Severe Lack Of Power. Chrysler Grand Voyager 2005.

[SandSAutocare]

Hi. i have a grand voyager 2005 3.3 v6 petrol automatic. when i select drive and try to accelerate there is a serious lack of power. the engine idles perfectly, but takes forever to pick up any pace, and when i get above 40 (eventually) there is no gumption to want to go much faster. it takes an eternity to get up to 60.

the gears don't change as they should. the revs get to 3 and a half thousand, and the rev counter begins to bounce and will not change up gear until you let the throttle off it drops to around 2 thousand, will change up, but if i press too hard on the throttle it will down shift shoot up to the 3 thousand mark and the rev counter bobs.

Now i have changed spark plugs, cam sensor and crank sensor as per diagnostics, to no end. I've had it checked with the star scan tool and found the timing was out, therefor i had the timing done also. whilst it was in getting the timing done the mechanic noticed that the manifold was a cherry red color and suggested that the engine wasn't breathing properly. once the timing was done i removed the exhaust system to check the cat and other pipes for any obstructions or blockage. Again i hit a wall and found hee haw.

i am at a complete loss as to where to go next, because regardless of any parts being serviced the car still will not accelerate as it should.

 

Can anyone help?? Has anyone had this problem?? Is there something i'm over looking far simpler?

 

I may well be looking too deep. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[bignev]

Hi there,

Just to try to get a handle on it, is it revving its thingies off but not driving forward? Leading to transmission problems suspicion.

 

Don't be concerned by the red hot manifold, not too much anyway, if they had it fast idling I'd not be too surprised it got ruddy hot.

Diesels won't do that, and most modern stuff will be hidden by engine covers etc so they can't see it anyhow.

And it must have been low light level to see that too. I had a four stroke off road bike that would routinely make its exhaust header red hot, but you could only see it at very dull or night conditions.

[SandSAutocare]

Thanks for the reply Bigdev. the car does drive all be it very slowly. the lack of power is stopping the accelerating as it should whilst driving. when the auto box is shifting up the gears during acceleration and i lean a bit lead footed on the pedal the revs go up to around 3 thousand revs and the rev counter just bobs there and the gear doesn't shift. so when i back of the throttle let the rev counter drop to around 2 thousand and press the throttle pedal gently it shifts up gear but the power still lags severely. if i press the throttle pedal harder after this the gears shift down unnecessarily and the rev counter again bobs at around 3 thousand until i do what i just described again. during acceleration it takes an eternity to gain any speed. Getting to even 40 mph feels like a lifetime to get there.

 

thanks again for your reply mate.

[bignev]

Hmm right ok.....

The revs topping out at 3000 to 3500 would be the rev limiter - try it in neutral (or park) to see that confirmed.

 

Relating to another problem I've just had & posted on, knackered coil, "3.3 misfire" have a read of that and try for good sparks on all the cylinders, use an old plug on the end of the detached HT lead, I rested mine on the metal front cross panel, and see how they are doing.

If you have 2 duff ones on opposing side of the coil it could be the electrical signal in to the coil, or the coil itself.

 

While you're in there perhaps check the plugs - any wet ones indicate crap ignition.

Leading on from that if you can get a compression tester then it's an ideal time to do it while the plugs are out.

 

A lack of a code from your initial post hopefully means that there's not an injector problem!!

 

I'm presuming that the car feels like it's driving through the transmission ok - not like it's got a "slipping clutch", has the fluid been checked? Give it a sniff to see if it's burnt or dark red / black - dead.

Edited August 28, 2018 by bignev

[SandSAutocare]

I get what you're saying bud. As i removed the plugs and they where very old for 1, and most of them were wet and it was pure fuel. I did put an old plug into each lead and they did fire against the cross frame, but correct me if i am wrong here. If the plug doesn't spark in the cylinder as the the injector sprays, then this would obviously explain why the plugs are wet. Is it possible the plug isn't sparking at the exact time it should? so much as to cause the car to drive like crap under load, but the engine idles fine because the spark timing isn't too far away? Which would suggest a coil fault but not severe enough to throw a fault code?

 

please excuse me if that sounds a bit thick lol. I'm just trying to find an obvious solution as i have pretty much eradicated the more technical faults like the timing.

