My car has had recon engine and turbos fitted, the garage working on the car has been having problems for the last couple of weeks trying to get it to run right. Weve progressed from not starting a tall, to running on 3, 4, and 5 cylinders, now we have it intermitently cutting out on one cylinder. They have put some used (but apparently good) coil packs in so its not them. My question is, what are the usual things to check in this situation? Please please can I have as many suggestions as possible so I can put them all to the garage and see which ones they have already done and which ones they havent and hopefully get me a step closer to getting my car back on the road - I havent had the car since January!

Check the injector connections are clean and good, failing that, replace the spark plugs, in case one is breaking down under load, then its swapping the PTU.

faulty cas unit may cause this.

faulty cas unit may cause this.

 

Less likely than PTU or an injector/electrical problem though.

i have a spare ptu series one if you need to try it out let me know and i send you it to try it out, ps injector connectors is what i just had replaced can get new from mr f "mjp on traders section all six for £55 all in , and i got spark plugs from hi as well "67 pounds ,also you will most likely need balance bar o rings , as one of mine got lost when i changed spark plugs , car ran like a dog untill someone spotted it was missing ,

try wiggling injector connnectors to see if the missfire changes "worsens or gets better" do the same with coil pack connectors as well , if all above is done and still missfire suspect loom , im sure one of the traders on here will give you more info ps im not a qualified mechanic but its what ive bin through on my car . and a qualified mechanic sorted it for me ..

also get more info on cas as well from mechanics on here , hope some of the above helps ,

its not likely to be a cas,id check the injector connections and clean,check the 2 small 10mm bolts that ground the PTU back of engine left and right,if there not secured properly it will more than likely kill the ptu instantly,a faulty cas is unlikely,infact its just as likely as a cracked injector insulator,try a s2 ptu and injector connections,then go from there,also make sure the wire clips are used on the injector plugs to give them a secure grip on the injectors

its not likely to be a cas,id check the injector connections and clean,check the 2 small 10mm bolts that ground the PTU back of engine left and right,if there not secured properly it will more than likely kill the ptu instantly,a faulty cas is unlikely,infact its just as likely as a cracked injector insulator,try a s2 ptu and injector connections,then go from there,also make sure the wire clips are used on the injector plugs to give them a secure grip on the injectors

my ptu is a series one, it only has two bolts in it (the ones that keep it in place) will this affect it

my engine seems as though its running on five cylinders when warm, it will run ok but if you put your foot down you hear a missing noise, and if you floor it, then change gear it will miss like hell

 

sorry for the hijack

my ptu is a series one, it only has two bolts in it (the ones that keep it in place) will this affect it

no that wont effect it,there are ground points at the rear of the plenum,which are for the ptu if they are loose or corroded it may damage the series 1 ptu due to having a poor connection

 

i take it you have pulled each coil pack in turn to find out which cylinder is not fireing correctly?

Thanks for all of the replies very helpful. The garage have come to a diagnosis today, worringly it seems to be very different to anything that has been suggested on here. There diagnosis is that one of the cam lobes is profiled incorrectly and needs to be reprofiled. Im not an expert on the mechanics of cams but it does seem viable. They tell me that the all engines they get have the cam lobes reprofiled as part of the recontioning before they come to them and mine is just slightly wrong. Apparently its fine when reving higher but cuts out at low revs. My worry with this is they have had my car for 3 months and the engine would have been in there possesion for most of that time so why didnt they notice this when they "checked it"? But I suppose it could be only slightly wrong, which may be hard to notice? Like I said Im no expert. Does what they are saying sound like its correct or are they talking a load of crap? Things like the PTU and CAS I have mentioned to them several times and they are addament that its not these. These seemed more likely, from what ive read in previous threads, when the car wouldnt start but now its running (badly) maybe not. But then im not an expert on these either. I dont seem to be an expert on much unfortunetly!

But I am not rulling anything out so I would be more than grateful if you dont mind. How much would you wont for postage? I would collect but its a fair old way and I dont know if my 1989 Ford Escort diesel estate (with a tow bar (worth more than the car!)) will get that far!

