FYI - had a similar stutter/misfire under hard acceleration. i know i have at least one cracked coil pack (temporarily repaired), but i have found today that cleaning out my boost solenoid and associated pipework (inc the pipe to the little black box on the left of the boost solenoid) seems to have cured the problem. perhaps worth a try!?

Kevin

ps. also have the same cold starting problem (car eventually stutters into life after several seconds) and, it's still there - suspect the coil (as it's damaged) pack is the problem there tho!

[Edited by K9VYN - 11/8/2003 7:49:58 PM]

 

Sometimes when I start my car it turns over for quite a while before starting when it used to turn for about 2 second and fire in to life...

I have also noticed that when the car is cold it suffers a bit of hesitation/flat spots when accelerating at low rpm...

It has had a recent service, but still has the OEM HT Leads from 1997, is it best to replace these first?!... What is the average life on an HT Lead? Anything else I can check under the bonnet this weekend? Obviously all vacuum hoses etc.

Also the idle feels ever so slightly lumpy after the car has warmed up, you feel the odd small judder (like a small misfire) but the rpm stay constant, ie. it doesn't search up and down. Is this usual?...

Any help / advice appreciated!

Matt.
(1998 UK Turbo)

 

The slightly lumpy idle is a characteristic of the engine - they all do that sir!!

As long as it's not more than once every few seconds and can't be seen on the rev counter, then don't worry too much.
Mine does it too - I logged the car RPM with my ECU data recorder and found the RPM only changes by +/- 25 RPM, however it sounds like it's much worse...

As for the cold start, when was the last time the plugs were changed? Could be worth a look.

One last thing - how's the fuel economy? If it's awful (well, more than normal ) then it could be the first signs of the oxygen sensor in the exhaust failing.

I'm sure someone else can think up some more things to look at!

As you say, it could be the HT leads... In my limited experience, HT leads don't generally give up and die, unless they're not making contact properly. A replacement set is not expensive, so it may be worth an experiment.

Coil pack failure is somthing more associated with pre MY96 cars, so I doubt it's that.

 

Thanks for the reply!... The car was serviced about a month ago now, it's only the HT leads that haven't been changed... I think I might look in to changing them, they are 5 years old!....

Glad about the idle is naturally a little lumpy, thats put my mind to rest, it's only a tiny bit, the rpm needle is solid as rock and doesn't search at all, so thats great!

I think the car could be overfueling, I'm going to have a look at the cables to the lambda probe at the weekend... the exhuast is black with carbon and I only got 100 miles from £20 of Optimax with very conservative driving! Is that normal?...

 

17 mpg isn't normal (rough guess/calculation on my part), unless you've been having fun with the loud pedal (or driving a RX8 - 15 litres in a one hour test drive!!)

I get about 22 to 25 mpg around town in my Scoob - or I did till the lambda sensor died - new one going in at the weekend - and yes, it's sooting up the exhaust like yours does.

 

Whats the best option for checking out the Lambda probe?...

Check the cables to see if they've chaffed and shorting out or just replace it as a matter of course...

Is there any tests I can do with a multimeter?...

I guess it bolts in to the exhaust manifold?!...

Where's the cheapest place to get one from?...


Matt.
Going to buy a Haynes Manual tomorrow...

 

P.S. Did a ECU self diagnostic test and it did bring up no faults... Surely this would pick up a fault lambda probe?

 

You wont get a Haynes manual , they dont do them for the Scoob!
i had aproblem with HT leads recently on MY98 , had a misfire but only under mid to loony acceleration, turned out to be leads .
not cheap though --£22.0 plus vat EACH from dealer , got some good quality replacements £66.00 plus vat for 4.