Loss Of Power In Cefiro A33 2.0G

Mr. Excel · July 29, 2014

Greetings Experts,

I am driving this Cefiro for past 3 years and it was great. But during past 6 months I found that the car losses it power after I drive for about 10km. I am using 95 petrol. Also all the ignition coils were replaced about 6 months ago to get around with this issue. Petrol pump is also replaced. Still the problem is there. The drive starts very smoothly and has lots of power during first 5km also. Then it drops gradually and it comes to a point where I cannot get the car to hit the 70kmph mark even. Total millage is 90,000km.

Any DIY tricks to find what can be the reason?

Cheers

Harsha

Komisiripala · July 29, 2014

Hows the service history? Wre the spark plugs recently cleaned/replaced? Intake manifold, throttle body, iacv cleaned for carbon deposits? Hws your ac? Does it take a huge load off the car when the compressor comes on, or have you felt a lack of cooling recently? Hws the gearbox? Replaced oil at the right intervals? Are you revving too high to change gears? (Not your fault, im asking if the engine is revving a lot/more than normal before gears change) is the start jerky in the morning?

Davy · July 29, 2014

To add to Komi's list of questions, does the engine idle normally when the car starts to lose power?

Mr. Excel · July 29, 2014

Replaced the plugs as well.

Intake manifold, throttle body, iacv cleaned for carbon deposits? YES

AC is good. But when this loss of power comes, I have to switch the AC off to make the car move during a climb.

All these problems started to show up once the gearbox was removed to replace some oil seals. After many struggle, I managed to get the car getting full power. But it was only for a month or so.

Recently I have noticed the starting is also a bit jerky as well.

The gears are changing at normal RPM. But my speedo is not working as well. It also happens about 6 months ago.

Engine is not ideling properly when it start losing the power.

Thank you for all your help here.

Edited July 29, 2014 by Mr. Excel

GayanR · July 29, 2014

HI excel I had a similar issue with my nissan fb14,It turn out to be a bad MAF sensor that fails once it get heated,Go to A*W and do a engine scan first.

Mr. Excel · July 30, 2014

HI excel I had a similar issue with my nissan fb14,It turn out to be a bad MAF sensor that fails once it get heated,Go to A*W and do a engine scan first.

That is a very logical guess Gayan. I too had the doubt on the MAF since it seems to have been replaced before I bought the car. Its with a yellow coloured paint.

Around how much A*W charges for a scan and is it just a walk in type process or should I make any pre-appointments?

Thank you very much for taking time to reply me.

Cheers

Komisiripala · July 30, 2014

Just give a call to A*W and ask. They're very helpful. If an appointment is needed they'll tell you no. Let us know what they say

Mr. Excel · July 30, 2014

Just give a call to A*W and ask. They're very helpful. If an appointment is needed they'll tell you no. Let us know what they say

I called a person called Rajagiriya workshop and they said to drop in there to take a look at the car. I am going to do it today or tomorrow. I will keep you posted about the result.

GayanR · July 30, 2014

That is a very logical guess Gayan. I too had the doubt on the MAF since it seems to have been replaced before I bought the car. Its with a yellow coloured paint.
Around how much A*W charges for a scan and is it just a walk in type process or should I make any pre-appointments?

Thank you very much for taking time to reply me.

Cheers

It's just a walk in process,will cost you around 1800/=.Ask them to do a engine scan.They will give you a full report,you can do the repair elsewhere.keep in mind that many garages will tell you to replace the gearbox,And in my case normal places with just a OBD scanner couldn't find the error.hope it got resolved.cheers.

Mr. Excel · July 30, 2014

It's just a walk in process,will cost you around 1800/=.Ask them to do a engine scan.They will give you a full report,you can do the repair elsewhere.keep in mind that many garages will tell you to replace the gearbox,And in my case normal places with just a OBD scanner couldn't find the error.hope it got resolved.cheers.

Spot on mate. Most of the ODB scan guys were saying various stories since the scanner was not showing any errors. One place was even suggesting me to replace the ECU Tomorrow first thing in the morning is to visit the A*W in my schedule. I will get the engine scan and then lets see the next step.

