my car doesn't have the power.....how come?

[luvya]

whenever I step on the gas, the engine just accelerate like it doesn't have any horsepower. The engine is quite harsh, and the car trembles during idle...I took it to several auto shops, they changed air fillter and stuff...but that doesn't change it..the engine is still quite harsh. Any idea why?

Mazda 626 LX
80k miles

 

[Zenmervolt]

You have to be more specific. When you say "the engine just accelerate like it doesn't have any horsepower", do you mean that the engine races without the car moving much? Or do you just mean that the car does not accelerate very fast? I'm guessing that the car is a 4-cyl with a 4-spd Automatic. This would account for the tremble during idle I think. Does the car tremble with the tranny in neutral? If not, then try adjusting the idle speed of you engine up a little bit if such an adjustment is possible. As little a difference as 100 RPM in the idle can be the difference between the car being smooth while sitting and trembling.

ZV

 

[Tarmouth]

Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ?

 

[Tarmouth]

Dam thats twice you beat me to it tonight zen :disgust:

 

[luvya]

<< You have to be more specific. When you say "the engine just accelerate like it doesn't have any horsepower", do you mean that the engine races without the car moving much? Or do you just mean that the car does not accelerate very fast? I'm guessing that the car is a 4-cyl with a 4-spd Automatic. This would account for the tremble during idle I think. Does the car tremble with the tranny in neutral? If not, then try adjusting the idle speed of you engine up a little bit if such an adjustment is possible. As little a difference as 100 RPM in the idle can be the difference between the car being smooth while sitting and trembling.

ZV >>



Well, it still accelerates fine, but it's not smooth. And when I release the gas pedal...the engine would still sound like mad until a few seconds later...
I know my car is underpower anyway, but there is a difference between underpower and having power but the power doesn't come...I don't know how to describe this.....hope you get it.

 

[SgtZulu]

<< my car doesn't have the power.....how come? >>




it's a Mazda

 

[Tarmouth]

At 80k miles it sounds like you're losing compression. Or in simpler terms it's getting tired .

 

[Zenmervolt]

<< Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ? >>

When it's the tranny, you know it. The tranny in my car was perfect until over winter break when I was driving down the highway and my whole car shuddered violently and the tranny went out of gear. Drove 5 miles home in 3rd gear because I had lost overdrive (4th) to discover that reverse was gone too as I was parking it at the mechanic's. I just sat and watched as the tranny absorbed a couple grand for the re-build. But the tranny was absolutely fine right up to the second it let go. Tranny problems are generally pretty obvious.

ZV

EDIT: Damn cheap Honda trannys. 205,000 miles and the things just die for no reason. About the car not being smooth when you are accelerating; very, very, very few 4-cyl cars are smooth when accelerating hard (3/4 to full throttle), and the slight delay you describe sounds simply like the engine bleeding off the inertia of a hard revving. Honestly other than maybe adjusting the idle I don't think you have anything seriously wrong with the car at all.

 

[ohtwell]

Have they checked your plugs. I had a similar problem not that long ago and replacing the plugs and wires fixed it.
Just a suggestion.

 

[luvya]

<< Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ? >>



Well, I guess it could be transmission since Mazda is never good at transmission stuff. The shift is usually quite harsh...I am suspecting that it doesn't downshift when it should when the speed is at 30mph~40mph....but again....I don't know..

 

[Tarmouth]

<<

<< Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ? >>

When it's the tranny, you know it. The tranny in my car was perfect until over winter break when I was driving down the highway and my whole car shuddered violently and the tranny went out of gear. Drove 5 miles home in 3rd gear because I had lost overdrive (4th) to discover that reverse was gone too as I was parking it at the mechanic's. I just sat and watched as the tranny absorbed a couple grand for the re-build. But the tranny was absolutely fine right up to the second it let go. Tranny problems are generally pretty obvious.

ZV >>


Well actually that depends on wether the tranny is going bad or the converter! A converter problem can manifest itself slowly. I've actually seen them swell to the point where they imprinted the flywheel bolts into themselves . Depending on what tranny you had the components are often shared for several gears thus losing 2 gears and not just one .

 

[luvya]

<<

<< Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ? >>

When it's the tranny, you know it. The tranny in my car was perfect until over winter break when I was driving down the highway and my whole car shuddered violently and the tranny went out of gear. Drove 5 miles home in 3rd gear because I had lost overdrive (4th) to discover that reverse was gone too as I was parking it at the mechanic's. I just sat and watched as the tranny absorbed a couple grand for the re-build. But the tranny was absolutely fine right up to the second it let go. Tranny problems are generally pretty obvious.

ZV

EDIT: Damn cheap Honda trannys. 205,000 miles and the things just die for no reason. About the car not being smooth when you are accelerating; very, very, very few 4-cyl cars are smooth when accelerating hard (3/4 to full throttle), and the slight delay you describe sounds simply like the engine bleeding off the inertia of a hard revving. Honestly other than maybe adjusting the idle I don't think you have anything seriously wrong with the car at all. >>



what is a tranny anyway? sorry, I am not a car expert.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Harsh shifting doesn't mean a thing. The autobox in my Honda slammed each gear for 205,000 miles before it wore out. Still slams each gear now that it's rebuilt.

