Lost my ooomph!

Seems like my car has an in built 3 year timer. Just out of warranty and things start going wrong.
Last day or two I seem to have a real lack of power. The closest thing I can describe it to is having the brakes on, strangling the car. There is no torque low down and I'm having to rev it really hard to get anywhere. In high gears I'm having to change down to accelerate all of a sudden. I'm guessing it's probably related to a dirty/faulty MAF sensor/flow meter or similar The clutch seems ok, and I've just had the cam belt sorted (after major incident)
The turbo pipe is starting to wear a hole in it (again) so I'm having a new one fitted, but don't think it's this causing it this time. Everything seems to be connected ok re pipework, so any help would be appreciated.
I'll get it checked out when the new pipe is fitted, but can't get that done 'till next week.

With all the work & problems you've had on it, most of the parts should be covered.

PS. Nice to meet you on Sunday

Cheers Simon, let's hope so.

Try disconnecting the MAF and see if it helps. If it does, its new MAF time

Might not need a new one, just a clean one!

Sounds lile the maf............put your foot down and zilch, the revs just move up very slowly?

put your foot down and zilch, the revs just move up very slowly

That's pretty much it. It kind of happened gradually over a couple of days, so hopefully a good clean will work.
In lower gears especially once the revs are around 2500 to 3000 it's fine, just at low revs. The engine is now very quiet and smooth following the cam belt problem, and there is no smoke from the exhaust, so I don't think it's a timing issue.

hello, did you get this problem sorted, i have the same problem with mine exactly as you describe but the fault isnt there all the time it comes and goes. i phoned alfa and spoke to mechanic - he seems to think there may be a hole in the air intake pipe after the turbo . cheers jk

Hi jk, the problem has actually sorted itself!

I did take the air intake apart and the air filter, cleaned everything up whilst I was giving the engine bay a good clean, but nothing else. A tank full of ultimate diesel and a couple of days with a heavy right foot, and the problem was cured

It might still be an issue with the MAF, possibly just dirty. I will get it looked at properly next time the car is in the mechanics, but for now I'm leaving well alone

thanks very much - ill try the right foot option -more fun less expensive cheers

Another owner here with exactly the same issue - have done a lot of town driving / short journeys over Xmas....could this be a factor ?

hello, the problem with my gt was with the egr valve (on top of engine right hand side back) the solenoid actuator on the egr was stuck in the open position which ment exhaust gas was constantly being taken in to the inlet of the engine . this also means you loose turbo boost pressure and gives the same fault as a knakerd turbo!as a temp repair i unscrewed the solenoid from the valve body which closes the valve perminantly cheers jon

My GT has just developed this exact problem!!! Seems to have got steadily worse over the last couple of weeks, seems to have no power at low revs, in all gears. once into the turbo band it's fine, but below 2000rpm it really struggles.

Originally Posted by fiorentina

My GT has just developed this exact problem!!! Seems to have got steadily worse over the last couple of weeks, seems to have no power at low revs, in all gears. once into the turbo band it's fine, but below 2000rpm it really struggles.

This is mine as well !

I reckon all the short journeys over Xmas in cold weather hasn't helped. I ragged the ar$e off the car y/day & i mean ragged it....floor it in 2 & 3 till it redlines & repeat....loads of black smoke spewed out the exhaust. It has made it better but still very sluggish under 2K revs. Will continue to drive like this for a couple more days & see what it's like. If it's not perfect by next week it's going into Alfa.

Someone needs to invent Car Laxatives

think i'll have a look at the air intake etc tomorrow like Zulu did, see if that fixes it. if not i'll have to take it in to an alfa garage.

Was embarassing today struggling across a roundabout in first gear.

Let my know how you get on Fior

Bonjourno

Laxative? Petrol?:

I have exactly the same problem at the moment. Sometimes it is fine but most of the time I struggle like hell to get anywhere!

Alfa dealer reckons it's a fault injector and want to charge me £244 to send them off for a test before the warranty company will do anything. I'm reluctant...

