Suspicions Confirmed about lack of Power in my Ranger

[Capt. Gadget]

Well after a trip to the city to the Diesel Specialists today, and have a Unichip fitted to see if I could get a bit more oomph out of the Ranger my suspicions about a lack of power have been confirmed after a run on the dyno (before Chip) it says it's only Producing 90kw and 270nm which should be 115kw & 380nm. So with not getting a great deal of satisfaction from the Local Ford Dealer, who keep telling me the computer says everything is OK, I am going to pay the diesel specialists to find the problem for me and then present the problems to Ford and get them to repair it. (Still under Warranty) Might even pass them the bill too. Ok venting over. time for a beer! On a positive side while the Ranger was in their workshop I had nothing to do for a few hours so I went an saw the new James Bond Movie, Skyfall most enjoyable morning
Cheers Grant

 

[Hubble80]

So did you find a problem with the Ranger???

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Hi Hubble, no, not yet, I'll take it back next week

 

[Bmhdg76]

Take the dyno results back to the dealer and let them have a look first. If you don't they may not come to the party even though it is under warranty.

 

[icetechaus]

Don't forget that the specs quoted by ford are for engine power and torque not rear wheel, you appear to be down a bit but make sure you compare apples to apples. An auto transmission (assumption on my part) could easily be worth 15 to 20% loss.
What I mean to say is make sure you double check your and compare like to like. Your dyno operators should have a graph from a matching vehicle.

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Thanks icetechaus I'm pretty sure The dyno operator had already factored that in that is why he was so concerned about how much it was down, that and the fact that I can't get it any faster than 130kmh empty with a run up on a flat stretch of road
Cheers Grant

Don't forget that the specs quoted by ford are for engine power and torque not rear wheel, you appear to be down a bit but make sure you compare apples to apples. An auto transmission (assumption on my part) could easily be worth 15 to 20% loss.
What I mean to say is make sure you double check your and compare like to like. Your dyno operators should have a graph from a matching vehicle.

 

[Burnsy]

Agree CG, that doesn't sound right!

 

[straydingo]

An auto transmission (assumption on my part) could easily be worth 15 to 20% loss.

Its not that simple is it? Assuming GC measured torque at the wheels and not engine (didn't actually say either way) doesn't it depends on which gear was used, ratios between crankshaft and transmission shaft input etc etc. There are too many variables involved to give a general percentage. There was a common rule of thumb of 15% floating around for years, but was determined it was just a guess, and it did in fact vary a lot between cars - particularly newer models ones with the improved transmissions we now see.

Either way, a difference of 22% in power and almost 30% in torque is certainly not right.

I have a mate with Golf GTi, who was a test guinea pig for a new exhaust system. After all the tests before and after, the dyno is still showing his power much lower than was expected. In his case, it is believed that some little rubber flap in the turbo (?) is the culprit - a small tear, common to this factory part in the Golf is reducing the back pressure or some such........

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Had a comment on one of the Ford Forums from someone Quoting 25% Loss from flywheel to rear wheels with the Auto on the Rangers, I'll see what the guy's at United Fuel come up with when I talk to them later in the week
Cheers Grant

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Just booked in to have another look at the Ranger next Wednesday and the Tech confirmed that it is more than 25% down after losses through the drive train have been factored in. So hopefully they can find something, also spoke to the service manager at our local ford dealer and he was quite happy for someone else to find the problem and if it is a warrantable problem, to let him know before any repairs are carried out and he will sort it out by either authorising them to fix it or to bring it to them and they will fix it, cant ask for more than that.

 

[Brad]

Just booked in to have another look at the Ranger next Wednesday and the Tech confirmed that it is more than 25% down after losses through the drive train have been factored in. So hopefully they can find something, also spoke to the service manager at our local ford dealer and he was quite happy for someone else to find the problem and if it is a warrantable problem, to let him know before any repairs are carried out and he will sort it out by either authorising them to fix it or to bring it to them and they will fix it, cant ask for more than that.

Geez Grant. If you do find something, wouldn't Ford help you out with the cost associated with doing the tests also.

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Well the results are in, turned out to be a completely fouled MAP sensor, the dudes at the Dyno shop pulled it out cleaned it and what a difference drives like a new car now and shows 100kw+ at the wheels so down to Ford tomorrow to let them know, they did mention that if the sensor is in that state ,what state is the inside of the Manifold in? All to do with feeding exhaust gasses back through the manifold for a "cleaner" burn less emissions you know, apparently there's a fix for this sort of nonsense, a rubber plug, a couple of clamps and a tweek or two on the tuning chip, just dont tell the greenies. The big factor for me is the Fuel economy, as the Last trip towing the Expanda gave me 23/100 mind you it was a hilly trip and I wasnt holding back so fingers crossed we have improved on that, the bit of extra grunt is a bonus

 

[cruza driver]

Its good they found a problem CG, what was your econimy like when not towing?

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Its good they found a problem CG, what was your econimy like when not towing?

It's very rare that I'm not towing CD but the best economy I have had in the last 6 months has been 13.22/100 with an average of 16.46 where as I used to quite regularly get 11s when it was new and it averaged 14.4 for the 1st 6th Months of its life. The worst I had in the 1st 6 months was 17.6 and the Worst for the last 6 months was the 22.9 I got last time towing the expanda but have been every now and again nudging the 19-20 mark

 

[straydingo]

well done Capt. Good find

 

[04diesel]

The landrover TD5 suffers from the same problem, the solution is to fit an EGR blanking kit,the other problem they get is oil in the intercooler from the engine breather which is fed back into the inlet,the fitting of a catch can in the breather line helps stop the problem.I know that the Nissan 3lt suffers from this problem aswell so would say the many of the late model turbo diesels would have the same problem.

 

[chartrock]

My 3.0L Navara has had the EGR blanking plate fitted after the oil fumes fed back to the turbo, rotted the rubber pipes joining the intake to the turbo. Since fitting the simple piece of stainless steel plate and a few changes to the butterfly system the nav runs sweet.

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Time for a mod on the Ranger me thinks EGR Blanking plate it is Cheers Guys

 

[Brad]

Will be interested to hear what Ford have to say about it.
Are you going to try and get some of the cost back from Ford CG?

 

[Pace]

@Capt. Gadget hows the ranger been running??