Acceleration - Lancer C12

Iced-T · June 16, 2016

Something funny going on with my old lancer.

on a cold start in the mornings... the car is able to accelerate smoothly from stand still but as the journey progresses and maybe about half an hour into the drive the car slowly starts to struggle and vibrates heavily while taking off from zero on first gear.

I replaced the distributor cap and rotor but I still have this acceleration issue.

When I start the car the next day the same thing repeats... any idea whats causing this?

Iced-T · July 3, 2016

On 7/2/2016 at 4:02 AM, Twin Turbo said:
A+.
Now we can eliminate tank vacuuming. ...now for the ignition system

P.s. Are you sure that your brakes are not binding with extended driving?

I am not sure about the brakes.. how would I check? the front uses discs and the rear is drum.

When you say binding do u mean that the brakes dont release properly? or is some internal component warped? I recently got the brakes serviced (about 2 months ago).

Iced-T · July 3, 2016

On 7/3/2016 at 4:21 AM, Davy said:
While paying close attention to the advice by others, I think you should get your clutch checked out as well. Although your car has a cable operated clutch, "hot spots" on the pressure plate and flywheel can cause clutch slippage when the engine and transmission is hot. I was once faced with a situation where a leaky crankshaft oil seal caused oil to come into contact with the clutch plate and cause slippage. What was done as part of the clutch inspection? Was your gearbox taken down to inspect the clutch?
You can do a simple check to determine if your clutch is actually slipping. When the issue pops up,

- Bring the car to a complete stop

- With the engine still running, press the clutch and shift into third gear

- Try to take off as you would do if the car was on first gear

If the car stalls, then your clutch is probably OK. If the RPM increases and the car starts to move, then you have a slipping clutch. I suggest this because you say that you have control of the vibration when you ease up on the clutch.

Hi Davy,

Thank you for your advice. The gearbox was not removed to inspect the clutch... although the car was driven by the garage mechanic and he did the test that you have mentioned. The clutch was adjusted a little bit to minimize the play.... that was all that was done.

I also did the test just now on a cold engine.. the car stalled.

Iced-T · July 11, 2016

Update.

hi.. I just passed the eco test.

But just before the test I was asked to press hard on the accelerator and release it (i think for them to check for black smoke)..... when releasing the throttle I got a "phut phut" sound from the exhaust like a beat (it doesnt seem like an engine miss else it would have got detected on the test right?) . The car uses a stock silencer. Also the spark plugs (clearance was checked at the workshop), distributor and rotor are all new.

It just occurred to me, could this acceleration take off issue be linked with the exhaust? Maybe a clogging catalytic convertor?

Twin Turbo · July 11, 2016

Good, the mixture/engine is within spec to pass the test.

possible, if it has a Cat . but your car is a new import. and taking account it's age, unlikely to have one.

Furthermore, a blockage in the exhaust system will be noticed all the time., not when it reaches operating temp.

But definitely worth looking at. Also possible with a minor leak in the exhaust system causing the uneven exhaust note.

PerfMad · July 11, 2016

I remember once one of my friend had the same sort of issue with pulling power, and the culprit was the silencer ( as per him it was blocked) Cant remember what exactly he did to resolve it though...

May be you can try removing the stock silencer from bolts (rear end) and do your thing to replicate the issue. If its no longer there, we could decide silencer was the culprit.

Iced-T · July 11, 2016

On 7/11/2016 at 8:56 AM, Twin Turbo said:

Good, the mixture/engine is within spec to pass the test.

possible, if it has a Cat . but your car is a new import. and taking account it's age, unlikely to have one.

Furthermore, a blockage in the exhaust system will be noticed all the time., not when it reaches operating temp.

But definitely worth looking at. Also possible with a minor leak in the exhaust system causing the uneven exhaust note.

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On 7/11/2016 at 9:00 AM, PerfMad said:

I remember once one of my friend had the same sort of issue with pulling power, and the culprit was the silencer ( as per him it was blocked) Cant remember what exactly he did to resolve it though...

May be you can try removing the stock silencer from bolts (rear end) and do your thing to replicate the issue. If its no longer there, we could decide silencer was the culprit.

