So i got an rs1800 (mk3.5) its got Green cotton induction with cold air feed, de-cat, ashley full exhaust system, ashley 4-2-1 manifold and super chipped.
Basically it wont even beat a corsa 1.6 with roughly 120bhp on the drag, we swapped drivers and had several runs.
The car runs nicely with no apparant faults. Now im wondering weather theres somthing subtlely wrong? does anyone no anything that could help with my problem or any other mods e.g port/polished throttle body, or any inlet manifold mods that could help?
I reallllly wana sort this because i would hate to have to get rid of it because other then its speed i love it.
all help/advice would be a great help. cheers en'.

 

Timing could be out!

 

thanks for the advice but im pretty sure the timing is good, its runs sweetly and fuel consumption is about right, the cambelt was done about 1000 miles ago and was timed by a ford mechanic.

 

it may be worth just gettin a compression and leakdown test done on it, just to make sure everything is as it should be

 

thanks mate, i tried doing a compression test with my tester but the spark plugs seem to sit deeper in the block then other cars and i dont have the correct adapter so im guna take it to my mates garage an see if has the right one. will let you know the results, cheers.

 

oooh fair enough. yea defo let us no how it goes, ill get my thinking cap on for anything else that may help

 

Right so did the compression test which turned out ok! 125-125-125-125 across all cylinders. So whats the next thing i could try?

Another problem that my car has is occasionly cuts out at low revs at traffic lights, when parking etc. i turn the keys off an on an it will run fine again. this problem seems to get worse when the cars warmer.
Do you think it could potentially be thefuel pump and or regulator? my brothers got a v8 discovery which had same symptoms, crap idle, cuts out, lack of power and it turned out to be the fuel regulator. other than this im a bit lost for reasons! thanks though chap.

 

not wanting to sound a nob but do you realise these are not quick cars by any means and being beat by a 1.6 corsa wouldnt massivley surprise me you have to bear in mind even a 1.6 saxo would show your car a clean set of heels in a straight line race
as for the cutting out it will be the idle speed control valve it will either need cleaning or replacing

 

the 1.6 corsa is well over a second slower 0-60 on paper and has 106bhp new compared to the rs1800 with 130bhp new. the corsa is about 60kg heavier and doesnt have half the mods the rs1800 does. im fully aware that an rs1800 isnt a quick car in todays standards but it should beat a 1.6 corsa hands down. i know for a fact that my car isnt performing like it should do hence why im asking for help. and yes i could go out and buy a saxo vts or an ibiza cupra quite easily but every other halfords carpark cock has got one of those. i'd rather spend the money on a ford rs of any sort.
Anyway, the idle speed control valve is the first thing i changed its brand new so highly doubt its that, thanks for the pointer!

 

I would have straight away idle control valve, my mates fiesta turbo does the same thing so when I look at that if I see anything ill let you know.

 

Maf sensor

 

undo his wheel nuts, he wont beat you then lol...

 

haha i honestly might have too!

anyway, both the MAF an idle speed control valve are brand new. so im a bit lost as there normally the things to change! cheers for the help though guys.

 

Hi Danny.

Just a quick question and i know its a little off topic.

I have an RS1800 and would like an exhaust for it, are the ashley exhausts any good?

I have been looking at Stainless ones but wondered what the differents was.

Cheers

 

Get it to a tuner and put it on the rollers.

 

Easiest way is just get it RR'd!!!

 

last time i had this problem it was the throttle pos sensor which made the car switch off on idle and very difficult to tick over, then the ecu used to go on limp mode and the car would loose a lot of power.

 

Sorry i havnt replied, moved back down to uni after summer and only just sorted out internet. I have only ever used ashley exhausts and its sounds gorgeous on my rs1800, i got the 3 inch so not to loud, but raspy and generally a nice tone! as for performance, i changed the whole exhuast system, decat and 4-2-1 manifold at the same time. it didnt really do anything for low down grunt or torque, but opened it up alot at top end! really pulls much better now after 5k. hope this helps, cheers dan.

 

tryed a different throttle position sensor and didnt help but thanks!

think the only option now is to get it to a tuner, anyone know of anyone decent round the south west, and what sorta prices i should be looking for?

 

Get it tested on the rolling road! get a few power runs and then look at the torque curves etc thats the starting point. Do you have any apparant problems at the moment

 

Not sure if it'll help or not. I had a cvh xr2i a while back that had similar problems. Turned out the speed sensor (on the gearbox) was at fault. Replaced that and everything was back to normal!

 

Hmmm problems at the moment, it still cuts out occasionally, have to turn the keys off and on again, tickovers pretty crap. And the car doesnt pull like it used too. Will look into that gearbox sensor thing, cheers guys.

 

has it ever been rolling roaded,set up, diagnostic check etc??

 

I dont no if you are still running with the cat or not,
but I had one do this on me, similar symptoms-
turned out the cat had collapsed.

 

never had it rolling roaded, you know of any decent places in the south west? i might have found a 2litre silvertop with 34k on the clock for cheap as chips, think i might just do an engine change.

Good shout on the cat, mine had collapsed so i de-catted it about 3 months ago, problems are still occuring though! thanks, danny.

 

no point changing to a silvertop until you see if you have a management issue, as you will be using all the same kit on the 2l i guess. tipton garage in honiton is close to you.

 

Good one is andy at veysport in verwood! We use his rollin rd for all our testin at work