Z18XE not quite right....?

[bcoss]

Some days my car is a joy to drive - feels light & nippy. Other days (like today) it feels like a big lumbering dog.

It goes reasonably well and fuel consumption is OK, pretty sure brakes aren't binding, but it just feels a bit heavy & tight. I've cleaned out the throttle body tonight and run some carb cleaner through it too as the inlet manifold looked a bit manky, still doesn't feel 100% though. The breathers looked fine.

Twice since I've had it (5 & a half years) its got through a tank of petrol so fast I thought it had a leak, but the next tank it's gone back to normal, not sure what that means.

I service it regularly and its had new plugs & air filter recently. I did the accelerator/brake fault code check thing tonight and it came up with no faults.

Any ideas what I can look at next?

Cheers.

[CLOMP]

I had a similar problem with my 1.6 vec some years ago,, it was the HAND BRAKE not quite releasing, not enough so the disc's were getting hot, but enough to notice, also if the fuel tank is full you may notice a difference, as when there is only a couple of gallons in it, remember the rear discs have two sets of pads,

[CLOMP]

I will give this a bump incase anyone has a better reply than mine.

[Exclusive BV]

Are you filling up at the same petrol station all the time?

I notice a difference with my Z18XER when I fill up at a particular location it's quite sluggish on that tank and it seems to use it quicker

Just a thought

[Tony W]

I had a similar problem with my 1.6 vec some years ago,, it was the HAND BRAKE not quite releasing, not enough so the disc's were getting hot, but enough to notice, also if the fuel tank is full you may notice a difference, as when there is only a couple of gallons in it, remember the rear discs have two sets of pads,

Puzzled.. as our 55 reg Facelift C with the Z18XE engine has only one set of pads on each rear disc/wheel & has no separate 'auxillary' small rear drum with 'shoes' for handbrake parking use..
The handbrake operates a lever on each rear caliper closing each single set of rear pads onto the disc for parking...ie the rear pads are used for normal braking & parking...& as I understand one reason why there's been a problem with the cars moving after the handbrake was applied for parking...Cheers

[John LE]

The Vec C's don't have separate shoes and pads like the Vec B. As for the hand brake problems that was related to the actual handbrake lever its self falling and releasing the brake

[Das]

Fuel filter blocked maybe, just a guess. Could just be that as youve had it 5 1/2 years that youve got used to it. The 1.8 is never gonna be a flying machine. Ive noticed with mine that its not as torquey as my old Accord and if you dont get the gears right it feels sluggish too. If the brakes are binding you'll notice more brake dust on the wheel trims than normal, and if you coast to a gentle stop at a junction or traffic light without using the brakes you should feel a "tug" through the car as it stops.

[Tony W]

Some days my car is a joy to drive - feels light & nippy. Other days (like today) it feels like a big lumbering dog.

It goes reasonably well and fuel consumption is OK, pretty sure brakes aren't binding, but it just feels a bit heavy & tight. I've cleaned out the throttle body tonight and run some carb cleaner through it too as the inlet manifold looked a bit manky, still doesn't feel 100% though. The breathers looked fine.

Twice since I've had it (5 & a half years) its got through a tank of petrol so fast I thought it had a leak, but the next tank it's gone back to normal, not sure what that means.

I service it regularly and its had new plugs & air filter recently. I did the accelerator/brake fault code check thing tonight and it came up with no faults.

Any ideas what I can look at next?

Cheers.

Have you checked the state of the spark plugs ????

I give our 55 reg Facelift C (Z18XE engine) a dose of Wynn's injector cleaner for Petrol engines - the green label - twice a year when I fill up the tank...

Iv'e used normal (97 RON) supermarket petrol (mainly Morrison's) about 90% of the time...

Below is a photograph of the original Bosch spark plugs I replaced last year after 4 years of use & about 37K miles..not bad...




I fitted 'Quad' electrode NGK BKR5EQUPA - (Long Life) plugs & still using the injector cleaner twice a year...

Cheers

[CLOMP]

Puzzled.. as our 55 reg Facelift C with the Z18XE engine has only one set of pads on each rear disc/wheel & has no separate 'auxillary' small rear drum with 'shoes' for handbrake parking use..
The handbrake operates a lever on each rear caliper closing each single set of rear pads onto the disc for parking...ie the rear pads are used for normal braking & parking...& as I understand one reason why there's been a problem with the cars moving after the handbrake was applied for parking...Cheers

sorry to be misleading, I did the discs on my vec B, Myself. but a garage did the discs on my Vec-c, sorry for the confusion,,

PS, if the fault was the plugs the fault would not be intermitant,,,would it?

[bcoss]

Have dismantled & cleaned up the rear brakes tonight. n/s was fine but the o/s seemed a bit tight, although nothing terrible. Off for a fill up now, will report back...!

ps. Plugs changed in the last 2 months.

pps. Have also just done the airbox mod...!