Thank you very much for the continuous follow up

Charith H Jayasinghe · July 30, 2014

Ask them to do a road test also. Last week I did and it cost me 1900 for scan and the road test.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Charith H Jayasinghe

Davy · July 30, 2014

If the idle speed of the engine is poor when this happens, this could be due to a faulty IAC Valve or MAF. Whatever it is, a diagnosis is sure to give you enough info to determine the cause. Glad you decided to go to A*W and get this tested. Keep us posted on the results.

Mr. Excel · July 30, 2014

If the idle speed of the engine is poor when this happens, this could be due to a faulty IAC Valve or MAF. Whatever it is, a diagnosis is sure to give you enough info to determine the cause. Glad you decided to go to A*W and get this tested. Keep us posted on the results.

Will do for sure

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

Just came home after the A*W visit.

They couldn't find a reason for my issue. The engine scan didn't show anything it seems. They wanted me to check the gearbox. but they said since they don't have spares, they will not be able to do it for me and asked me to try somewhere else.

So I took the car to "N*lwala auto gearbox" guys ( i just live 5 houses away from them). The owner itself came with me for a ride and he said he cannot find anything wrong with the gearbox. But he noticed the light near the sports drive button blinked 16 times when the engine is stopped and again place the key to ignition position. He says its an indication of something wrong, but he don't know what it exactly. His advice for me is to sell the car instead of trying to fix this. But I am a person who really don't like to pass this problem on to someone else and make them suffer the same issues I have. I told him about that and then he said for me to find an engine and he will get it installed for me.

.

How much an engine will cost is my next question.

Please advice me!

maheshw · July 31, 2014

He says its an indication of something wrong, but he don't know what it exactly. His advice for me is to sell the car instead of trying to fix this. But I am a person who really don't like to pass this problem on to someone else and make them suffer the same issues I have. I told him about that and then he said for me to find an engine and he will get it installed for me.

it's a simple thing that everyone can understand that blinking light indicates a error. if his answer is that he cannot say anything about it, how you gonna belive his engine replacement?

Did A*W test drive your car? i have heard that A*W Customer service is very good than others?

GayanR · July 31, 2014

Just came home after the A*W visit.
They couldn't find a reason for my issue. The engine scan didn't show anything it seems. They wanted me to check the gearbox. but they said since they don't have spares, they will not be able to do it for me and asked me to try somewhere else.

So I took the car to "N*lwala auto gearbox" guys ( i just live 5 houses away from them). The owner itself came with me for a ride and he said he cannot find anything wrong with the gearbox. But he noticed the light near the sports drive button blinked 16 times when the engine is stopped and again place the key to ignition position. He says its an indication of something wrong, but he don't know what it exactly. His advice for me is to sell the car instead of trying to fix this. But I am a person who really don't like to pass this problem on to someone else and make them suffer the same issues I have. I told him about that and then he said for me to find an engine and he will get it installed for me.

.

How much an engine will cost is my next question.

Please advice me!

I think your tranny is going on to limp mode that's why you cant speed.Is this the O/D bulb that is flashing 16 times?may be the tranny is overheating?

This guy has a speed sensor failure on transmission

Edited July 31, 2014 by GayanR

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

He says its an indication of something wrong, but he don't know what it exactly. His advice for me is to sell the car instead of trying to fix this. But I am a person who really don't like to pass this problem on to someone else and make them suffer the same issues I have. I told him about that and then he said for me to find an engine and he will get it installed for me.
it's a simple thing that everyone can understand that blinking light indicates a error. if his answer is that he cannot say anything about it, how you gonna belive his engine replacement?

Did A*W test drive your car? i have heard that A*W Customer service is very good than others?

I have gone to so many places with this car now and I feel all of them (including A*W) have some fear in this model. This may be the obvious reason why A33 are just condemned here like hell.

