My Saxo sounds like a dirt bike

  1. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #1
    I have a Saxo Furio 1.4. The only engine mod is a K&N cone filter. I've only had the car 2 months.

    On Saturday, after about half hour of driving, the exhaust spontaneously started sounding terrible, much like a dirt bike. At the same time the car started getting very jittery when accelerating. When I put my foot down the car would accelerate, but occasionally would hesitate briefly then lurch forward. It would only do this at lower speeds. After about half hour of driving the problems went away.

    Yesterday when I got in the car, the engine seemed to struggle to stay on when I first switched it on, and almost stalled when I first put my foot on the accelerator. Once I started driving the exhaust sounded like a Subaru Impreza. It was quite a nice warbling sound, but abnormal. Again the car had a slight lurching problem when accelerating. Again after half hour of driving the problems went away.

    Finally, today when I got in the car and switched it on, the engine again struggled to stay on. As soon as I hit the gas it cut out and I had to restart. It again sounds like a Subaru from the exhaust, and is also struggling to accelerate properly. After a few minutes of driving I found the engine management light start flashing. I turned everything off. When I restarted the engine light stayed off, but all the other problems remained. After about half hour however all the problems went away.

    Anyone have any ideas what the problem would be? It's in very good condition. It passed its last 2 MOT's with zero faults or advisories. It only had a new exhaust fitted earlier this year. All fluids etc are top up. Prior to driving the car on Saturday, the car had been unused for about 9 days
  2. Infrequent Poster Joined: Aug 2014 Valley boy me.... Posts: 205 saxo vtr 1.4, xsara was my last car
    #2
    well, suppose we start from the top, spark plugs done/checked recently? coilpack good? maybe worth pulling the map sensor out and give it a squirt with brake cleaner, found mine was a bit oil soaked when i first had my saxy.

    also may be worth checking the crank sensor and making sure thats good, (pick one up from the scrappy's for a few quid or free, depending how nicely you talk to them lol) as it seems that could possibly cause them symptoms?

    onwards from there, i suppose i would pull the injectors from the head, keep them attached, clipped and plugged in, have somebody point them upwards so you can see the spray pattern, that would tell you if you have a blocked injector or partially clogged, it will also give you a rough idea if the timing of such is ok.

    seeming as the management light came on, it probably stored something, you could get the ecu codes printed out for you.
  3. Established Member Joined: Jun 2013 York Posts: 2134 Citroen Saxo VTR (2001)
    #3
    I'm saying fuel pump. However you may as well check and clean all sensors etc, can't do any harm! See how it runs then, if same, I'd say fuel pump


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  4. Established Member Joined: Jan 2011 Aberdeen Posts: 1092 Turbo Saxo vtr, 2010 Octavia VRS TSI, mk3 Ibiza cu
    #4
    First off, your car is misfiring if its sounding like a Subaru.

    We can eliminate that, to the following; Spark, fueling, or at most a sensor, in this case primarily a crank sensor or a icv sensor - however, I believe if it is a sensor it would be allot worse than what you describe.

    Spark is the cheapest to try, id try a new coilpack, or one from a friend/local saxo dude you know is working if the symptoms persist - only takes 2 mins to change, fueling is the more expensive of the two to rectify - so always best starting off with the cheapest.

    idealy you would want to unplug each cylinder 1 by 1 whilst it is misfiring to find out which cylinder it is which gives you a good idea, but with these coilpacks - you cannot do this as all 4 are intergrated, the only other way of doing it - is removing the electrical conector on the injector trying each cylinder whilst the car is still misfiring but on these cars they are not the easiest thing to get to the electrical plugs, so unless your prepared for that - then you might just have to try trial and error.
  5. Established Member Joined: Jun 2013 York Posts: 2134 Citroen Saxo VTR (2001)
    #5
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ThrushMotorsport View Post
    First off, your car is misfiring if its sounding like a Subaru.



    We can eliminate that, to the following; Spark, fueling, or at most a sensor, in this case primarily a crank sensor or a icv sensor - however, I believe if it is a sensor it would be allot worse than what you describe.

    Idle control valve wouldn't make it misfire or bog down whilst driving?


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  6. Infrequent Poster Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 215
    #6
    If th car is obd2 complient buy yourself an Autel maxiscan ms309 code reader £12 on ebay great tool for the money and will save you money.
  7. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Jul 2010 South Wales Posts: 3078 ZX 16v, 205 GTI, 309 Goodwood, 405 MI16.
    #7
    Stop using it too.
  8. Infrequent Poster Joined: Nov 2013 Posts: 168
    #8
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by welshpug View Post
    Stop using it too.
    :y
  9. Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Dec 2007 smurfland. Posts: 17346 Ex saxo owner.
    #9
    clogged fuel filter making it juddery?
  10. L-plater Joined: Jul 2014 chesterfield, derbyshire Posts: 36 Saxo Vtr 130k and counting!
    #10
    I would guess with this putting on the engine management light it would be something emissions related (unsure on the system used as mine never been on)!
    Possible things I can think of and only because of how you describe the symptoms is firstly a possible Head Gasket Failure (you said the problem goes away after a while) as head gasket failure can put the light on and they sound crap when the gasket goes, lose power, and sometimes smoke like a bugger, but can improve when the engine warms up... I would check for symptoms, oil in water, over pressurised hoses when running the list is endless!

