not much power in fourth gear

[bluedirtydigit]

HI all
Have been useing the old bus quiet a bit lately just to sort out niggely problems before going up north next week for a few days, it's running really well accept in fourth gear, it ticks over fine at a 1000rpm with just the occasional miss fire which I can't seem to shift really annoying! pulls like a train in first second and third but in fourth it hates it below 40mph and when you try to increase speed it won't have any of it drop it to third it fly's then drop into fourth and just rest your foot on the pedal it's fine but try to increase the pressure nothing happens, anybody got any ideas? I have noticed everything in the engine bay gets red hot when it's been running for a few mins ie the dizzy cap is red hot you can't touch it is that normal on these vans I don't remember my last one being like that but it was some thirty years ago and I am getting a bit senile so not sure but it doesn't seem right to me so I am in the hands of the experts on this one as my local garage can't touch it for a couple of weeks and as I said I am going away next week it would be nice to sort it before I go. Please feel free to throw ideas it could be something silly I have not thought of, but sure this wonderful forum will come to the rescue.

[lloydy]

what revs are you doing @40mph in 4th? Maybe your just too low down the rev range for it to 'fly'?

[bluedirtydigit]

what an idiot I fitted a rev counter last week and I didn't look at it when I was having trouble, I will try it again what should the revs be do you know? thanks

[lloydy]

no idea, depends on a few things like tyre size ect. i just wouldnt expect it to fly in 4th at 40mph

[JamesKT25]

Mine struggles at 40 in 4th, unless i just potter along. pop it down into 3rd and its easy to accelerate to 45-50 then slot in to 4th and cruise at 65.

[bluedirtydigit]

That sounds just like mine I guess it's normal then I have been driving new modern cars to long. How about the heat is that normal as well?

[JamesKT25]

Mine seems to get pretty toasty tbh, its a watercooled, but i am apparantly missing some tinware on the left hand side....

[AdrianC]

There's definitely not much below 2000rpm on our 2.1 5spd - 40 in 4th? Yeh, just about, but you'd be lugging it a bit. I presume your van's a 4spd, so have no idea how the gearing would sit, but it sounds like you just need to row it along a bit more.

"Tinware missing" is an Aircooled thing, where the tinware's needed for cooling. The only real "tinware" on a wbx is the pushrod shields underneath - and they're more for protection AIUI than for cooling or performance.

[JamesKT25]

Glad you cleared that up for me!

[bluedirtydigit]

Hi Guy's just an update on my van, like I said I wasn't happy with the power delivery and the fact I was having a slight miss when trying to accelerate so I started from scratch.
I changed the fuel filter as I am sure it wasn't passing enough fuel even though I bought the right one for the van I changed it for one of these they are slightly bigger http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310386820116? ... 1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; straight away I noticed the difference it stopped missing on acceleration so it looked like it was not getting enough fuel even though it was the right one.

I then changed the coil for a green label one, removed the metal shields from the HT leads, and advanced the timing by appx 4degrees and put Bosch spark plugs +1 wr7dc+ it now ticks over very very smooth, it drives lovely at 30mph in 4th gear at 1400rpm and accelerates smoothly it pulls up hill something it would not do before without dropping one or sometimes two gears, it sits at 60mph on the flat at 2800rpm pulls to 70mph with ease with definitely more to give but why push it it's an old girl.
So now it is a pleasure to drive and super smooth which is how they are supposed to be I am sure.I am not exactly sure which has made the biggest difference but certainly collectively they work, I hope it helps somebody else that is having the same trouble. I am of to Blackpool after the weekend I will let you know the fuel consumption on the motorway and generally driving around town.
Thanks again for all those peeps who offered me advice.
Mike