David R Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Would appreciate view on the following problem. I've had a search through the site and got a few ideas, but I wonder if any technical boffins can give me some more pointers. Car is a UK Legacy 1990 1.8ECO (single point fuel injection) Its slow to warm up, despite a new thermostat, and whilst driveable, power delivery is hesitant and somewhat jerky, especially at low RPM. When warm, dipping the clutch at junctions makes the engine fast idle at just over 2000rpm for a few seconds then it drops back to just under 1000rpm (not everytime, but mostly). Fuel economy is dire (i.e. about the same as my Audi S4 which would mean about 270miles to a full tank). Power at the top end seems to be reasonable (or as much as you can expect for a 1.8 in a legacy estate). Routine maintainence done - filters, plugs, oil etc. New thermostat about 2 months ago. 119,000 miles. Dealer unhelpful as this car is a beater that I use to move bikes in, so I'm reluctant to spend more than its value getting the dealer to sort it! Haven't had access to the diagnostic equipment, but wonder if this would be helpful (i.e. in a similar way to VAG-COM on Audis) Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Thanks David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 David, was the thermostat you used an OEM thermostat, or one from a parts store? You might want to try www.bbs.legacycentral.org also, check out my site. It has instructions on how to get codes and run diagnostics on the legacy. It should be the same for yours, even though you have a 1.8 liter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 Hi Josh, thanks for the helpful post. The thermostat was a non OEM unit from the parts store. Interestingly, the original one I removed had its inners cut out - presumably failed in the past and a bodged repair. I got the error codes, which initially showed up 22 - knock sensor, but having reset the codes and driven the car for about 10 miles, it shows none at all now. I was wondering if the ECU temp sensor had gone west, resulting in the car running rich and explaining the fast idle, do you know if this would show up on the trouble codes if the sensor was misreading or only if it was short to ground and therefore totaly broken. Thanks again David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy777 Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 If the coolant temp sensor is bad bad...yeah it should show up. However it's not uncommon for them to get lazy and not work right...however not throw a CEL. I know here in the states they're not overly expensive, so if someone's in doubt, I usually just tell them to replace it. You may have other cooling system issues, do you know the condition of the water pump? I'd suggest getting an OEM thermostat. Trust me....I had some weird issues when I had the non-oem thermostat in. Everything went back to normal when I put an OEM back in. I'd really suggest doing that first before you do anything else. Also, did you flush the cooling system out good....either with a flush or fresh water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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