1.6 glxi intermittent problem

[slackbladder]

Hi,
Can any one help me? I have an S reg Glxi Hatch which has developed an annoying intermittent problem. It usually happens when I'm slowing down going down hills or turning right on side roads. When I need to apply more power the engine hesitates and struggles. More throttle and changing down does not help; I just have to be patient and after a few seconds the power comes back and off I go vroom!!
Today I did a round trip of 170 miles with no problem, but after I had parked-up for an hour I did my normal 5 mile trip home and it happened again. I have looked at the spark plugs examined the HT leeds, the air filter was replaced 10,000 miles ago. All seems tobe OK. Have I missed anything?
I have plugged my £20 diagnostic gizmo in and it did not come-up with any faults at all.

I am very new to all this although I have owned my car from new. It has only done 49,000 miles but has been playing-up for the last 6 months. Sometimes this problem can happen up to 10 times in one day!

Any help/suggestions would be most welcome.

Cheers

[fordfan]

Clean the throttle body.

[TeflonTom]

and the map sensor

[slackbladder]

Thanks for the info.
I went to my local auto shop and they recomended some Holts carb cleaner. I sprayed it into the throttle body whilst my 14 year old son was gunning the peddle (lucky lad). The Mrs wanted the car to go shopping this evening so did not clean the sensor.
The chagnges have been dramatic though. The engine keeps reving at about 1500 for a while until it settles at bellow 1,000. Before the car would just go down to 900 and say there. The engine feels far more willing and responsive and I feel sure that this will probably cured all my problems.
Thanks; you both know your stuff!!
PS the car is 9 years old/59,000 miles; I got the cam belt renewed 5 months ago but I have never had the auxilary belt, pollen filter, break or coolent fluid changed. Are these things important or can I afford to leave them? HT leads have never been renewed either.

Are there any other things that I should do to the car to keep it running smoothly?

Thanks again for your help.

[fordfan]

Pollen filter at 2 years/20000 miles, brake fluid every 2 years regardless of mileage, coolant every 5 years using VW G12 pink coolant (about 3 litres for a 50% mix). Auxilliary belts do last, they are easy enough to check for cracks/wear, as they are a wide belt I have seen small stones embedded in them which can cause them to split. When HT leads go the first sign is a mis-fire, if they are OK don't touch them, spark plugs at 40000 miles.

You could make sure that there is a bit of slack in the throttle cable, put the throttle body into basic settings by leaving the ignition on for a minute (engine not running). When cleaning it I usually use a toothbrush, carb cleaner and some cloth without the engine running.

Your coolant temperature sensor may be giving inaccurate readings, though it is not showing a fault and the readings may be within parameters I have come across them where they read a true 90 deg one minute and 30 deg the next, which will affect the engine fuelling calculation.

[slackbladder]

Hi,
Cleaned the throttle body with a tooth brush as described.
Drove it on the road and the idle speed is still racing at over 1,500 revs and does not come down at all to its usual speed.
Used the Gizmo and it had 5 fault codes:
00525 o2 sensor
00537 ox sensor
00525 o2 sensor
00520 v mass air flow sensor-G19ig70
00535 1st knock sensor

Just had a thought;
If i have been running the engine without the filter wouldn't the engine's setting be out of alignment and do I need ti erase the codes???

Any Ideas?

[slackbladder]

I cleered all the faults and took it for a 10 mile trip.
The engine's idle speed is still too high.
and I got three fault codes:
00533 1st knock sensor
00525 o2 sensor too low
00537 ox sensor
Any ideas/suggestions?
Cheers

[slackbladder]

I can report three new codes now:

00282 Throttle postion actuator v 60
00282 Throttle postion actuator v 60
00282 Throttle postion actuator v 60

Help!!

[slackbladder]

More codes to report:

00525 O2 sensor-voltage kow-G39
00533 Idle air control regulation
00537 Oxygen sensor control
00525 O2 sensor-voltage kow-G39

Any ideas?

Have I wrecked the throttle body?

[fordfan]

Have a look here:

Category:Fault Codes - Ross-Tech Wiki

[slackbladder]

I have now fitted a brand new throttle body.
I must confess to have broken the old one by damaging the wiring and plug. DOH!!!
The new throttle body was an ebay bargain at £75 inc. postage though the water connections were slightly different and I had to buy a longer pipe.
The feel of the car is very different, the idle speed has come down to around 900 and there seems to be more power throughout the rev range but the peddle feels really stiff compared to the old one making blending the clutch with the throttle a bit tricky.
I have erased all the faults and I’ll see how I get on.
I noticed that without a proper connection to the throttle body the peddle was extremely twitchy especially when taking power off; the car would lurch as it slowed down under engine breaking.
Does any one know how to realign the new throttle?
Thanks,

[slackbladder]

I have now found how to realign the throttle body for a Felicia and it works on my 1.6 GLxi Octavia!

Apparently the car thinks your driving with the old throttle body until you reset the engine management. You don’t need any tools and it only takes 10 seconds.

Please click on the pdf below for full instructions and explanation.

Regards;