    Secondly I would be wondering if the cat had collapsed internally as this can cause problems like cutting out, loss of power rattling or raspy noise through exhaust and even failure to start

    And lastly it could be a Lambda sensor is down ... that could contribute to putting the engine light on and has happened to me before with a vauxhall, it ran like crap

    I would say same as others ... stop using it and get the ECU fault read as that will point you in the general area that's causing this problem and work from there. otherwise you could run the risk of spending thousands on it and getting nowhere!

    Hope you get it sorted
  11. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #11
    Well, the warning light only happened on Tuesday. I've drove the car several times yesterday and today and it didn't happen again so it seems that was a one off. The exhaust still sounds strange though. Some times it literally sounds like a dirt bike, other times it sounds like a subaru. The car drives fine unless I really try to accelerate fast. That's when it lurches and doesn't accelerate smoothly. If I accelerate slow there is no problem. I've given the car a good inspection today and it seems on the surface to be all ok. The Oil level is quite low and needs a top up, but it's not critical yet. The exhaust is in good nick by the looks of it, like I said before it's only a few months old. On sunday I'm gonna have a look at the sparks, lambda sensor etc. The lambda sensor looks fairly new though
  12. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #12
    Here's a video of how it sounds:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6yE...ature=youtu.be

    This is when it sounds like a dirt bike. This only lasts a few minutes, and if I turn it off and back on again it normally goes back to sounding normal
  13. Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Dec 2007 smurfland. Posts: 17346 Ex saxo owner.
    #13
    Sounds to me like a misfire?
  14. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Dec 2012 Perth Posts: 3665 Peugeot 106 1.1 Turbo Peugeot 106 1.5D Turbo Peuge
    #14
    Have you tried a different coil pack?
  15. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #15
    This is what the exhaust sounds like at idle. Kinda a 'putt putt putt' sound:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb-Y...ature=youtu.be

    Haven't tried anything yet, but been doing research and it's starting to sound like I have a misfire
  16. Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Dec 2007 smurfland. Posts: 17346 Ex saxo owner.
    #16
    All exhausts have a slight putt putt sound but obviously if it's misfiring you'll hear on the exhaust note.
  17. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #17
    I know my car pretty well and the sound its making atm is different to nornal. Also you cant see it in that video but every few seconds there will be a brief pause in the exhaust blowing. Im pretty sure its misfiring. I tried the 'reverse on brake' technique and that seems to confirm it. Wont know for sure till i whip the sparks out and have a gander tho
  18. Saxperience Hardcore! Joined: Dec 2007 smurfland. Posts: 17346 Ex saxo owner.
    #18
    Faulty coil pack will cause overfuelling & it's worth changing the plugs at the same time.
  19. L-plater Joined: Jul 2014 chesterfield, derbyshire Posts: 36 Saxo Vtr 130k and counting!
    #19
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by stevo67 View Post
    Faulty coil pack will cause overfuelling & it's worth changing the plugs at the same time.
    ^^^^
    What he said ... also dirty / broken map sensor makes a misfire, I only know that because it's happened to me twice now but only tends to generally show itself under load in the experiences I have had of it
  20. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Dec 2012 Perth Posts: 3665 Peugeot 106 1.1 Turbo Peugeot 106 1.5D Turbo Peuge
    #20
    Just listened to that video.

    100% a misfire on the ignition side of things. the "put put" noise is the excess raw fuel being burned by the flames from the other cylinders in the exhaust. that's what makes that noise.

    I'd be putting my money on coil pack, leads or plugs.
  21. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #21
    Just inspected the spark plugs. They all look good. I don’t have ht leads. They're built into the coil pack. Sprayed some contact cleaner into the coil pack 'ht leads' and various conectors. Then took the car for a drive. Initially it was still sounding ratty but after about 2 minutes it sorted itself out and sounded fine. Will let the car cool down and try again tonorrow to see if problem is fixed for sure or if its just being a tricky c*nt lol
  22. Saxperience Forum Bum Joined: Dec 2012 Perth Posts: 3665 Peugeot 106 1.1 Turbo Peugeot 106 1.5D Turbo Peuge
    #22
    It's a PSA built car, of course it'll be tricky lmao
  23. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #23
    Haha. Well yeah, she's back to running rough again today. Not quite sure what to do next
  24. Newbie Joined: Sep 2014 Posts: 12
    #24
    Just an update. It was the coil pack. Had it plugged into diagnostic reader which showed misfire on all cylinders. New coil pack in and it's running fine again