Car trouble help...(with video)

[longun]

check crank and cam position sensors and the wiring to it,they are prone to drying out and fracturing causing havoc,only a simple fix to reconnect new wiring or replacee the sender.

also check the vacum hose for small splits.

 

[gray]

have you tried the throttle position sensor? Those slidey potentiometers can sometimes go doolally

 

[Easy_Rider]

That is on the list to do, I was going to drop the multimeter on it.

 

[kaya]

Listening to the video again :roll: if it had a distributor I would of said a cracked cap or faulty rotor arm, will have a think about it tonight and get back to you if I think of any thing.

 

[BerthaPog]

I'd definitely check the various bits of sensor wiring, esp throttle, crank & cam speed sensors. The fact that it won't report error codes (and I'm assuming you're doing it correctly) suggests that there may be a wiring fault - the intermittent behaviour also points that way.

My '99 Focus is starting to suffer - vehicle speed sensor died, resulting in engine stalls, wiring to the tailgate had to be replaced, just got brittle and fractured with age.

 

[Tallpaul]

If you're using a generic DTC reader, find someone with a pukka one for this marque and get the code read.

I'd be tempted to run a compression test unless the fault code points you at something very specific.

 

[legrandefromage]

I've skip read the thread so apologies if repeating - have you tried the MAF sensor? These are prone to going along with coil packs.

Our Vectra 1.6 16v had exactly he same trouble.

 

[JamesM]

My guess would be some sort of trigger for the whole spark injector pulse process. So as has already been said look at the crank position sensor and cam angle sensor. This seems to be cutting the fuel or spark off completely then recovering quickly before doing it again.

On all the cars I've had when the engine isn't running the ECU light is on. I suspect this is because there is no pulse from the crank position sensor, however it doesn't log a code for this. So when pulses go astray maybe it won't log a code but will momentarily not pulse the injectors or spark and the light would flash on as it is doing here.

Depending on the managment sytems the ECU may only log a code if a sensor is open or short circuit.

 

[lewis1641]

you say the ecu has been repalced. was that done because of this problem? (if so fitting a replacement ecu hasn't solved it)

was the original ecu reading any faults?

where are you? my mate has a vauxhall fault diognostic thingy

 

[Easy_Rider]

Really appreciate the replies so far guys, i'm still trying to get to the bottom of it. I got back later than expected from Sundays ride so I didn't get a chance to pull some ancillaries off to investigate further. Some direct replies to suggestions so far below.

Listening to the video again :roll: if it had a distributor I would of said a cracked cap or faulty rotor arm, will have a think about it tonight and get back to you if I think of any thing.

That was my first thought too and since this is coil pack system I changed them and all the LT wiring. I have actually tried two different sets.

I'd definitely check the various bits of sensor wiring, esp throttle, crank & cam speed sensors. The fact that it won't report error codes (and I'm assuming you're doing it correctly) suggests that there may be a wiring fault - the intermittent behaviour also points that way.

My '99 Focus is starting to suffer - vehicle speed sensor died, resulting in engine stalls, wiring to the tailgate had to be replaced, just got brittle and fractured with age.

I want to dig in and investigate the crank angle sensor. Trouble is without a readout out of the fault I could be changing everything and each one of the sensors could cause this fault.

If you're using a generic DTC reader, find someone with a pukka one for this marque and get the code read.

I'd be tempted to run a compression test unless the fault code points you at something very specific.

I'm using a specific Peugeot / Citroen reader but it's othing fancy. Compression is fine, I had actually changed the head gasket at the beginning of the year, needed doing as the head gasket itself had corroded, the head didn't even need a skim as it was that clean and flat.

I've skip read the thread so apologies if repeating - have you tried the MAF sensor? These are prone to going along with coil packs.

Our Vectra 1.6 16v had exactly he same trouble.

MAF sensor is integral in the ECU which I've changed. I've also tried two sets of coil packs.

My guess would be some sort of trigger for the whole spark injector pulse process. So as has already been said look at the crank position sensor and cam angle sensor. This seems to be cutting the fuel or spark off completely then recovering quickly before doing it again.

On all the cars I've had when the engine isn't running the ECU light is on. I suspect this is because there is no pulse from the crank position sensor, however it doesn't log a code for this. So when pulses go astray maybe it won't log a code but will momentarily not pulse the injectors or spark and the light would flash on as it is doing here.

Depending on the managment sytems the ECU may only log a code if a sensor is open or short circuit.

Your quite right on the cam / crank position sensors but do you think the ignition amplifier would also cause the faults,it's hatI want to change next but not having spares I havn't tried yet.

you say the ecu has been repalced. was that done because of this problem? (if so fitting a replacement ecu hasn't solved it)

was the original ecu reading any faults?

where are you? my mate has a vauxhall fault diognostic thingy

I have lots of Mi16/S16 spares, so just went into my stores cabinet and tried out different things it could be. the last time I got a read out there were a few faults, I ignored them as the engine was running very well with well below emissions and great power and delivery. I cannot remember what the faults were
I don't know whether a Vauxhall one will work, mine is a specific Citroen / Peugeot reader, it could be the reader that's broken i suppose.


Thanks for all the input guys