Hey guys,
I've had this issue since I've owned the car- the past 2 years. Its only got 50,000 on the clock and is in great condition otherwise.
And I've noticed that higher octane fuel and injector cleaners improve it alot.
I plan to run a couple more bottles of injector cleaner and bp ultimate through it in case the injectors are dirty.
And if it persists will change the in tank fuel filter.
Plugs have been changed.air filters fine.
Anything else it could be?
Cheers
Nah, incorrect AR on the turbo. Too much top end boost, and not enough low end. Either needs to install a secondary compound turbo system or run it through a super charger.
tune the injectors another millisecond and it will run 9s
Throttle body and air flow sensor clean. Must be done using the right product for each one.
Ah ok, Can handy hackers do it or should it be left to the professionals?
Grab a can of "contact clean" and go nuts. Just dont do it while the engine is running.
Can be DIY.
Plenty of how tos on the net. Have a good read up and see if you feel confident.
Be extra careful not to drop anything in the intake when doing the throttle body.
Do not touch the air flow sensor with anything!! Use an electronic parts cleaner spray only.
Spray & let soak for a few minutes & repeat a few times.
Definitely sounds like the flux capacator is on the blink.
He needs to do a factory reset, my Samsung used to lag after 50,000kms or so as well
A 20 year old car only has 50k on the clock? That sounds very improbable.
Granny's buy cars then use them once a week for the last 15 years of their life. It's not that unheard of.
It happens. Gf recently got 20yo Daihatsu with 40k on it. Was a spare car for popping down to the shops or something.
Our mechanic happened to have the exact same model and age and was impressed by the condition of it. Lovely car
I've seen a 80s Starlet, maybe an 88 with around 40,000kms on the clock. I can't remember exact mileage but was owned by an old lady from new who lived in a tiny town and only used it to do her grocery run. Not common, but not improbable
My old lady has a 2003 corolla wagon with 43000km, your point being?
The OP is lying?
Lol, all the salty responses. Improbable does not mean impossible.
in any case, there are plenty of low km old cars with tampered odometers.
That sounds very improbable.
Turbo lag. Increase the blowoff valve and triple the trumpet and add an exhaust tip.
Are there bubbles in the window tint? Could be adding drag.
I use a 2000 Mazda 323 1.6l manual a lot which I think is a similar car. You've got to give them a bit to get the best out of them.
There isn't a lot that can go wrong.
I did the plugs on ours last week. That's pretty easy.
Also did the in tank filter which took an hour (lots of thinking time and no instructions).
Only 50k I'd be thinking the fuel has gone stale several times over the years so the filter or the inlet sock might be a little clogged. Ours has done 134k.
You could also have a slightly blocked or collapsed muffler…
We run 98 in it all the time simply because it takes us 2 months to use it up and it goes stale. When you only put 6 tanks of fuel in a year the extra cost means nothing. The extra octane does nothing for performance initially but at least it stays consistent over the full tank of fuel.
Yes, I think the laser is just a rebadged 323. Did you notice any difference after the fuel filter change?
I'm thinking that's probably my issue. They recommend you change fuel filter at 50k and mines just ticked over, but it was an old lady's car and has probably never been changed.
I'd say its probably got a lot of crap in it from sitting in the garage 95% of its life.
On the plus side it was still like new
no noticeable change. It had been a while AFAIK. It's a manual and you have to drive it. It's not like a modern car
If it’s a 1.6l they are a bit gutless, and if it’s auto that makes it worse. They are even more pitiful when cold. Try the throttle body clean and air flow sensor, it may help. You can remove the fuel line at the engine and take a sample to see if the fuel is coming out clean, just put the line in a wide mouth bottle like a clean Gatorade/Powerade unit and turn the ignition on/off a couple of times (don’t hit the starter). That might tell you if a new filter is required.
If it doesn't have any sentimental value to you, get another car, don't spend too much time and money on a 2K car.
My second-gen Ford Focus has done this since I've had it. It's about 12 years now and like yours it's barely ticked over 50,000km.
There's about 5cm of pedal travel when you put your foot on the accelerator where nothing happens and then 10cm where everything happens and you end up jerking yourself violently backward a lot if you're not feathering it carefully. It's almost like a dead zone in the throttle range that just doesn't register any input.
Other than that though, it's been mechanically sound for its entire life. I did have to replace the ECU with another factory unit though (the throttle issue still persists).
I think early and mid-2000s Ford vehicles had a lot of throttle response issues like these, from what I've heard from other owners.
Possibly engine knock (cpu might be cutting throttle). Consider Air leak, Clogged Valves, bad spark plugs/leads/coils, faulty injectors, clogged fuel filter.
Get a cannon on there asap
Have you considered an Italian tune up ??
This might actually help. I do with a few cars and it works. Not sure if a TRD lazer can withstand a Italian tune up though.
Today I learned a Ford Laser is able to accelerate.
We're talking about linear velocity and not depreciation right? Because both should be flatline over time.
Not sure about your model but, assuming it's NOT turbocharged, the first thing I'd be looking for would be a vacuum leak: check all the small rubber hoses and the larger ones running from the air filter to the intake manifold.
Also, consider buying a relatively cheap bluetooth ELM327 OBD2 reader to plug into the diagnostics port and buy the TorquePro app for about $5. This will allow you to check for error codes and also
provide live displays for all sorts of information being fed to the car computer by the sensors, like vacuum, throttle position and rpm, depending on the model.
Well worth the investment of $30-$60.
Thanks for all the comments everyone.
The car has been running great since I put the injector cleaner in. (Not a placebo as I forgot for a while I'd put it in there lol)
Do you think this means it's dirty injectors or could it be just an octane boost from the additives in the injector cleaner?
Insufficient boost?