Hi everyone,
I am new to this site, so please take it easy.
I will first give you a bit of history about my car:
It is a 2003 EP3 CTR with 102k miles on the clock. I have owned the car for the last 4 years and 70k miles. It has a K&N induction kit and the car is fitted with a Prinns LPG system and lubeoil drip. I know that it may not be right to convert a CTR to LPG, but I fell in love with the car and then started to work away just after buying it. As I average 15-20k miles a year, my car is serviced about every 8 months at my local back street garage. Service costs vary depending on the mileage, but I am unclear as to what has been changed / inspected during each service. I am also questioning their ability after they were unable to work out what this fault was.
The problem:
When the car is cold and I drop the clutch, the revs drop off and the engine stalls. I also think that it may be running rich (when cold, maybe also when warm - unsure) as it can be juddery for the first couple of minutes. After the car warms up it seems to run ok when the weather is warm, its just annoying as it can cut out at junctions and it sometimes takes a bit to get it going. I should also point out that I have had this problem for about 4 months and now that it is getting colder, it sometimes cuts out (or drops below idle then recovers) even once warmed up.
There was an engine management light showing before I went on holiday, but the battery went flat whilst I was away and the light reset. I have since replaced that battery as it was the original and it has let me down in the past. The problem is that my local garage doesn't know what to look for as there is no light on the dash. I told them to look at the IACV, but this made no difference.
I have since removed the throttle body and tried to remove the IACV, but the screws had been rounded off (presumably by the garage). I managed to get a used throttle body from a scrappy, complete with a TPS, MAP, but no IACV chamber or sensor. I have therefore replaced my throttle body etc. with that from the scrappy and I also thoroughly cleaned the IACV. I have also replaced the spark plugs, however none of this has had an affect.
I am now looking for some advice as to what to do next or what the problem could be as this is becoming a little annoying in the winter weather.
I am new to this site, so please take it easy.
I will first give you a bit of history about my car:
It is a 2003 EP3 CTR with 102k miles on the clock. I have owned the car for the last 4 years and 70k miles. It has a K&N induction kit and the car is fitted with a Prinns LPG system and lubeoil drip. I know that it may not be right to convert a CTR to LPG, but I fell in love with the car and then started to work away just after buying it. As I average 15-20k miles a year, my car is serviced about every 8 months at my local back street garage. Service costs vary depending on the mileage, but I am unclear as to what has been changed / inspected during each service. I am also questioning their ability after they were unable to work out what this fault was.
The problem:
When the car is cold and I drop the clutch, the revs drop off and the engine stalls. I also think that it may be running rich (when cold, maybe also when warm - unsure) as it can be juddery for the first couple of minutes. After the car warms up it seems to run ok when the weather is warm, its just annoying as it can cut out at junctions and it sometimes takes a bit to get it going. I should also point out that I have had this problem for about 4 months and now that it is getting colder, it sometimes cuts out (or drops below idle then recovers) even once warmed up.
There was an engine management light showing before I went on holiday, but the battery went flat whilst I was away and the light reset. I have since replaced that battery as it was the original and it has let me down in the past. The problem is that my local garage doesn't know what to look for as there is no light on the dash. I told them to look at the IACV, but this made no difference.
I have since removed the throttle body and tried to remove the IACV, but the screws had been rounded off (presumably by the garage). I managed to get a used throttle body from a scrappy, complete with a TPS, MAP, but no IACV chamber or sensor. I have therefore replaced my throttle body etc. with that from the scrappy and I also thoroughly cleaned the IACV. I have also replaced the spark plugs, however none of this has had an affect.
I am now looking for some advice as to what to do next or what the problem could be as this is becoming a little annoying in the winter weather.
It was amazing how far out some of the clearances were. My car also had the occasional idling problem, which has also disappeared since I adjusted the valve clearances.