Help - very sluggish car

kiwi · Post by **kiwi** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:02 pm

I hinted about the possibility of foreign bodies at that at the top of last page.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:41 pm

I tried doing the tank, but forgot about disconnecting the bulb at the engine end & blowing all the fuel back into the tank, so when i pulled the bloody pipes off it pissed diesel into the car. At that point my back was killing, it was freezing cold, so i thought bugger this til another day. When the weather turns nicer i'll have another looksey.

I'll also have a look at the pedal box as well to see if thats the problem as suggested already. Its just finding the time & decent weather

So for the mo i'm still just chugging along

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:18 pm

Managed to get a mate at work today to push the throttle pedal to max, whilst i observed how much the arm moved to the end stop. Its approx about an 1.5-2 inch's from the end stop. So, does that mean its the pedal box (no i havent physically checked that, too cold at the mo) or could it be a very stretched throttle cable? As a temportary measure, if its the pedal box, could i tighten up the throttle cable to take up any slack that there might be?

sdelasal · Post by **sdelasal** » Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:26 pm

Does the cable have an adjuster on it or is it a fixed length jobbie? If it has an adjuster then use that to remove the play between the pedal moveing off idle and the cable following. I think the bosch pump I have on another vehicle has a clip arrangement on the pump where the position of the cable can be altered. The cable needs to have a small amount of play at idle otherwise you'lll over-ride the idle screw setting with the tight cable. steve

Alan Hitchcock · Post by **Alan Hitchcock** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:13 pm

Ignoring the Pedal/Cable situation which seems to be a possible this time. I have had a similar prob with differing oil filters using veg oil. It seems some filters use a smaller screen than others. Also because the veg oil does not desolve into the diesel it is capable of becomeing denser in cold weather and a 'quality' filter can actually act as a dam to fuel flow yet appear quite clean. The situation is worse if the oil has been used to cook as it will contain all sorts of complicated molecules. So in winter I back off the veggie oil.
Sludge in the tank. I think I have one car with this as I have pretty much exhausted all other ideas. It is annoying that the tanks have no drain facility as to really clean them out becomes a depressingly big job. Of course running veggie is going to increase the chances of a good clag up in the tank. Nothing is for free and I think quite a few folk have found veggie oil just lobbed into a car not to be quite the economy measure they had hoped. It is a shame we do not live in the tropics as with a good plantation we could be running coconut oil which has a much better lub facility than rape oils. Cannot comment on sunflower oil as I always pegged it as to dear to obtain so no research. At least your car will not have a heart attack.
Meanwhile waiting for better weather or clear garage whichever comes first to sort out bleeding BX.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:45 pm

Sem-sorted, throttle pedal was a bit bent (probably due to me pressing it so hard

, well it is a n/a afterall), so thats been straightened out.

That didn't make that much of a difference, the throttle cable appears to have stretched, so some adjustments made by local garage have made the car much better, i now have POWAH!! Almost feels like she's turbo charged now

I'll order a replacement throttle cable incase this one stretches some more, but for the mo i'm happy, i can now overtake when required.

Thanks for all your help & suggestions guy's, its appreciated.

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:19 pm

Well you'll soon know if it's the cable that's stretched or the pedal box is cracked. Two days from now I reckon.

MULLEY · Post by **MULLEY** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 9:33 pm

I really hope your wrong Ken, having seen the weather forcast for this week, i really dont fancy driving the mini in these conditions if the pedal box is bust.

Whereabouts will it have cracked?

ken newbold · Post by **ken newbold** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 10:27 pm

They usually crack right in the angle of the right side that the throttle pedal fastens to.
Like I say, you'll soon know if it has, a couple of days and you'll be back to square one

only this time the throttle pedal will be even further over to the right.

Of course I could be wrong, I usually am.