Car weak after hard driving
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
Car weak after hard driving
Hi.
I've had my car for about a year now and it has long milage. 143.000 miles (230.000 Km).
As far as I know the car is all stock and I don't know the history of services.
Cutting to the chase..
I was playing around on a big parking lot burning some rubber and making donuts (rainy weather = slippery). Well. After 5 minutes the car was like exhausted. (it's an automatic). The water temp was on 3/4 and the rest was normal.
It felt like it didn't want to change to a lower gear when it should've, or maybe it felt like the engine didn't have as much power to give anymore. When it's cooling down after normal driving it feels stronger again.
I guess a Corvette shouldn't be tired after five minutes of playing?
What can be wrong? Engine (no indicating warning lights) or the gearbox? It's fresh oil in the gearbox.
Any ideas?
I've had my car for about a year now and it has long milage. 143.000 miles (230.000 Km).
As far as I know the car is all stock and I don't know the history of services.
Cutting to the chase..
I was playing around on a big parking lot burning some rubber and making donuts (rainy weather = slippery). Well. After 5 minutes the car was like exhausted. (it's an automatic). The water temp was on 3/4 and the rest was normal.
It felt like it didn't want to change to a lower gear when it should've, or maybe it felt like the engine didn't have as much power to give anymore. When it's cooling down after normal driving it feels stronger again.
I guess a Corvette shouldn't be tired after five minutes of playing?
What can be wrong? Engine (no indicating warning lights) or the gearbox? It's fresh oil in the gearbox.
Any ideas?
Last edited by edwardpayne; Jun 15, 2008 at 08:50 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,789
Likes: 8
From: Myrtle Beach SC
St. Jude Donor '05-'06
My last car had similar miles and seem to do the same thing. I believe as the engine ages it loosens up do to wear so when it gets warmed up the compression drops a little and it seems to run "tired". That along with all the other components aging it all makes a package that is worn down a little. Abuse during the early mileage years amplifies this effect.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Ostersund (Sweden)
My last car had similar miles and seem to do the same thing. I believe as the engine ages it loosens up do to wear so when it gets warmed up the compression drops a little and it seems to run "tired". That along with all the other components aging it all makes a package that is worn down a little. Abuse during the early mileage years amplifies this effect.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,430
Likes: 2
My last car had similar miles and seem to do the same thing. I believe as the engine ages it loosens up do to wear so when it gets warmed up the compression drops a little and it seems to run "tired". That along with all the other components aging it all makes a package that is worn down a little. Abuse during the early mileage years amplifies this effect.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Ostersund (Sweden)
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,735
Likes: 412
From: WV
If your trans is worn it would probably slip with that many miles.Is it slipping between shifts or is it locking up like it should? Also I don't know about vettes but on most cars if the cats are clogged it can affect the shifting of the trans also. WW
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
It's shifting pretty nice and it never slips or anything like that. If the cats are clogged they should glow in the dark right? If that's the case I will go out now for a ride because the time here in Sweden is 0200 in the morning and it's pitch black outside so glowing parts should be easy to see.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
Okay! I just went out and checked after some minutes of active driving. On my left side it was glowing all the way in to the cat. Could it be clogged then? On the right side it was not red around the cat. Only close to the engine under the shield around the 8 pipes. (are they called headers on a stock car?)
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 16,028
Likes: 170
From: oregon
glowing manifolds usually indicate lean conditions. bad injectors, normally will trip a check engine via the 02. however, the one good bank may be fooling it by the time it gets to your center cat & the 02.
,excellent advice
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it!
Pro
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 637
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I could write in Swedish but then our friends in the US won´t understand butt of what I´m writing. Disconnect the connector at each injector, then test the injectors with a Digital Voltmeter. One probe on each of the pins in the injector. They must each show between 15-17 ohms with a max difference of +/- 0.5 ohms when comparing all 8. I had 5 injectors at say 16, then 2 at say 11 and the last one at 9 or 6 ohms. Don´t remember the exact numbers, but it was clear that I had to change out all of them. If it turns out like it´s the injectors then do a search for FIC injection on this site. Seems to be the new injector guru here. I´m in Sweden as well but let´s stick to English here. I have a tip for you to ship cheaper to Sweden as well but we can take that later.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: Ostersund (Sweden)
I could write in Swedish but then our friends in the US won´t understand butt of what I´m writing. Disconnect the connector at each injector, then test the injectors with a Digital Voltmeter. One probe on each of the pins in the injector. They must each show between 15-17 ohms with a max difference of +/- 0.5 ohms when comparing all 8. I had 5 injectors at say 16, then 2 at say 11 and the last one at 9 or 6 ohms. Don´t remember the exact numbers, but it was clear that I had to change out all of them. If it turns out like it´s the injectors then do a search for FIC injection on this site. Seems to be the new injector guru here. I´m in Sweden as well but let´s stick to English here. I have a tip for you to ship cheaper to Sweden as well but we can take that later.
I just went out and checked. My injectors were from 15.0 to 15.3 ohms. So it looks like very good readings? Dang.. I was hoping I would find something there.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,382
Likes: 2
From: Kathleen FL
If your ECM was detecting engine knock from the knock sensor (that you couldn't hear), especially at higher revs as well as higher coolant temps as you stated, that could lead to slightly more retarded timing and therefore less performance.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
It's a constant drop of power when it's hot. And as I said earlier, the left side cat was glowing and not the right one. I took a rubber hammer and hit it but I couldn't hear any noise inside it. Can it still be broken? Can I see it if I take it out?
Thanks for your input!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 109
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From: Ostersund (Sweden)
FYI.
When I'm talking about power loss it feels like the car has 100 hp or something instead of 250 hp. It's still very drivable but acceleration is really bad.
I - think - that I can rev it up as usual if I'm parked.
When it's cold I can stand still, press the brake and the acc-pedal at the same time and it will spin. When it's hot I can't do that, it's just now strong enough.
This is very annoying problem and I can't figure out what's wrong.
When I'm talking about power loss it feels like the car has 100 hp or something instead of 250 hp. It's still very drivable but acceleration is really bad.
I - think - that I can rev it up as usual if I'm parked.
When it's cold I can stand still, press the brake and the acc-pedal at the same time and it will spin. When it's hot I can't do that, it's just now strong enough.
This is very annoying problem and I can't figure out what's wrong.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 993
Likes: 3
From: Iowa
If you put a scan tool on it you will be able to monitor all the sensors readings while you experience the symptoms. This would allow you too see what the timing is, what the o2 sensors are reading so on and so forth. It sounds like there is an issue with a sensor that isn't triggering a caution light. I would monitor the car before it starts acting up and see if anything stood out when it lost power.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 197
Likes: 1
From: Pennsylvania
A vacuum gauge can help you determine bad catalytic converters, they can melt too so the ceramic will not rattle when hit with a hammer.
Check your intake vacuum at idle, driving and hot. Clogged converters will not allow the engine to make proper vacuum.
Check your intake vacuum at idle, driving and hot. Clogged converters will not allow the engine to make proper vacuum.