P6 No power.

Declan Blueboy

Declan Blueboy

New Member
P6 1973 2000TC

NO POWER .
Engine perfect
Fuel pump perfect
New clutch
New alternator

Drives very well but will not climb a hill
Feels like driving with brakes on.

Would it be timing ?
Distributor ?

Please help.......
 
The more detailed info the better for people to get you the help you need.
"Engine perfect" Have you checked compression?
I'd start with fueling, checking pressure, lines, fresh fuel and new filter. Worth checking fuel pressure with the front of the car jacked up to mimic an incline to rule that out.
How have you determined the pump is perfect also?

What are the revs doing when it happens? Dropping, rising or staying the same?

If one or more brake caliper piston is binding you should be able to feel a marked difference in wheel temperature after a run. How effective is your handbrake?

What gears are we talking? Can you get up hill in 1st for example?

Jim
 
As Jim says, I'd change the fuel filter first. When we got 'Hazel' (3500 auto) 10 years ago it displayed the same symptoms & I was dreading an expensive gearbox rebuild or similar. The forum advice at the time saved me a lot of grief - it was indeed the filter, which when replaced transformed the car!
 
lots of good advise . fuel starvation and incorrect timing have big effects on performance. assuming we have checked other factors as mentioned then we need to simply go through all possibilities. does sound strange it won't pull uphill. when that occurred to me I found front brakes holding on due to servo fault ( internal leak) .
though still not as powerful as it ought to be it does at least get me around . ( have checked carbs. ignition timing. fuel filter. compression. brakes . air filter etc)
 
strange it won't pull uphill

Advance issue? Should be the same foot to floor in top gear in that case, not just a hill. Vacuum will fall drastically under load up hill. If the centrifugal advance is already weak, maybe the total advance is then too retarded and power drops off quickly.

I don't know on the 4 cyl but the V8 has 4 reference points at different RPMs for the mechanical advance - easy to test with a strobe and the vacuum disconnected and similarly test the vacuum with a gauge. It'd take a garage only 1 hour to do this if you didn't have the equipment.

I'd compression test first, then look at timing. Then things like fuel pressure.

And free, simple things like

a. check air cleaners are reasonably clean
b. check any crankcase breathers are not blocked
c. check fuel filters not blocked
d. carb floats are set ok.
 
And after all those checks there is a slim possibility that the exhaust silencers can collapse internally restricting the flow, pretty rare these days but have come across this on other cars in the past.
Clive.
 
good point clive and for that reason I changed my entire exhaust system . still not as quick as it ought to be but never found why ! before fitting electronic dizzy ( complete unit with incorporated advance module) it did now again act suddenly like a turbo had kicked in and gave a sort of low sizzling whine. went like crap off a shovel . sadly despite checking everything possible from timing and compression to carb floats/filters. pipes. breathing. new plugs .leads. coil. electric fuel pump addition. carb balancing. fuel colour tuning etc . it has never found that 'turbo ' thrust again. sigh
hopefully Peters car will overcome these issues .
 
I would check your valve clearances. They can close up making for a rougher idle, and low power. Also check the cam timing, the timing chain can stretch causing timing to be off. There's a sticky on the four cylinder section detailing how to gauge and correct any misalignment in cam timing.
 
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