Drive 55 on the highway these days and you risk getting run over by just about every other vehicle out there. But what if you have no choice? Some cars will lose their top end speed. You get to 55 pretty quickly, but it is a case of the "little train that could" to get to 65. Why?
Most cars that have this problem tend to have put in a good bit of toil over the years. Put another way, they are old. Given their age, most drivers assume the problem is the engine is "getting worn out" and such. While performance will definitely be impacted by an engine that is wearing, this is not the reason for the loss of performance unless you see big plumes of smoke coming out the back of the car. So, what is the cause?
A car is like you and me in some ways. Much like us, a car needs fuel. The more it has to perform, the more fuel it needs. If you are asked to jog a mile, you can probably do it even if it is an ugly affair. Anything longer than that, though, and you are going to need to get in shape first and eat right. Well, your car is already in shape, but it isn't getting enough fuel. When you the revs go up, it needs more gas. If you are not moving forward quickly at high speeds, you have a fuel problem.
There are two main culprits with fuel problems. The first is a simple one. When was the last time you changed out your fuel filter? Are you even aware you have a fuel filter?! Well, you do and a car that has been driven 100,000 without a filter change has one seriously clogged filter. Note - the tune and lube shops do not replace fuel filters. Try replacing your fuel filter and see if that does the trick. It often is as simple as this, which means a couple bucks can put you back in the lead foot category.
The second potential problem is the fuel filter might be slowly going bad. By "bad", I mean the bad-bad, not the good-bad. Testing fuel filters is a difficult task. The test isn't so difficult, but the word "fuel" is the key. Tends to be flammable. Tends to be difficult to handle when removing the fuel filter. Accidentally spraying fuel around the engine compartment is definitely bad - get it professionally tested.
The previous two issues are almost always the cause of the problem. That being said, there is one other potential issue - the exhaust. If your exhaust system gets backed up, the pressure in the engine will become unbalanced. The exhaust from the firing process will not flow correctly and will back up into the engine. This is known as backpressure.
Backpressure is usually caused because of a problem with the catalytic converter. Get it inspected. If there is a problem, find out what is causing it. Catalytic converters just don't go bad like fruit. There is something in the engine that is causing the converter to have issues. If you don't figure out what that problem is, the new converter will fail sooner or later with sooner being the more likely. Put another way - make sure to fix the cause before the symptom.
A car can lose top end speed as it ages because of a loss in compression. That being said, the problem most drivers experience with top end speed on older cars is not a compression issue, but a fuel problem. Check your lines, filters and fuel pump and soon you'll be back in the fast lane.
Dirk Gibson writes articles about issues surrounding auto parts and repairs for DCJAutoParts.com - buy inexpensive parts online and save money by doing your own repairs
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dirk_Gibson
By Dirk Gibson
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar