Sluggish Laser

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Nirodac Yar - 24 Jan 2005 06:01 GMT

I need a second opinion.

1991 Laser, 1.8 liter, 265,000 Km

Problem:

Loss of power when climbing hills.

Seems to be OK on level roads.

History:

I changed the timing belts within the last three months.

Before the belt change, the car sat idle for 5 months (periodic starts

about every couple of weeks). Driver (my son) claimed that there was no

loss of power before the storage.

Attempts;

We've changed the air filter.

Next is a injector cleaning.

But the question I have is:

Could it be that the catalytic converter is plugged, and how do you

test it.

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Bob Shuman - 25 Jan 2005 00:42 GMT

You sure the timing belt is on correctly? Sounds like it may be off a tooth
or two causing the retarded timing condition. It may be worth removing the
cover to take a look and make sure all the marks are aligned exactly as they
should be...

>I need a second opinion.
>
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
>
> test it.

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Nirodac - 25 Jan 2005 03:25 GMT

> You sure the timing belt is on correctly? Sounds like it may be off a
> tooth or two causing the retarded timing condition. It may be worth
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>>
>> Seems to be OK on level roads.

When I replaced the timing belt (with 120K Km on it), I checked the new one
three times. When I removed the old belt from the balance shaft, it seemed
to be out about 1/2 to 3/4 of a tooth, I aligned all the teeth on all the
sprockets and even rotated the crank by hand to make sure that the markes
lined up on the next revolution (also replaced the tensioners). But I
guess it could still happen. Can this be measured in some way with the
engine running.

Car starts OK, in the morning now. Immediatly after the belt change it
would stall, but it only did it a couple of times and doesn't do it
anymore.

I haven't checked the gas line (pump and filter) or the emissions system
yet.

Thanks for all the input, now I have something to check.

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Nobody U. Know - 25 Jan 2005 11:03 GMT

You can check it with a timing light. I'm not really familiar with the 1.8L,
but I would bet it is supposed to be 5 degrees of basic timing like all
other Mitsus. You will need to ground the base timing terminal and then
start the car. The terminal is a brown connector behind the battery (check
vfaq.com for more).

Signature

Todd Honea

>
> > You sure the timing belt is on correctly? Sounds like it may be off a
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Thanks for all the input, now I have something to check.

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Nirodac Yar - 26 Jan 2005 02:01 GMT

Yea, it occured to me after I sent the post that a timing light would work.
Actually I had though of measureing the output of the TDC sensor, then
looking for the timming mark on the pulley. Then the light when on and
said,just use a timing light, god I hate old age.
Sometimes I get to complicated for my own good.
But I didn't know about the connector by the battery. My history is with
old American V8's.

> You can check it with a timing light. I'm not really familiar with the 1.8L,
> but I would bet it is supposed to be 5 degrees of basic timing like all
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
> >
> > Thanks for all the input, now I have something to check.

Reply to this Message

Nobody U. Know - 26 Jan 2005 02:13 GMT

If you don't ground that connector, it will vary a bit and be about 15
degrees. I had a similar problem with my GT/VR4 and I had it off a tooth on
the crank. It was obvious with the timing light. The good thing was it was
very easy to loosen and slip it back into time. It's not as bad as a whole
timing belt job.

Signature

Todd Honea

> Yea, it occured to me after I sent the post that a timing light would work.
> Actually I had though of measureing the output of the TDC sensor, then
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> > >
> > > Thanks for all the input, now I have something to check.

Reply to this Message