Ever since I pumped gas about a week ago my car feels as if though it has lost 20 hp. I thought I may have got a bad batch of gas but I refueled a couple of days ago and I still have the problem. The car does not feel as strong as it used to be and it does not pull very hard in 2nd or 3rd gear even at high rpms. Can anyone give me any ideas on where I should begin looking? Thanks.
sluggish cobra
- Thread starter dicks 99 cobra
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I would use some fuel injector cleaner and then after you go through a tank of gas with the fuel injector cleaner then I would use some octain booster in the next tank. Thats where I would start anyways
Octane booster is crap and does nothing...don't waste your money on that crap.
First answer this...how long have you had your Cobra? It's getting to be summer time and the hot air is very poor for power production. The difference in power between 70 degrees and 90 degrees could easily come out to 20hp or more.
The first thing I would do is just do some general maintenance on the car. Change the oil, check the tire pressure, check the plugs and replace if necessary. Does the fuel filter need replaced?
If you still feel the car is down on power, spend $50.00 and put it on a dyno. If your corrected numbers are off then yeah you may have and underlying problem. Or it could be nothing and just the normal effects of summer on performance.
First answer this...how long have you had your Cobra? It's getting to be summer time and the hot air is very poor for power production. The difference in power between 70 degrees and 90 degrees could easily come out to 20hp or more.
The first thing I would do is just do some general maintenance on the car. Change the oil, check the tire pressure, check the plugs and replace if necessary. Does the fuel filter need replaced?
If you still feel the car is down on power, spend $50.00 and put it on a dyno. If your corrected numbers are off then yeah you may have and underlying problem. Or it could be nothing and just the normal effects of summer on performance.
Im pretty sure fuel isnt my problem. Ive had the car for 3 years and its never felt like this, even in 90+ temps. Fuel filter has about 30k miles on it and spark plugs are original. Car has 58,000 miles
Start with the general maintenance then. If you're not pulling any codes there's likely not a huge issue at play. Start small and illiminate areas of concern one by one.
30k miles, some suspect gas, and you haven't pulled the fuel filter?
change that asap.
change that asap.
Sluggish
Go to any part store and ask them to see if your car is throwing any trouble codes.
My car felt like it lost 20% of it's power on the way home from work a couple months ago. I went straight to the part store and they confirmed my problem.
$99.00 for two new Bosch sensors and and 20 minutes later all my power was back.
The only reason I am suggesting this is because your sig states you have an X Pipe... I am simply wondering if your Check Engine Light it permanently on due to the lack of cats and you are maybe unsure if any codes are being thrown? :shrug:
Go to any part store and ask them to see if your car is throwing any trouble codes.
My car felt like it lost 20% of it's power on the way home from work a couple months ago. I went straight to the part store and they confirmed my problem.
$99.00 for two new Bosch sensors and and 20 minutes later all my power was back.
The only reason I am suggesting this is because your sig states you have an X Pipe... I am simply wondering if your Check Engine Light it permanently on due to the lack of cats and you are maybe unsure if any codes are being thrown? :shrug:
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Check for codes. Its not the fuel or the fuel filter, problem is somewhere else. And a fuel filter with 30k miles is fine...
uhh fuel filters should be changed at 30k miles....
Im with QuadCammer (as usual) Change the fuel filter...
might as well change the plugs too...
as far as codes.. if there isnt a light then there isnt a problem with the sensors
Im with QuadCammer (as usual) Change the fuel filter...
might as well change the plugs too...
as far as codes.. if there isnt a light then there isnt a problem with the sensors
I change my fuel filter every 15k or so but i may be a bit anal. :shrug:bouncer18 said:
Im not saying 30k is a lot of miles for a fuel filter. However, If you got bad gas, thats the absolute first thing i would change?
If it doesn't help, then you have a new filter (which you probably needed anyway) and are out less than $20.
If it doesn't help, then you have a new filter (which you probably needed anyway) and are out less than $20.
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I've gotten bad gas before and while it was in my tank the car ran like complete shit. However after I flushed it all out I ran some Locus (I think thats how you spell it. Its the stuff in the cloudy white bottle.) fuel injector cleaner and the car ran great again. Its not a bad idea at all to change the fuel filter but if you are looking to get back lost power you are barking up the wrong tree.
I think a major restriction in fuel flow would certainly hurt power, wouldn't you?
There are many types of bad gas. Some have water, some have excess sediment. Water would cause the car to run like crap but not clog the filter. Excess sediment could cause serious clogging of the filter.
There are many types of bad gas. Some have water, some have excess sediment. Water would cause the car to run like crap but not clog the filter. Excess sediment could cause serious clogging of the filter.
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Yes and no...water could cause the flame in the cylinders to not burn near as strong so there you would see a lack of power. However right now in summer I don't think you would have water in the gas because of so many people getting gas it doesn't have time to form water in the tanks. (I suppose he could have gotten gas at a station that doesn't see much traffic though) As far as having sediments in the gas, I have never seen this. Not saying it doesn't happen but I haven't seen it. I do however remember reading a while back of a trend across the country of people putting skittles and things like that in the nozzle tube of the gas handle on the pump. :fm: So yes bad gas will hurt performance but a filter will not more than likely. Especially seeing as how his engine doesn't ask for that much fuel. My 95 had the original fuel filter in it from 1995 and I changed it not long ago and saw 0 difference in the car. That was a fuel filter with 115k miles on it.
The best thing he can do is first run for any codes, if none come up wait until all of the gas he has in the tank is cycled through. Run some fuel injector cleaner and new gas. Go from there if the problem still surfaces.
The best thing he can do is first run for any codes, if none come up wait until all of the gas he has in the tank is cycled through. Run some fuel injector cleaner and new gas. Go from there if the problem still surfaces.
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cobraracer46
Banned
I would do the easy stuff first and start off with a though visual inspection and if nothing unusual is found then I would plug in a scan tool and look for codes, also, I would run a data logger test to check fuel trims and to see that all the sensors are putting out the correct electrical values for the conditions at hand. You can also plug in a Vacuum gauge to easily spot base engine problems. If all the easy tests don't spot anything unusual, then it's time to hook up the fuel pressure, volume testers and run Ignition system tests. Throwing parts at the car and hoping for the best is not the most efficient way to solve drivability problems.
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:lol: You are looking into this too hard. A data logger? lol I bet anything this is a dumb little problem that has come up. Don't get me wrong you are on the right track if its something serious but I doubt it is. Hopefully... Nothing like compression drop or a bad coil pack. I would even go as far as to saying it was just a hot day and his engine was heat soaked. I've thought alot of time "damn where did my power go?" and then I realized I was sweating while I had the windows down going 60mph.
cobraracer46
Banned
Like I said, do the easy stuff first. I can plug in my factory scan tool, look at all the computer sensor values in a minute or two and just like that I can identify or eliminate the engine control system as the source of the problem for only 5 minuets worth of easy work. Now, if you swap out parts with out knowing any better, then you are wasting time and money and that is hard.Stopsign32v said:
oke:So I could be pulling codes evein if my SES light isnt on? Im going to give it a complete tune up today, hopefully that fixes it.
cobraracer46
Banned
As an example, the engine control system could be getting a value that would indicate that the car is 5000 feet above sea level when in fact it is at sea level so not only would a code never be set for such a condition because the computer thinks that the car is indeed at 5000 feet, but the car would also not run right. In other words, the computer can be tricked by sensors giving false values and that will result in fuel and spark calculation errors.dicks 99 cobra said:
Quick question on removing the fuel filter. Do I need to relive the fuel systme pressure, if so, how is it done?
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