Since buying the Zafira I've been convinced that I have some sort of issue. Basically I believe it should have more power and consume less fuel. It also has flat spots/ gets bogged from time to time. I'm slowly trying to tick off the most common causes for for this. What I've done so far:
- New spark plugs
- New cam and balancer chains (for peace of mind only, not following any kind of incidents)
- K&N panel filter
- Blanked off EGR
- Replaced Coolant Temperature Sensor
Each of these have helped slightly (except for maybe the CTS). But it still doesn't feel like 108kW and the acceleration is slow. Trying to push it doesn't really help, it just growls a lot. Best acceleration is achieved with smooth gear changes and moderate use of accelerator, avoiding revs above about 4000rpm. Then it will just about keep up with a Toyota Echo or similar.... 🙂 Fuel consumption on a mixed cycle verging on highway is 10L/100km. On the same cycle I was getting 14-15L/100 from a tired 93 Pajero 3.0L V6. Shouldn't it be a little better? I would like to think so...
It idles reasonably well and starts ok, although sometimes I feel it turns over a few more times than I'd expect from a healthy engine.
I'm thinking to try this when I find the time:
Remove pre-cat
Clean injectors and throttle body - This hasn't been done since 60,000kms, it has now done 136,000kms. Reading general blurb about injector servicing it seems this could be a likely cause of high consumption, poor acceleration, flat spots, slow starting etc. Anyone had revelations following injector service? Can't seem to find many posts related to injectors...
Replace coil pack if still no difference. But if there is no misfiring or error codes, can the coil pack still cause troubles? If it is anything like the CDI on my motorbike I think it can. My bike will have good and bad days with vast differences in power. I have found that such irregularity can only be caused by the tired CDI (if left for a week it will go so much better than on a friday following a week of commuting to work!). Does the Z22se coil pack contain resistors etc that control the spark energy and that will eventually go tired without malfunctioning in any way? That's the only way I can see the coil pack causing performance issues...
Am I missing anything? Does it sound like an injector service might do the trick?
Thanks, Kristian