MY 3.2 swap mk4 is running like a bag of crap

Daz

1999 fiat coupe 20vt, it's showing an injector warning light at WOT under load, such as 3.5k revs up a hill in top. To me that is a similar condition to when it would knock, however it has knock sensors etc so shouldn't be a problem. No warning lights at any other time, but it does it more often in hot weather

Otherwise it drives fine, the fiat guys i took it to said it was "ECU fault" their kit couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but they suggested cam phase sensor or coilpacks

 

TTT so Daz doesn't miss this amongst a load of "wiv a cam" threads

 

is there a crack in the inlet manifold somewhere? i`m assuming its the plastic inlet you`ve got on there? you haven`t got the vvt solenoid plugs on the wrong way round have you? i.e. buggering up the cam timing, and causing too much overlap at low rpm. what about cam and crank position sensors? is one of the cam sensors buggered perhaps?

 

vvt solenoids are keyed and colour coded, you can't get them wrong.

cam trigger wiring is a VERY tight stretch to wire them the other way.

it's looking like the manifold or one fo the vacuum hoses. got another manfiold anyway. will have a good root abotu when I've got time to take the front end off.

 

get some ITBs and cams for some 300bhp goodness, like gareth's

 

I don't do VW but i do BMW and its got this whole secondary air pump system and saw you had a problem similar to a 330 i had at work. Turned out to be an EGR valve, gives symptoms of engine knocking (depending on how bad the valve is) and crap fuel economy. The whole point of the system is to burn the "bad stuff" in the exhaust gases so if you hooked it up to an emissions tester the NOx would be high.
BMW GT1 system diagnosed it, i sat back, but is there a great difference between VAG-COM and whatever VW use?

 

ah! it definitely knocks a bit when it's struggling to idle.

so, at the moment, I need to trace any vaccuum leaks, and get this secondary air injection system working properly, because it clearly doesn't.

 

My valver had a beauty where the double offtake had a air-leaking bung on one end. Used a tin of brake cleaner (carb cleaner equivalent would work) and when it hit it, the idle raised up. Be careful of electrical contacts tho!

Could have two faults, air leak and EGR system in which case the fault is made worse. Hope you find them soon.

 

Did they not pull any fault codes or descriptions out?? ECU fault seems as vague as you can get

 

Aye exactly thats what i thought, cars seem to be very good value, but the dealers are rubbish and the specialists seem great at the bolt on/off stuff, but the more involved engine stuff isn't well supported

 

oi, fiat boy, get off me thread.