I would much rather get the car over to a Zed specialist like Zedworld, Ztech, etc, because of the product knowledge, better equipment(conzult), and the fact that when they say they know whats wrong with it they WILL know whats wrong with it rather than think they know whats wrong and it turn out to make no difference. It was all set to go to Zedworld last week when all of a sudden they KNEW that it was a couple of coilpacks and fair enough weve gone from 4 cylinders this time last week to nearly 6 now so thats an improvement and all the time they are spending on it now is not costing me anymore, as weve got an agreed price and theyve guaranteed that but if this dont sort then itl have to go to Zedworld (sorry Greg but its nearer to me and theyve agreed to get it over there without charge if it has to go) but the cost of there diagnosis will be worth it, as it will be right and it wont take an eternity.

cam lobes :xxx: wtf they are on i do not know,hope you get it sorted mate,im sure jeff will have an better idea than these clowns who have had your car for so long :rolleyes:

agree with greg on this one.cam lobes!!!!! my arse :rofl:

Oh dear! I was hoping that you were gonna think that they may have the right idea Greg. The question is do I just say, right thats it get it over to Zedworld, or do I let him waste another week or so mucking about (my time as well as his, tax out end if month MOT middle of May, although he says he will MOT it for me (for what its worth!)) and then, assuming it doesnt sort it (not looking likely), get it over to Zedworld. Thing is what if he makes a mess of this cam lobe profiling? Are they readily available if he makes such a mess they are not usable? Sorry I probably sound really thick babbling on. The thing is he is such a nice guy (or maybe hes a good actor) but 3 months is a long time and ive gotta do whats best for me. I am a patient person but I am having problems with my sanity now! The question is, can he do any harm, other than wasting time, if he reprofiles this cam lobe? If so, I think Im gonna have to do away with politeness. Or perhaps I should do away with politeness whether he can do any harm or not, as enough is enough. I only chose them ahead of the tried and tested specialist route because they include a 12 month warranty but then whats the warranty worth because itd probably take them 6 months to sort it out if I do have any problems! Only joking they aint that bad but they aint that good either! Fair enough Zedworld would have only given a 3 month warranty but id have had my car back at least a month ago, going by the experiences my brother has had with them with his Zed. Decisions decisions.

Ehhh??-what he said! :confused:

to be honest mate id get the car removed from the garage and get it sorted by a competent place.then id bill matey for the rectification.nissan cams dont seem to suffer with wear so why they were ground is a mystery.reckon hes telling you porkies to hide a clanger thats been dropped.

Im thinking the same. Ive done a search on here using the words "cam lobes" and it returned less than 10 threads and none of these had any relation to whats happening with my car. I will ring Zedworld first thing tommorow to check they have room for my car and then il get the car over there on monday.

I had a V8 rover engine once that wore the cam lobes due to oil feed problems, but that was a gradual decline, as apposed to a "all of a sudden" problem. I would be very surprised if it was the cam lobes worn.

Has the car ever run right since you had it back from them ? If it was the cam it would of done it straight away and all the time. And why have you got more cylinders now !

Ive not had the car back from them yet its been with them since January! The reason for getting the cylinders to start working was because they got hold of the several bits of the wiring loom and by swapping bits over they got it from not starting and the engine check light on to starting and running on 4 cylinders, they than ordered two ignition coils thinking this would sort it all and thats how we got to where we are now...BUT... they has been a change since before the weekend. Well, I say a change, I mean more that I misunderstood what he said was happening with the car and what needed to be done. Its not that the cam lobes actually need reprofiling whats actually happened is one of the hydraulic tappets is damaged meaning that the valves aint opening enough to let enough fuel in. And whereas I thought he said it was losing the power on that cylinder when reving it its actually when ticking over that you lose it but if you rev it tries to work, which backs up what hes saying I think. The other thing that bothered me was if he "knew" this was the problem or if he was guesing. well, he says hes taken that area apart and can see what is and isnt happening. It should be done by end of week apparently. I will beleive it when I see it!