03? Echo no power and hesitating

[Jimnist]

Hey everyone,

One of my mates has an Echo 03(i think) with manual transmission. Lately, for no reason (other than cold trashing) it;s been losing a LOT of power and is hesitating. I took it for a spin and it has lost a fair amount of power and the hesitation is pretty bad, to the point where if you do a normal start it will bog out and nearly stall. When you step on the acceleratorl, it takes about .5 of a second for it to respond and when you let off, it stays there momentarily; like the cable's sticking. Also, there's no power under 2krpm and there was before.

He's taken it to the shop and he told me it's pulling a VVT-i code.

Any thoughts?

Thanks guys.

[denman]

Originally Posted by Jimnist

Hey everyone,

One of my mates has an Echo 03(i think) with manual transmission. Lately, for no reason (other than cold trashing) it;s been losing a LOT of power and is hesitating. I took it for a spin and it has lost a fair amount of power and the hesitation is pretty bad, to the point where if you do a normal start it will bog out and nearly stall. When you step on the acceleratorl, it takes about .5 of a second for it to respond and when you let off, it stays there momentarily; like the cable's sticking. Also, there's no power under 2krpm and there was before.

He's taken it to the shop and he told me it's pulling a VVT-i code.

Any thoughts?

Thanks guys.

You're no doubt aware that VVT is "variable valve timing", so the main factors there are oil pressure, the timing chain and the sensor that threw the code. Time to dig out the Factory Shop Manual (FSM) and find out what's where. There's a link on some of these threads to the online FSM, and every other download site seems to have a D/L version. Lemme know if you can't locate one and I'll send you a link. I'd get a code reader (they're cheap these days) and double-check the code; I haven't seen this one show up before .... on the "oil pressure front", are the oil and filter fresh and is the engine reasonably tight as in bearing wear?, ... let us know how you make out as this applies to all of us on this forum.

[Jimnist]

Originally Posted by denman

You're no doubt aware that VVT is "variable valve timing", so the main factors there are oil pressure, the timing chain and the sensor that threw the code. Time to dig out the Factory Shop Manual (FSM) and find out what's where. There's a link on some of these threads to the online FSM, and every other download site seems to have a D/L version. Lemme know if you can't locate one and I'll send you a link. I'd get a code reader (they're cheap these days) and double-check the code; I haven't seen this one show up before .... on the "oil pressure front", are the oil and filter fresh and is the engine reasonably tight as in bearing wear?, ... let us know how you make out as this applies to all of us on this forum.

Yep, new oil and filter as it just got serviced. That's how he knew it was getting codes. I'm not sure about bearing wear, you mean bearing wear in the engine? As in check with flexigauge/plastigauge?

Could it be stuck in the higher rpm camshaft profile? Causing the drop in low rpm power?

I also found out it's an 00, not that it really matter since it's the same gen. Does the Echo have an OBD-II? How much would a scanner roughly cost?

[denman]

We're all OBD II cars, ... I got my scanner on sale for about $40- and they've gotten cheaper since. They're neat to have anyhow as they work on all the cars you'll normally run across. You're correct in inferring I was into the engine bearing wear scenario, but upon reflection if the oil pressure were that low you'd be hearing a lot of other noises. The sensors should all be OK else you'd be getting "check engine" warnings. Another angle might be fuel flow restricted, .... fuel filter due for replacement? My thought here is cold engine needs more fuel than hot, .... hmmm

[echo987]

Mine had the same problem the codes indicated mass air flow sensor and O2 sensors. I replaced them and now it runs great. My scan tool was $60 at a local autozone.