[Mk2] [NA] Car running rough after sitting for a while

[milan]

Hi, my car was running fine until the end of nov and I have not started it since. Its been sitting outside and now when i started it it starts but runs very rough. I checked the spark plugs and they were black so cleaned them so they are a bit better.

Basically the car is idlingat about 500rpm which is very low and the revs are going up and down slightly around this point, so basically the car is nearly stalling. Could this be the casue of old plugs & leads?

The car is a rev2 Gltd by the way.

Urgent answer required please as I am trying to work on it now.

Thanks

[milan]

Also I let the car get up to temperature and then put my foot down and there was loads of black smoke? any ideas? any help would be appriciated.

[snarf]

Sounds like a bit of damp has got into her.
Have you tried going for a good blast?

[milan]

That what I though at first because its been sitting for a while so i let it warm up and smaked my foot down on the accelarator, load of black smoke came out but it was still running rough. Maybe i should do this again?

[snarf]

Sometimes a good run up the street for a few miles is better than just sitting stationary trying to warm up.
Try that and report back after approx 8-10 miles of running.

[milan]

Thing is the reason its been off the road is because there is no MOT or tax otherwise i would take it down the road for a blast. I just warmed my car up to temp and started reving high and even red lined it for about 5-10mins and its still really rough and only idles at 500 rpm. Im gonna try this again and see what happens for a bit longer.

[milan]

Just took it for a blast (on a private road) it kept stalling at the junction. Could this just be caused by the leads and/or plugs?

[milan]

And its still running rough

[Caribbean_Blue]

Get some injector cleaner search the web. I got a small bottle for about a fiver poured in with full tank of fuel that may help after a while.

Fuel filter may need changing do that aswell, probably never been changed before. Get timing checked aswell.

Reece

[snarf]

yeah sounds like a fuel problem, either oxidation in injectors or crap in filter maybe?
Try the fuel additive first.

[mikey2]

If its idling rough then it could be because its only running on 2 or 3 cylinders, check for damp in things like the dizzy cap, and spark plug tunnels. I jet washed my engine (something i wont ever do again!!) and i got loads of water in the system, it all seemed like a really good idea at first, soon changed my mind! it took ages for the water to completely get out of the system, a good week or so with regular runs.

If it hasnt been done for a while, then its worth just changing the leads and plugs anyway, give it some tlc! Failing that, try moving the ht leats about and see if it suddenly perks up. If you get no joy, remove one plug at a time, if the car stalls you know its a good one, if you get no change at all then its there.

Cheers Mike

[LuizeGT]

mine was like this after leaving it for 3 months.

it was old fuel, really screwed it up. would drive ok but as soon as it was at idle revs it would be very lumpy and try an cut out.

i filled with V power and took it for a spirited drive, ran like a dream within bout 10 miles

[milan]

Still not good news, I have been running the car for a while on my driveway and its still idling at around 500rpm.

So far I have filled the tank with BP Ultimate, put in a bottle of Red-ex injector cleaner and changed all 4 spark plugs, previous spark plugs with some old ones that i had and still the same problem, the spark plugs were black.

I checked the dizzy cap and rotor arm and was wondering if it is ok to sand the connectors down slightly, however they look worn and look slightly oxidised, could this be the problem. I just had a look at the prices and the dizzy cap is about £40 and £5 for the rotor arm. I think i'll have to change these and see what happens.

Any other suggestions from anyone to help about what the problem could be?

[milan]

Also its still chucking out black smoke when i push the revs high.

[JOHNM400]

The black smoke is unburnt fuel no doubt caused by the engine not running properly.

Its almost certainly dampness somewhere if it ran fine before being parked up.

You can scrape the oxidisation of the dizzy cap if you like.It may of built of whilst parked and be causing a low voltage to the plugs but i doubt it really.

Do a quick test. Lift the engine lid with the engine running in the dark and check theres no plug leads arcing out to earth over the cam cover.

If all this fails remove a plug lead one at a time,start the engine and see which cylinder is causing the problem.If you remove number 1 lead and it makes no difference you can then concentrate on that cylinder.

[rookie-racer]

why has no one mentioned the air filter, black smoke is an indicator of over fueling, the engine requires three things fuel air and spark. pull the filger out and repeat the test of planting th throttle on a warm engine, if you still get black smoke, look at th spark, if you dont you simply had a knacked air filter :->

hth

[JOHNM400]

why has no one mentioned the air filter, black smoke is an indicator of over fueling, the engine requires three things fuel air and spark. pull the filger out and repeat the test of planting th throttle on a warm engine, if you still get black smoke, look at th spark, if you dont you simply had a knacked air filter :->

hth

Quite simply because its not the air filter Unless hes left it parked in the sahara desert for the past few months i fail to see how an air filter can become so blocked up that it chokes the engine to almost stalling point.All this just by the car standing

[rookie-racer]

encountered this once before... gunk was growing on it after a long mild winter parked up

[milan]

Ok I have changed the rotor arm and dizzy cap last night and its running a lot smoother (revs are not jumping around any more) but the car is still idling at around 500 rpm and nearly stalling. Could this be because the battery is not powerful enough? I have charged it up but it drains fairly quickly. Im sure the alternator is working fine because its a new one which i fitted about 6 months ago (which took me a whole day to fit!).

Any ideas?

[milan]

This is really annoying me to be honest its smoother than before but still not as smooth as it should be, still a bit rough idling. Today i cleaned the induction kit and took it to my local garage, they said the igition components are unlikely to be causing the problem but they were not sure what the problem was. They said get a diagnostics check done, so i found my diagnostics checker and ran the test and the light was flashing continously so this means that there are no errors detected.

There is a problem somewhere and its not just the idling because if i hold my foot on the accelerator at 1000rpm where it should be idling at it still feels a bit lumpy and just doesnt seem anywhere as smooth as it used to be.

I have checked for leaks in pipes but cannot seem to find anything, it all seems ok????

Please any help would be grately appreciated.