 

cheers bud.

[bignev]

No pal not sounding thick at all - you can obviously think about the function well!

 

Good one you tested for the plugs, also engine temp will affect how wet they will be, as it will be running rich on a cool engine.

 

Yes it is right if the spark timing is out it could have a huge loss of power - going back to the good old days of distributors and points / condensers, if the points were out a bit, they would really struggle. I know my bikes did!! I don't have the knowledge of modern computer engine management to figure or know how it can be adjusted, it's supposed to be clever and sort itself out when it has the information from the sensors........

 

Weak sparks also don't do well under compression. Maybe a coil section is breaking down, mine spotted a misfire and gave up a code, P0304. But it was a very noticeable misfire in my case.

 

I got a coil from fleabay for £35, possibly worth a gamble? Maybe a set of leads for £15 to £18?

 

Can you get / borrow a compression tester?

[SandSAutocare]

I actually have a compression tester kit bud. Going to do that tomorrow while waiting on new leads and plugs. Thanks so much for your advice. I will keep you informed of future results bud, and pick your brain again if i don't find any further faults.

 

cheers.

[sak12345]

i own a chrysler grand voyager 2005 3.3 , i have lost the remote that locks the doors and now the key itself does not start the vehicle . does anybody know if this could be an immobiliser fault or if the key alone should still start the car ? all i get is a click sound and no response when i do try to start with key alone 

 

[bignev]

I actually have a compression tester kit bud. Going to do that tomorrow while waiting on new leads and plugs. Thanks so much for your advice. I will keep you informed of future results bud, and pick your brain again if i don't find any further faults.

 

cheers.

Excellent!!

 

We can eliminate that horrible option from the possible faults, marvelous!

 

I can only pass on what I have learned and experienced and hope it helps out others!

And, like the rest of us on here, I also hope it avoids some of us getting ripped off by parties who would be quite happy to play expensive "parts darts" games with these things, as they're not as predictable as some makes of car. Or just take the P.

Sometimes if it's cheap enough and results in having followed a logical path a part is worth a "punt", but if possible test stuff first. As pointed out in the other post a coil is an example of that, it can test out ok, but still not perform on load.

 

Did you mean leads and coil by the way? Having already done the plugs!

[bignev]

i own a chrysler grand voyager 2005 3.3 , i have lost the remote that locks the doors and now the key itself does not start the vehicle . does anybody know if this could be an immobiliser fault or if the key alone should still start the car ? all i get is a click sound and no response when i do try to start with key alone 

Hi @@sak12345, have you checked the battery is charged? 

Has it started since you lost the remote? Or was it armed then you lost it? But - not sure - I think once the key has been in the ignition in the ON position a few seconds the immobiliser ring recognises it, and the red LED lamp should go out, then should turn over.

 

And as I was typing that my memory recalled that it will turn over and start even with the wrong key - yes it will I had 2 GV's and did this - but will only run for a couple of seconds then cut out. Worried the poop out of me till I took a proper look at the key then had a laugh how daft I was.

 

You can get a second hand remote, and have it coded into the car by a good AUTO LOCKSMITH, not just auto electrician, although they may well be able to do that. Again I have had this done. Memory is faded but certainly under £100 including the fee he had to pay for a code number for my ECU. Plus obviously the remote itself which I supplied.

[SandSAutocare]

yeah mate sorry i did mean the coil pack itself aswell. Your'e right about darts parts too many garages these days are ripping the utter hole out of it, and its because their workshops are full of young boys who believe the diagnostic tool is gospel.

 

I'll keep you updated with the results.

 

cheers.

[bignev]

Yep too right unfortunately!

Sadly even some older guys seem to have lost the ability to figure out problems by working through.

I bloke I know has worked for main stealers for too many years and can't remember how to actually fix stuff, simply doing what the technical bulletin or flow chart says. He wasn't aware of the AC pressures, thought it was the sensor, on my Galaxy, but didn't think to put the gauge on the cars next to it - to get the same "high" reading when not running. Thankfully I did.

[Semmysonic]

Do you have white smoke coming from the exhaust and a really strong smell of petrol?

Only ask because that was what happened to mine when the coil went down. But it did also throw up a misfire fault code too