ZV

EDIT: "Tranny", "autobox", etc. are terms used for the transmission. And a good point is made about the torque converter, though I'd like to think that a shop would have caught a problem in that area.

 

[Tarmouth]

Just out of curiosity ... how long has it been since you gave it a tune up ??

 

[Tarmouth]

<< Harsh shifting doesn't mean a thing. The autobox in my Honda slammed each gear for 205,000 miles before it wore out. Still slams each gear now that it's rebuilt.

ZV

EDIT: "Tranny", "autobox", etc. are terms used for the transmission. And a good point is made about the torque converter, though I'd like to think that a shop would have caught a problem in that area. >>



yes but if it starts to shift harshly when it has never done so before it can help diagnose the problem.

 

[luvya]

<<

<< Hate to say it but..... from here it sounds like the transmission . Does it go into gear quickly ? or does it lag when you shift it ? >>

When it's the tranny, you know it. The tranny in my car was perfect until over winter break when I was driving down the highway and my whole car shuddered violently and the tranny went out of gear. Drove 5 miles home in 3rd gear because I had lost overdrive (4th) to discover that reverse was gone too as I was parking it at the mechanic's. I just sat and watched as the tranny absorbed a couple grand for the re-build. But the tranny was absolutely fine right up to the second it let go. Tranny problems are generally pretty obvious.

ZV

EDIT: Damn cheap Honda trannys. 205,000 miles and the things just die for no reason. About the car not being smooth when you are accelerating; very, very, very few 4-cyl cars are smooth when accelerating hard (3/4 to full throttle), and the slight delay you describe sounds simply like the engine bleeding off the inertia of a hard revving. Honestly other than maybe adjusting the idle I don't think you have anything seriously wrong with the car at all. >>



Well, I've tried adjusting the idle RPM, it doesn't work. I am trying to be resonable here, ok? I know 4 cyclinder doesn't run as smooth as some V6 or V8...but come on! my friend's 4 cyclinder doesn't run like mine either...and my car wasn't like this when it was new, it only runs like this after an incident....I don't know if anyone of you want to know what happen...if so, just ask me...I will post again.

 

[Tarmouth]

ok you got me curious what did ya do ?

 

[luvya]

<< Just out of curiosity ... how long has it been since you gave it a tune up ?? >>



tune up is not a problem....I have it taken care of regularly.

 

[Zenmervolt]

<<and my car wasn't like this when it was new, it only runs like this after an incident....I don't know if anyone of you want to know what happen...if so, just ask me...I will post again.>>

Ah, sorry, my bad. I thought you had just got the car and were used to a V-6 (or I-6, or some other, smoother engine). If this is new and sudden, then I have to agree with Tarmouth that you should have the transmission looked at and looked at hard.

ZV

 

[psteng19]

zenmervolt and tarmouth on a roll tonight with the car help eh?

 

[Tarmouth]

Don't know about you zen but im curious what the "incident " was

 

[luvya]

<< ok you got me curious what did ya do ? >>



Ok...3 years ago...there was this one day...I started up the engine but suddenly it went off. I turn the key again...no response. So I open up the engine hood and found out the plug on my battery ( notice there is positive and negative electricity) was loose, so I put it back again and screw it real tight..and went back turn the key again.....Allright! the car starts this time, but DAMN! the engine is just so harsh! I can see the RPM gauge going up and down within 500rpm without me doing anything to the car at all. Immediately, I took it to an autoshop nearby..the shop owner just act like he didn't see any problem....and the car has been behaving this way ever since..(well, the RPM doesn't go up and down as it did when it happened..but the harshness is still there)

 

[notfred]

<< Mazda 626 LX >>



there's your problem.

 

[Tarmouth]

Zen you made alot of good points But i bet we both turn out to be wrong lol. Diagnosing a car without laying hands on it is dam near impossible for one ! Not to mention you probably type with more than 2 fingers hehehe

 

[Tarmouth]

<<

<< ok you got me curious what did ya do ? >>



Ok...3 years ago...there was this one day...I started up the engine but suddenly it went off. I turn the key again...no response. So I open up the engine hood and found out the plug on my battery ( notice there is positive and negative electricity) was loose, so I put it back again and screw it real tight..and went back turn the key again.....Allright! the car starts this time, but DAMN! the engine is just so harsh! I can see the RPM gauge going up and down within 500rpm without me doing anything to the car at all. Immediately, I took it to an autoshop nearby..the shop owner just act like he didn't see any problem....and the car has been behaving this way ever since..(well, the RPM doesn't go up and down as it did when it happened..but the harshness is still there) >>




Lmao ok this is starting to turn into a computer problem now we're getting somewhere. I suggest you take it to a shop where the owner has more than 2 teeth! Have them hook it up to a analyzer . If money isn't an issue i would recomend a dealership for this.