience with FTO's.
3. Performance shops (whilst they cost a little bit more) normally do a better job and in the long run cost less as they know how to fix the problems first time around.

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Tue Apr 06, 2004 11:02 pm

There is one performance shop down here that im taking it to for its service, he's meant to be fairly thorough. Im moving to melbourne soon, so maybe i'll have to hit you guys up for good places to take it then....

MADFTO · Post by **MADFTO** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 10:20 am

*grins* most services are pretty simple, not much needs to be done.

Next question would be what oil did they put in your car??? but doesn't matter if you don't know, just make sure you know the next batch of oil that's going to go in.

Honestly, I can't even try to guess what it could be without being with the car, just too many things can cause stuff like this =)

Next time you're in Melb (or if the next time is the move) we should organise a cruise or a meet up or something =)

jez001 · Post by **jez001** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 2:33 pm

Thatd be cool madfto, will do. Thanks everyone for their help, its been really great. Cheers!