Yet another issue! Shaking at idle, loss of power.

[N7Quarian]

I writing this about 140km from home. I started this morning with no issues with the car and all the driving was on the interstate and highways, right until the the very end. The more I drove on the interstate the more I had to floor it just to keep up with traffic. If I go up a hill on the interstate I have to floor it and sometimes the transmission doesn't want to shift down but even it it does it still takes a lot of effort to get up the hill and will even start to slow down steadily until you reach the top of the hill. On flat ground it takes quite awhile to pass a car.

I know this car only has 83bhp but it wasn't this bad in the past I can assure you. When I drive on a small incline in first I have to floor it and even if the revs are high it still struggles to climb a hill. The car does NOT buck and chuck at all when moving and the engine revs smoothly and there is no weird noises. The car did not stall but when stopped and idling the engine shakes noticeably and as you put a little bit of gas in neutral the engine smooths out. This does not matter weather the A/C is on or off.

The fuel filter has been changed recently and during the trip I put a bottle of Injector cleaner with the gas to see what would happen. Nothing changed.

No lights on the dash and the temp was in the middle. No smoke from the exhaust. Spark plugs were changed about 15k kilometers ago. I ALWAYS rev the [censored] out of this engine due to its lack of power and nothing like this has happened before.

PLEASE HELP.

 

[N7Quarian]

I changed the ATF factory fill like 7k kilometers ago and and the fluid itself was not dirty. I don't notice any slipping.

 

[MolaKule]

What year and make?


Quote:
When I drive on a small incline in first I have to floor it and even if the revs are high it still struggles to climb a hill.


So the engine rpm's stay up with no engine anamolies and yet you loose ground speed? Does the transmission ever shift down on steep inclines.

Sounds like a tranny system problem. If the tranny doesn't shift to a lower gear at lower speeds, it could lug your engine down.

 

[N7Quarian]

2006 Daihatsu Terios. The transmission has always been dimwitted since new. On inclines on this trip I manually put it into first gear and floor it up the incline. The engine starts slowly but then revs up smoothly. I did this before but it never too this long to reach the top of an incline.

Wouldn't a failing fuel pump cause the car to buck on inclines? Because it doesn't do that at all. The only time when the car isn't smooth is at idle.

 

[N7Quarian]

Just to add. The car is running low on power all the time right now. Not just on occasion.

 

[MolaKule]

Is there plenty of ATF in the transmission?

Quote:
floor it up the incline

As I asked before, Does the engine RPM stay high as you go up the hill or does the engine rpm drop? If the engine's rpm doesn't change as you go up an incline, then the transmission may not be downshifting. If a transmission downshifts, the resulting change in gear ratio results in higher engine rpms, and vice versa.

Another clue is that you have to manually go to a lower gear up an incline.

 

[MolaKule]

Did your power situaton change after refilling?

 

[Scott_Tucker]

As an engine builds rpm, it will smooth out even if only running on 3 cylinders. Are you sure it's hitting on all holes?

 

[N7Quarian]

No change after refueling.

 

[N7Quarian]

No I am not sure and I hope that's the case. I'll try unplugging the different coil packs and see if there is a difference.

 

[Andy636]

Originally Posted By: N7Quarian
No I am not sure and I hope that's the case. I'll try unplugging the different coil packs and see if there is a difference.


Totally off topic, but how much is the gas where you live?

 

[Warstud]

Doesn't sound like your firing on all cylinders. Maybe when you changed the spark plugs you damaged a wire or one got burned. Check the plug wires.

 

[N7Quarian]

UPDATE: I think I found the problem and I think I fixed it.

The car was indeed running on 3 cylinders, the one closest to the firewall was not firing. I switched the coil pack from the cylinder next to it and it still didn't work. But when I had to take the air box off in order to get to the coil packs I noticed that this sensor in the corner was all the way out of its rubber grommet. What does this sensor do? Does it read the intake air temp? MAF? I put the sensor snugly back in its grommet.

Anyway I had to drive home with 3 cylinders firing BUT I asked my friend if he could drive which he did while I went to sleep.
When we reached Valencia and it was my turn to drive the car was running on 4 cylinders again.

BTW It costs about 12 cents a gallon for the highest octane which is 95. Diesel is cheaper.

 

[Andy636]

Yes, that is the MAF.
And you just made me feel suicidal knowing I pay 8$/gal

 

[N7Quarian]

That's a weird looking MAF.

 

[Scott_Tucker]

That's not a maf its an intake air temp sensor.

 

[MolaKule]

Why would a MAF or Intake Air Temp Sensor cause one of the plugs to not fire?

Doesn't make sense.


I can see the sensors causing the computer to change timing and or fuel/air ratio.

 

[N7Quarian]

It probably did do that but when I unplugged the coil closest from the firewall it made no difference on how the car ran. It might have cut that cylinder off when the sensor was out of its grommet.
I still don't really know the answer

 

[N7Quarian]

It happened today again after a long drive. The sensor that was out of the grommet that last time was fine now. Driving on 3 cylinders is scary.

 

[mechtech2]

Like MolaKule mentioned, that IA sensor never made sense as the real problem.

Heat can cause electrical components to fail, then they are OK when cooled down. Maybe this is the problem in the ignition somewhere.