Daewoo Lanos 2000 1.5L lack of power on hills

[saadsaleem]

Hi all! I have been reading this forum for a while now to troubleshoot my little Lanos and have found it very useful. There is a problem with my Lanos since I bought it and I would like to discuss it. It lacks power whilst going on hills.In the morning, if you accelerate it, there is some hesitation but once it is warm, there is no problem. The car lacks the umph factor. I used to have an older lanos with more kms, but its engine was a dynamite. I don't know what is wrong with this one. The car has done more than 100kms.

Car idles smoothly and there is no starting problem. I asked the local garage to check the valve timing, change the spark plugs and their leads, change fuel and air filters,change pvc as the valve gasket was leaking, and recently cleaned the fuel strainer in the fuel tank. Cat converter was also checked and it is clean as well. When I press the accelerator on hills, there is no smoke. I showed the car to another mechanic today and he feels as if car is running lean. He is suggesting cleaning the fuel injectors. I am very much confused now as if I am not sure if I should proceed with this or not as it might not help as it didn't help much with the other things.

If someone can shed some light on this problem, I'll be grateful.

P.S. Just for curiosity, I disconnected the map sensor today electrically and car idled at a very high rpm. I don't know if it is normal or not. Plus, this car doesn't have EGR as it is not legally required in Australia.

[RichieOzzie]

Yep, sounds like its been cheap serviced etc, just like the one I have.
Mine was badly maintained etc all the way. It has been subjected to the "If its not a big engine, and we don't reaaaaaly know too much about it, but will give it a quick service anyway. Anyway, what do you want from a small engined car" brigade.!!!

Get the Injectors PROPERLY cleaned like at AFI or the likes of specialised Bosch dealers.
BIN the FUEL pressure Regulator, and put a real one on it. Set base pressure to around 52psi, and the vacuum will come down to 43-ish psi.
Look under the seat at this -> http://www.daewootech.com/forum/viewtop ... =1&t=13950 Tie the car in to 95 octane option. Best way is to solder the Brown/White wire to the Black, and tape it off.
Change oil to something sensible for this engine, as my guess is the lifters are getting pumped up too hard with the oil it is running.(this takes out the compression and valve timing becomes inaccurate).... Seems the oils used are too thick they use, and should be something like 5w40. Mobil 2000 is my oil of choice. Most garages don't understand WHY you cant use thick oil in these engines. It HAS to be low viscosity at cold, and no higher than 40 when warm.... period.!!
Change fuel filter.... it's probably half blocked with crap, even though it was done recently.
Air filter needs opening up, and I'll have to get a picture for you to see this mod I did, but still kept original setup, with no discerable difference, or noise.

It sounds just like mine did when I got my sleeved rolled up, and sorted it out. Now it feels like I have added a nother 500 cc's to the engine. It flies along now, and even the hills at calga etc on the F3 are no problem for it. Rolling start from 80kmh to speed limit in 5th gear are no problem..... whereas before, I had to slot it down to 3rd gear to get it moving on the hills.

[saadsaleem]

Thanks Richie for your comprehensive answer. I think I should clean fuel injectors first then. I have also started the Auto-Rx engine cleaning therapy which removes sludge from the engine developed due to poor maintenance of previous owners (over period of two oil changes). Apart from your fuel injection cleaning advice, all the other advices are more towards enhancing power of engine beyond its normal mode of operation. I hope that it won't have negative effects on engine.

It is good to know that someone else in Australia also faced a similar problem and found a way out.

[benzino]

I found a way out but more expensive than richie's way

[saadsaleem]

I found a way out but more expensive than richie's way

Can I please know what was your way?

Thanks!

[ChrisHarding]

Hey Richie

I see to have plenty of power but my motor still smells a bit hot??? Didn't think about the oil at all!!! I have Pennrite 25W60 in the motor ..I just figured that at 176,000 kms it would need an oil for "older engines"
Could mine be running a little warm due to the oil throwing out the valve timing????? I don't think my car was ever correctly maintained ..when I got it the oil was like treacle!!! and there was rusty water in the coolant tank....what's the Auto RX cleaning therapy????

Chris

[saadsaleem]

Hey Richie
what's the Auto RX cleaning therapy????
Chris

I read about it on some American automotive forums. You add it to your engine oil (preferably mineral type) and use car for 4000 kms (cleaning phase) and then change oil again with a mineral type engine oil (rinsing phase). After further more 4000kms, you put your normal engine oil. By this time, the sludge has been removed from your engine and it runs much smoother. I have read that it works much better than engine flush products as it acts slowly and provides much more deeper cleaning.

[saadsaleem]

Yep, sounds like its been cheap serviced etc, just like the one I have.
Mine was badly maintained etc all the way. It has been subjected to the "If its not a big engine, and we don't reaaaaaly know too much about it, but will give it a quick service anyway. Anyway, what do you want from a small engined car" brigade.!!!