Can anyone tell me where the MAF sensor is so I can try disconnecting it and see if it makes a difference?

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I've had an interesting development since my last reply earlier this morning. While driving it this morning and having all the usual problems with loss of power, the "engine management system failure" light came on, followed by absolutely tons of black smoke from the exhaust. So bad I couldn't see the cars behind me. Maybe I'd killed them all?!
Anyway, the car continued with it's loss of power and plumes of black smoke until I reached my destination. Wickes. I was in there for about 15 minutes, came out, started the car and the engine warning light stayed on. Loss of power at first, but by the time I'd got out of the car park it was running sweet as anything, still with the warning light on, but no more smoke (that I could see anyway). My next journey to the gym took about 10 minutes. About 1.5 hours later I drove home. Engine warning light still on. No smoke. I could sware while I was in the gym someone swapped the 1.9 for the 2.4 engine. It felt so fast! Only once on the way home while I was doing 70(ish) in 6th did it loose power again. Dropped it in to 4th, got the power back and it was ok again for the rest of the journey home. So good in fact that the normal slight dip in power just after you floor it in first doesn't happen either, it just wheel spins till it picks up grip then continues to rocket along. Warning light still on.

Does that give anyone any clues to the problem? If it was a faulty injector like the garage think then surely it wouldn't tonk along quite so well now? I'm sure it's faster and smoother now that it was at new!

How many miles are u at Biskit - do you do a lot of short journeys ?

I'm just coming up to 72,000 miles.
Most of those miles are motorway. My drive to/from work each day is about 20 miles each way, at least 15 of those being dual carriageway.

More observations... I had to drive to Sheffield today, about 200 miles round trip on the M1. Going down this morning was a nightmare. Today my engine warning light isn't on and the loss of power problems are back worse than ever. It couldn't even hold at 70mph in 6th with cruise control on, so I was constantly having to drop to 5th or even 4th many times to get revs up and power back to the engine.
On the way back it started off the same, then half way home I went for a minute or so with absolutely tons of thick black smoke pouring out of the exhaust, then as quickly as it started the smoke stopped and the engine was sweet as anything again. All gears pulling super well. Doing a tad over 70 in 6th, foot down and it just pulled and pulled kept going. Absolute joy to drive. That lasted about 20 minutes then it suddenly went all sluggish again, having to drop a gear or two every time even a hint of a hill came along. Further on, plumes of black smoke again for a minute or so, then it was really fast once again.
Something very odd going on here!

Don't wish to concern you, but the symptoms you are now describing happened to me the day before my Cam Belt failed!

If your car has done 72k have you had the cam belt service yet?
Mine went whilst I was in the outside lane of the M42

disaster!!

Set off to work today, got about 1 mile down the road, lack of power still present. Turned out of a junction and engine died completely. re-started but it was clearly in trouble, was idle'ing erratically, would hardly move. managed to limp into a side street. low oil pressure light flashed up, engine died again. re-started, oil level gauge looked ok. car wouldn't move at all under it's own power, blue smoke out the back. only warning light was the oil one.

I've had it recovered to the alfa service centre in Doncaster and am waiting for the dreaded phonecall.

Dunno if this is related to the lack of power problem or if it's a totally new problem.

I'll update when i have some news. Gutted.

Interesting to hear your problem...Have you high pressure washed the engine bay recently?
I had a similar problem with a 156 after washing the engine. It turned out that water got under the "bolt on engine cover" and filled up the socket that holds the spark plugs, thus interupting the power supply to the plugs by shorting out. The first time this happenned it went away after a few days when the water evaporated but the next caused a complete stall on the motorway.
I havent had this cover off the GT yet but if it is the same design, then could explain your problem.

filled up the socket that holds the spark plugs, thus interupting the power supply to the plugs by shorting out

These issues appear to be affecting Diesel versions only, not petrol

Sadly this can't be the problem with mine. Firstly cuz I haven't washed under the bonnet, and secondly cuz this stupid problem has been happening for a month so any water or vapour should have evaporated from the engine heat while driving. I wish it was that simple