significant loss of power???

[cdscowboy]

Okay, it's a Nissan Stanza that a friend of mine owns...just so y'all know, but it could be a common problem. When she bought it, it had really good acceleration (I did the test drive), but now she says it takes her a while to get up to speed on the freeway. Embarrassingly slow, she said. I replaced her valve cover gasket a couple weeks ago, cause it was leaking pretty bad. I know that's not why she has such a loss in power though. I just don't have any ideas...does anyone else??? And it's hard to get reliable information from this girl...she's inept when it comes to cars!! :lol She said she got a fluid flush like a week and a half ago, for whatever good that does. Oh well...any suggestions would be appreciated!! Thanks guys:)

[anchovies]

tune up

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

Originally posted by anchovies
tune up
:werd: :werd:

When I first got my Buick waaay back when (ok, so it was 1998), even with the big 'ol 3.8 V6 it felt hella slow. A good tune up with new plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, and couple other things, and the difference was night and day! Mad power, yO! Well, until it broke down again :(

Be sure and look to see if it's flashing any codes.... could be a sensor or something going bad or not working right.

[3G Jester]

eyah...just take it to a shop. oil change, filters, sparks, wires, tire rotation [probaly would hurt]....all that good stuff

[buish]

try changing the fuel filter. tuneup would be good.

[cdscowboy]

k, thanks guys, I'll tell her to get a full tune-up.

[95AccordEXR]

missfiring on one of the cylinders

[Greg]

I worked on a Stanza once that lost a lot of power and ran like shit. I found out that the timing had gone totally off for some reason. We reset the timing to spec just to get the car going for a little while (I was working at a shop at the time and the owner didn't really want to pay for a fix, he just wanted a band-aid).

Anyway, I suspect that something had messed up the advance/retard on the timing. I don't know how it's actually set on that car, but the timing was definitely off, and it ran a little better when we brought it back by re-positioning the distributor.

But if I had to guess on a hunch, I would say that your problem is ignition related. Check the tune-up (plugs & wires) and timing, and then check the coil & all that stuff if you don't find any of the above grossly wrong. Check the advance/retard mechanism (probably vacuum operated, but I don't know for that car).

[cdscowboy]

Sent her a link to the thread...thanks for the help guys! :)

[3G Jester]

let us know what happened and what the mechanics did and how it ran after...that way we can inflate our egos on advice well given :D

[cdscowboy]

Originally posted by 3g Jester
let us know what happened and what the mechanics did and how it ran after...that way we can inflate our egos on advice well given :D

Hahaa...okay...it might be a while. This girl takes a while to do things to her car sometimes, but I'll let you know what happens! :)