Peugeot 205 (1983 - 1997) - 94 1.8D losing power at high revs

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Thu 16 Jul 2009 15:42
94 1.8D losing power at high revs - ade_j
I have a problem with a 1769cc 205 XUD (non turbo), which is losing power at higher revs. The car runs perfectly smoothly and economically at lower revs, but not so fun when going up steep hills or trying to overtake, when it stutters and judders, as if there were either fuel starvation or shortage of air. I'm getting a top speed on the motorway of about 75mph (complete with juddering), where normally one can get 85+ out of it (for testing purposes only, of course, I don't routinely thrash it as it's 15 years old).

I've renewed the air and fuel filters and made sure the crud gauze filter thing in the tank is clear, but no joy. I changed the glow plugs too as starting was poor (don't think they can have been changed since the car was new)- this has cured that problem and starting is now immediate. The old plugs were a bit sooty, so I assumed that the injectors might be grubby, and ran some STP diesel injector cleaner through- one load in the tank, the other added directly to the fuel filter. Again, no luck. Is the only possible cause the injectors? In this case I'm guessing I'll need to get them tested/ cleaned and potentially replace a dodgy one.

Or is there another possible reason?

Thanks,
Ade

{no need to repeat make/model in the subject header - the drop down menu's take care of that for you}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 16/07/2009 at 19:51

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Thu 16 Jul 2009 17:16
94 1.8 Peugeot 205 1.8D losing power at high revs - Peter.N.
Sounds like a fuel supply problem, if it was lack of air it would be accompanied by clouds of black smoke which you don't mention. My first suggestion would have been the fuel filter but as you have already replaced it there must be something else restricting the fuel, the most likely problem being air ingress.

The easiest way to check for this is to fit a length of clear plastic tube into the fuel line as near the input to the pump as possible, then look for air bubbles at various throttle settings. Likely places for leaks are the filter housing itself, did you change the 'O' rings? the fuel primer diaphragm or any join in the fuel pipe, if its a Bosch pump also check the leak off pipes, quite easy with a non turbo, any fuel leaking out will mean air getting in.
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