New T180 Owner, No Power After 3000 Rpm

[SteC73]

Hi All

just bought a 2008 T180 for my wife, lovely little car. ive just taken it for a decent spin and there seems to be plenty of oomph between 2000 and 3000 RPM but after that theres nothing, cruising on the motorway at 60 going up a slight incline and in 6th and it was slowing down, had to change to fifth

surely this isnt right is it?? ive had a quick read and could it be fuel filter / SCV Valves ??

any help appreciated as im totally new to this car / engine

thanks in advance

steve

[Devon Aygo]

Peak torque on the 180 engine was between 2000-2600 rpm so the power is building up to a surge at 2000 rpm and starts to tail off from 2600 rpm, does the power drop suddenly at 3000 rpm ?

At 60 mph in 6th the car is a way out of its peak power and would most likely need a drop to 5th to maintain spped or accelerate with any vigour.

A blocked fuel filter could certainly give you lack of power but more likely is a blocked EGR, have a look at the " pinned" section at the top of the forum for a guide how to remove, check & clean the EGR. SCV's dont tend to give lack of power issues on the 2.0 & 2.2 AD series engines like they did on the earlier 2.0 CD engines the SCV's on the AD engines tend to give startability issues such as prolonged cranking, rough/low idle or stalling just after starting.

[SteC73]

thank you for your reply

its not really a sudden drop no, just doesn't seem to be any more 'go' left in it after 3k, if that makes sense?

ok so maybe i was just in the wrong gear for it as there was nothing there

I'll have a look at the EGR section and check that first

thanks a lot for the advice, much appreciated

[SteC73]

yep i think ill definately give the EGR valve a clean, do i need to reset the ECU afterwards too? how would i do that?

also considering a Lindop's Chip

[Devon Aygo]

yep i think ill definately give the EGR valve a clean, do i need to reset the ECU afterwards too? how would i do that?

also considering a Lindop's Chip

No need to reset ECU

[blue monster]

One thing you will not have to do for certain with a Lindop's chip kit is change down a gear.

Sat on the motorway in 6th it pulls like a train as you have an extra 35 bhp & 70 NM of torque under your right foot ;)

[philip42h]

I would suggest that you do not want to chip it just yet - bad plan.

A properly serviced and working T180 / SR180 will happily pull like a train from 60mph in 6th gear without chipification and won't give up until you approach the quoted maximum speed for a T180 / SR180 (and possibly lose your licence in the process ;)). At 60mph in 6th gear you'll be a tad under 2,000 rpm and not too far off peak torque - it should just go ...

The fact that it's not suggests that the expected torque isn't quite as / where it should be so you need to sort that out first ...

Once sorted, so your T180 is behaving as it should, you can then decide whether or not you need even more. :)

[gjnorthall]

Change fuel filter, clean EGR and check for fault codes. What happens around 3000RPM if you stay in 5th? Agree that it's pointless tuning an engine before fundamental issues are resolved.

[blue monster]

I agree, get it fixed first before chipping/tuning. I remember driving ours home from the Mr T the day we collected it which involved a good run of motorway and being very impressed with the pulling power in 6th gear. As Philip has said it should just go.

[Big Kev]

BFFS.......Bowfin' Fuel Filter Syndrome, and previous owner using Tesco Pish......EGR bowfin' for that reason........hopefully.......nothing more sinister we ALL hope......

[SteC73]

thanks guys, will clean EGR valve this weekend and change fuel filter, might even change air filter too

one things for sure, it certainly doesn't 'pull like a train' in 6th, there is absolutely nothing, ill see what happens in 5th at 3k rpm

will update after the weekend

cheers

[SteC73]

Sorry Big kev, im not sure what you mean lol....bowfin...whats that then??

you saying that the previous owner has used a cheap fuel filter and thats clogged up the EGR valve?

also had a look at changing the fuel filter, looks beyond me, does anyone know anyone in the chesterfield / derbyshire area that could help for some cash? would rather pay someone who knows what to do otherwise I'll probably just end up breaking it some more

thanks alot

[Heidfirst]

Scots>English translation: bowfin=disgusting

[SteC73]

ah, thanks, makes sense now :)

[gjnorthall]

There is some evidence that supermarket diesel contributes significantly to clogging of things like EGR valves and many Rav owners use nothing but top brand fuels. Fuel filters tend to be blocked by waxy deposits from the fuel and whilst anti-waxing agents are added, there have been occasions when there has been a large scale issue with fuel filter restriction.

[SteC73]

thanks gjnorthall, yeah always been weary of the cheap supermarket fuel

ill give the system a good flush though too

[SteC73]

EGR Cleaned and it does feel much better, maybe placebo though?

got a can of the bg244 stuff coming tomorrow so will run that through it too

thanks everyone for your replies

[blue monster]

Did you get this sorted Steve?

[SteC73]

just running the BG244 through it mate, I haven't tried it yet but she's saying there no power below 2k now!!!

ill try it over the weekend and see. reading all the stuff on here has made me really paranoid, especially as shes only getting 26mpg, im hoping thats just old engine / cold weather / wifes driving style

[tagem45]

Had the same problem with my rav 4.2 d4d 03 plate, did a steady 25 miles at 60 mph very light throttle, then the next 25 gradually opened it up around eightyish cleared it just fine