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Yes, my car has a catalytic convertor. I just checked with the car manual. But it seems that some garage guy has cut the flange before the convertor and welded the pipe without the flange (haiyo!) .... I will now have to cut the pipe to check its condition :s.

please see pic link from the manual and the 2 attached images.

https://postimg.org/image/bq03pbf69/

Edited July 11, 2016 by Iced-T

Twin Turbo · July 11, 2016

Resonator - nothing to get blocked

Edited July 12, 2016 by Twin Turbo
Resonator - nothing to get blocked

c1nder · July 11, 2016

On 7/11/2016 at 9:42 AM, Iced-T said:

Yes, my car has a catalytic convertor. I just checked with the car manual. But it seems that some garage guy has cut the flange before the convertor and welded the pipe without the flange (haiyo!) .... I will now have to cut the pipe to check its condition :s.

please see pic link from the manual and the 2 attached images.

https://postimg.org/image/bq03pbf69/

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I think that's how it was when it came from the factory. It was the same with my previous carina GT. I'm not sure whether what you have in the pic is a CAT or a small resonator that usually comes before main silencer.

PerfMad · July 11, 2016

yah lancers usually comes with resonators.. Even my previous Cb1 had the same.. This doesnt look like a cat to me (cat looks bit different from the outer appearance too)

Iced-T · July 12, 2016

On 7/11/2016 at 10:06 AM, PerfMad said:

yah lancers usually comes with resonators.. Even my previous Cb1 had the same.. This doesnt look like a cat to me (cat looks bit different from the outer appearance too)

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On 7/11/2016 at 9:50 AM, Twin Turbo said:

Resonator - nothing to get blocked

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hmmm.. thats also true.. What does this unit do exactly (see pic)? this is just under the engine manifold. Can it be removed out.. I am thinking of disconnecting the flange right after the resonator and driving around to see if there is a difference as PerfMad suggested. But since there is no cat... i am wondering if it would make a difference with the acceleration problem.. as the problem is most probably related to heat.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Iced-T

PerfMad · July 12, 2016

On 7/12/2016 at 7:31 AM, Iced-T said:

hmmm.. thats also true.. What does this unit do exactly (see pic)? this is just under the engine manifold. Can it be removed out.. I am thinking of disconnecting the flange right after the resonator and driving around to see if there is a difference as PerfMad suggested. But since there is no cat... i am wondering if it would make a difference with the acceleration problem.. as the problem is most probably related to heat.

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above pic looks like a cat to me.. hmmm how ever if its possible just diconnect ur silencer from the rear end( by removing the silencer with the attached bolts) and check.. if there is any issue with the silencer it should be resolved as per my understanding.

Davy · July 12, 2016

On 7/12/2016 at 8:50 AM, PerfMad said:

above pic looks like a cat to me.. hmmm how ever if its possible just diconnect ur silencer from the rear end( by removing the silencer with the attached bolts) and check.. if there is any issue with the silencer it should be resolved as per my understanding.

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That's not a catalytic converter. That's a flex pipe used to minimise engine vibration onto the exhaust system. The C12 doesn't have a cat according to my knowledge. At least not the ones we get in Sri Lanka.

On the subject of exhaust blockage, if it were the issue, there would be a noticeable increase in your engine temperature and high fuel consumption. Also, according to the eco test report, the exhaust probe seems to have picked up readings that appear to be normal for this type of car. A blockage would have skewed the results.

Edited July 12, 2016 by Davy

Iced-T · July 12, 2016

On 7/12/2016 at 9:59 AM, Davy said:

That's not a catalytic converter. That's a flex pipe used to minimise engine vibration onto the exhaust system. The C12 doesn't have a cat according to my knowledge. At least not the ones we get in Sri Lanka.

On the subject of exhaust blockage, if it were the issue, there would be a noticeable increase in your engine temperature and high fuel consumption. Also, according to the eco test report, the exhaust probe seems to have picked up readings that appear to be normal for this type of car. A blockage would have skewed the results.

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Hi Davy, Thank you for your reply.

I posted the eco results to see if someone could spot anything from that.

I am wondering what I have missed.