Yes. They test drove the car. Customer service is good in general. The cashier guy needs to be trained properly though. He was just texting on his phone all the time and it took me 30 mins to get him to accept my credit card and close the bill

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

I think your tranny is going on to limp mode that's why you cant speed.Is this the O/D bulb that is flashing 16 times?may be the tranny is overheating?

All I can say is, this issue has a direct link with the engine heat. All of these performance issues are not there when you start the car and drive in the morning. It starts giving me this performance issues once the engine gets heated.

I am not sure what the "limp mode" means though!

Edited July 31, 2014 by Mr. Excel

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

One another note. I just found these steps where they say you can read the error codes from your ECU by following the procedure below. The check engine light will blink number of time to tell you the code.

How to read the engine codes without a Nissan CONSULT or scan tool. (Set ECM in Diagnostic Test Mode II)

1 Confirm that accelerator pedal is fully released, turn ignition switch ON and wait 3 seconds.
2 Repeat the following procedure quickly five times within 5 seconds.
aFully depress the accelerator pedal.
bFully release the accelerator pedal.
3 Wait 7 seconds, fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it for approx. 10 seconds until the MIL starts blinking.
4 Fully release the accelerator pedal.
5 ECM has entered to Diagnostic Test Mode II (Self-diagnostic results).

Komisiripala · July 31, 2014

Get a second opinion from my mechanic. He's in Kolonnawa and a specialist with nissans and auto gearboxes.

He might have a different view. And he's not the type to ask you to take shortcuts or drastic measures.

Indika. 0777309859. Take the car there explain in detail what has happened so far. Let him take for a drive.

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

Get a second opinion from my mechanic. He's in Kolonnawa and a specialist with nissans and auto gearboxes.
He might have a different view. And he's not the type to ask you to take shortcuts or drastic measures.

Indika. 0777309859. Take the car there explain in detail what has happened so far. Let him take for a drive.

Thank you. I will give this a try.

There is a car sale guy who just gave me an offer couple of days ago to exchange this with a Sonata 2006 (not the h-matic) he has. Its a KF series and interior is not maintained properly. I would say my A33 interior is much better. His offer is A33 + 8K to his hand = I can take the sonata 2006.

maheshw · July 31, 2014

Thank you. I will give this a try.
There is a car sale guy who just gave me an offer couple of days ago to exchange this with a Sonata 2006 (not the h-matic) he has. Its a KF series and interior is not maintained properly. I would say my A33 interior is much better. His offer is A33 + 8K to his hand = I can take the sonata 2006.

1000 times.......

i have PM you pls check.

Komisiripala · July 31, 2014

Family has an h matic. Run a mile bro. Your cefi is leagues better. Im sure this is a small issue that can be fixed. Dont think of anything drastic!! In the time we have had that car, we ran it all of 35,000km and weve more or less replaced EVERYTHING more than once! Youre better off with a 1998 accord!!

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

1000 times.......
i have PM you pls check.

Agreed.

Thanks bro

Mr. Excel · July 31, 2014

Family has an h matic. Run a mile bro. Your cefi is leagues better. Im sure this is a small issue that can be fixed. Dont think of anything drastic!! In the time we have had that car, we ran it all of 35,000km and weve more or less replaced EVERYTHING more than once! Youre better off with a 1998 accord!!

Agreed. My previous car was an hmatic.

how about the Teana 2007?

Rumesh88 · July 31, 2014

Just a question on the flickering S indicator. Does it flicker starting with one long flicker and then number of short flickers. If so observe the short flickers and see if any one among them are longer than the others. If so, count the number of flickers to the particular longer one. If all flickers except the starting one are of the same length then it is NOT indicating a fault but just showing you that the self-test is OK. However, your car seems to be going into "limp home mode or fail safe mode" as ~~maheshw~~ GayanR said above. (BTW it is quite understandable that A*W couldn't find a fault because we have become so much dependent on scans, reports, what the machines tell us etc., that our own judgement as a tool has become obsolete. You find physicians who cannot diagnose a disease without a scan, students who cannot workout a simple sum without a calculator, me who cannot produce a letter without a word processor and the list can go on endless )

Edited July 31, 2014 by Rumesh88