engine ticking over but takes a while to respond/rev when cold, why?

For the last few days, particularly when getting in the car after it being parked up overnight, when I start the engine it ticks over fine but as I accelerate it doesn't respond\rev , just ticks over. If I do rev \accelerate when cold the engine noise changes and the rpms falls to about 300 rpm and I have to step off the accelerator otherwise it will probably stall.
The car does eventually respond but usually after 4 minutes or so after letting it tickover, once it responds and revs, it usually drives fine, I think it feels As though it lacks some power lately though, but I'm not 100% sure.

I had some problems with the fuel injectors leaking a few weeks ago, injector 1 itself was actually leaking , we ended up replacing the top seal on it. Then injector 3 leaked a few days later, we stuck that in with superglue. However a few days later that leaked fuel again, this time from the leak off pipe and not from the injector itself. As a temporary measure we put a cable tie on each fuel injector and around the leak off pipe. Several weeks later and my car fuel injectors and\or leak off pipe are fine with zero diesel leaks. However I do intend to fit a new leak off pipe soon and remove the cable ties.

Could the problem be fuel related or even related to the fuel injectors? Thanks

P.S. I am waiting for my mechanic friend to plug his laptop into my car to do a diagnostics, however I am finding it frustrating around for him and I just want an insight into what the problem may be

Reply 1

earthworm

Is it rough sounding? You get a drop in power and responsiveness if you lose a cylider. Never worked on diesels tho.

Reply 2

Spoilt Boy

Original post by earthworm

Is it rough sounding? You get a drop in power and responsiveness if you lose a cylider. Never worked on diesels tho.

My engine does usually almost always chug for a few minutes every time you start the engine. After a few minutes the engine noise changes and suddenly sounds fine and the sound when it is idling \ticking over sounds fine. It has always sounded like this, 2 days after buying car. I don't know if that has anything to do with the problem I am experiencing at the moment

Reply 3

EchoTango

I thought you where a mobile mechanic, Spilt Boy?

Reply 4

Spoilt Boy

Original post by EchoTango

I thought you where a mobile mechanic, Spilt Boy?

Will you **** off

Reply 5

EchoTango

Original post by Spoilt Boy

Will you **** off

Honest question. You made a thread advertising your mobile mechanic services. Would have thought you'd have known more tbh. Unless you're not a mobile mechanic that is.

Reply 6

Spoilt Boy

Original post by EchoTango

Honest question. You made a thread advertising your mobile mechanic services. Would have thought you'd have known more tbh. Unless you're not a mobile mechanic that is.

OK, not really a mechanic, I sometimes wish I was and although bit may seem childish I like to pretend I am sometimes. Lol

Now will you answer my question, or are you clueless ?

Reply 7

EchoTango

Original post by Spoilt Boy

OK, not really a mechanic, I sometimes wish I was and although bit may seem childish I like to pretend I am sometimes. Lol

Now will you answer my question, or are you clueless ?

Sure.

Spoiler

Reply 8

Spoilt Boy

Original post by EchoTango

Sure.

Spoiler

Will you **** off

And my car not broke, just needs attention

Reply 9

CurlyBen

Rule number 1: One problem, one thread. Clogging up a forum with unnecessary extra threads is just annoying
Rule number 2: When asking questions like this, give us a clue as to what you're driving. Petrol injection systems are quite different from mechanical fuel injected diesels which in turn different from common rail diesels.
(Off topic - anyone think it'd be a good idea to have a sticky in the forum for how to ask technical questions?)

Now a safety issue. You DO NOT piss around with fuel injectors. Get them ALL properly rebuilt. Last time I looked it was about £15-25 per injector when you send them away, though obviously the car's off the road whilst you do that. Alternatively I've found new old stock injectors for not much more than the cost of refurbishing injectors before now. You've mentioned diesel - mechanical injection systems operate at hundreds of bar, common rail up to 3,000 bar (for reference, it's not uncommon for large construction equipment to run hydraulic pressures of 250-350 bar, i.e. about 10% of fuel injection pressure). Super glue and cable ties simply will not hold those kinds of pressures. Google hydraulic injection injury to see what happens if you get in the way of oil/fuel at that pressure, though you don't want to do that whilst eating. Then consider that the reason fuel is injected at that kind of pressure: it atomises, which makes it very easy to ignite. Not exactly what you want spraying around your engine bay, is it?

Now your problem. Diesels regulate speed by varying the amount of fuel injected, so if your engine isn't accelerating we can narrow down the problem. Let's assume that there's no variation in the load on engine. That means either the amount of fuel injected isn't increasing, or the fuel isn't being burned efficiently. If it's the latter you'd see sooty black smoke coming out of the exhaust, so let's assume the former. That means we've got insufficient fuel being injected as our potential problem. Where to go from there depends on the fuel injection system. I'm guessing you've probably got a common rail engine, in which case you either have an injector issue, ECU issue or fuel pressure issue. Given you've already mentioned fuel leaks, I might hazard a guess that you've got a leak somewhere which causes fuel pressure to fall when the injector opening period rises, but when the engine temperature rises the leak seals up.

If I were you, I'd get the injectors properly rebuilt or replaced, make sure there are no other leaks, then connect up to a scanner. You want to be able to read live data (cheap scanners won't do this) and have a look at the fuel rail pressure as you try and rev the engine.

Reply 10

EchoTango

Wow.

All that noise to get a reply and not even a 'thanks'...

Reply 11

Spoilt Boy

Original post by EchoTango

Wow.

All that noise to get a reply and not even a 'thanks'...

???

What do you mean?

Reply 12

earthworm

Is it only when cold...Glow plugs?

Reply 13

Spoilt Boy

Original post by earthworm

Is it only when cold...Glow plugs?

I thought this as well , I dismissed the idea though as I thought it would probably be something more serious.
My car also often chugs, usually when idling, regardless if engine is hot or cold. Sounds a bit like a train that is chugging sometimes.
I remember a few months back my car was at the garage for repair, they told me later on that they changed 1 glow plug. I forgot why they said they had changed it, I just thought it was bizarre, changing only 1 plug?

My car was chugging before I even brought it to the garage fyi.

My car only has difficulty responding when engine is cold, starts first time but takes a while to respond, rev

Do you think I should try the glow plugs ?

Thanks

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 14

earthworm

Original post by Spoilt Boy

Iys an easy cheap thing to try and wont do any harm.

Reply 15

Spoilt Boy

Original post by earthworm

Iys an easy cheap thing to try and wont do any harm.

I agree

Regards - OP

P's. It's my birthday today, I'm 24 ,

Reply 16

Nuffles

Glow plugs won't change anything if it starts easily but has trouble revving once started. All they do is aid starting. I've not even used glow plugs in years tbh. You need to get a diagnostics done on the engine and see if it's throwing up any codes, which it probably will have done. Start with them.