Being thoroughly skint at the moment i really can’t afford to take rockmotor to the garage just now. Would appreciate thoughts from the many experts i know lurk around here.
Friday last i’d travelled a couple of miles and turned a sharp corner (slowly). Dropped to second gear as required and when i went back on the gas the car chugged like it was in fourth. Indeed, i even took it out of gear and reselected so sure was i that it was about to stall. Still chugged, like really bad, instinctively i gave it full throttle to no avail.
As it was late at night and i have no assistance cover i had little choice but to nurse it home. Throughout the rest of the journey i learned a bit more about the symptoms of my problem.
Basically, it seems to only be an issue when i give it more gas than the engine can use, i.e. if i only give a little gas it runs fine. How much gas i can give it depends on the revs, to the point that i can get the pedal to the floor if i let it gently creep up to full speed gradually. If i balance the gas carefully to avoid giving too much too soon i can accelerate pretty much as fast as normal and can run at top speed fine. Also, although it’s chugging like it wants to stall there is no lights coming on like there does normally when you nearly stall.
A couple of other facts that may or may not be relevant. The last journey before the problem came up was short but heavily loaded. I had five male adults in a 1999 Ford Fiesta 1.3. Probably quite hard work for my little car. Also, i recently became aware of my exhaust blowing a little. It’s not too bad but it sounds like there is a small hole somewhere.