Get the Injectors PROPERLY cleaned like at AFI or the likes of specialised Bosch dealers.
BIN the FUEL pressure Regulator, and put a real one on it. Set base pressure to around 52psi, and the vacuum will come down to 43-ish psi.
Look under the seat at this -> http://www.daewootech.com/forum/viewtop ... =1&t=13950 Tie the car in to 95 octane option. Best way is to solder the Brown/White wire to the Black, and tape it off.
Change oil to something sensible for this engine, as my guess is the lifters are getting pumped up too hard with the oil it is running.(this takes out the compression and valve timing becomes inaccurate).... Seems the oils used are too thick they use, and should be something like 5w40. Mobil 2000 is my oil of choice. Most garages don't understand WHY you cant use thick oil in these engines. It HAS to be low viscosity at cold, and no higher than 40 when warm.... period.!!
Change fuel filter.... it's probably half blocked with crap, even though it was done recently.
Air filter needs opening up, and I'll have to get a picture for you to see this mod I did, but still kept original setup, with no discerable difference, or noise.

It sounds just like mine did when I got my sleeved rolled up, and sorted it out. Now it feels like I have added a nother 500 cc's to the engine. It flies along now, and even the hills at calga etc on the F3 are no problem for it. Rolling start from 80kmh to speed limit in 5th gear are no problem..... whereas before, I had to slot it down to 3rd gear to get it moving on the hills.

Someone is selling pack of 8 HSV Stroker 24 lb fuel injectors which are slightly used. Do you recommend me to buy them instead of cleaning my Daewoo ones. And just one more question, can I fit those injectors in my Daewoo?

[saadsaleem]

Just an update to my predicament. I changed my oil recently and found that in the morning, when I start car, there is a huge cloud of white smoke which stops immediately. This happens only once in the morning for a moment and the cloud is very significant.

Any one would like to shed light on what is going wrong?

Thanks!

[RichieOzzie]

Valve guide seals worn, or over filled with oil. Many things will cause this, including injector problems. Is it oily, or rich with fuel smoke?

24lb/hr are too big an injector for standard Woo engines. Did the others get cleaned at all?

You said you were using some oil/engine cleaner in the engine, is this it by any chance?

[RichieOzzie]

Chris, my engine has done 223000 Kms up to present, and still is good.

Keep good anti-freeze/coolant in the cooling system, it will arrest the damage the water in there was causing. It is an anti-corrosion chemical too.

The thick oil in there will damage the engine. The lifters will pump-up too much, and they will not allow the oil in them to drain slightly as it should do, and the valves will not close correctly. Eventually the valves/seats will burn, and not seal, which causes lowered compression on the affected cylinders.

Best way to test this is get on the freeway, or the likes, and run it for a while at high rpm in 4th, and then stop, and watch the engine idle... it will probably be a rough idle...... which is caused by too thick an oil in the engine.

Most hydraulic lifter engines should be running 10W oil, especially the 1.5, it is prone to this problem. I went like I said to a 5W oil, and it stopped the rough idle after around 200kms. I can rev it up now, and when I come to idle the engine, it is as smooth as silk. It was rough when I used the same theory as you are with the worn engine idea.

Engines don't seem to show the old signs of wear anymore, which is what the thicker oil was helping. If it is worn, the oil will only prolong any rattles in there, and only for a short period too.

[saadsaleem]

Actually, I am suspecting lots of things. My mechanic, he overfilled the oil in the engine (I now have started using Helix HX5 after listening to your advice). I did take some oil out yesterday after noticing in the morning that it was way more than it should be in the engine. But today morning, there was again a cloud of white smoke when I turned it on even though I had reduced the oil level. I hope that there is no permanent damage because of excess oil.

My car has been parked outside for more than 3 hours. I just started the engine to have a look and there was no smoke at all. I shall see tomorrow morning if I am having the same cloud of smoke or not. I shall keep updating that what happens with the car. Worst case worst, if valve guide seals are worn out, I might have to use some sort of oil leak solution in engine oil for a temporary fix.

Moreover, I recently used two different injection cleaning fluids in my fuel (liqui moly and lucas, for a period of one full tank each). It can also be Auto-rx, although I never heard anything bad about it, unlike its rival seafoam, which is put directly in vacuum line and can remove deposited carbon from piston rings, causing pressure leaks on old engines.

I haven't cleaned the injectors yet. I have taken appointment with the mechanic for the coming Wednesday to clean the injectors. I just hope that there is no major problem with the engine.

[MMamdouh]

this problem is most probably worn valve guide seals

if it was oil overfill it would have happened more frequently

MMamdouh

[saadsaleem]

For worn valve guide seals, the smoke should be blue, not white. Right?

[MMamdouh]

well... it can be very light blue that is almost white...

did you try sniffing some of the gases to see if it is oil or not? (crazy idea but 100% effective)

MMamdouh