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Just been serviced

As I mentioned in the other thread, I've just had my car serviced. My pinking has been reduced (probably because the spark plug gaps were changed slightly), but for some reason it seems to be slower. I was expecting it to be faster. If I rev it high it seems to be a lot more gutless and a lot less fun. It also seems to be slightly noisier. From both of these facts I would've thought that there is more friction, or not such good engine oil. I was using Magnatec (semi-synth) before and the bloke who serviced my car used 'Vauxhall premium oil' (semi-synth). Surely this would mean that the 5 month old Magnetec is better than the new Vauxhall stuff - which the guy said was good?

Reply to
Peter
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I doubt if the oil would make a noticeable difference. The Vauxhall stuff is a good quality although are you sure he really did use this?

Reply to
Alan

Fun ?! Cars are not meant to be fun, they are to there to get you from A to B and be a cash cow for HMG !..

It also seems to be slightly noisier.

If the plug gaps have been widened that will, in effect, retard the ignition slightly - not sure if it would be noticeable though but all the little things can add up...

Reply to
Jerry.

I'm not sure, but he said that he uses it because he services a lot of vauxhall's. I only saw the container from a distance and couldn't tell what it was.

Reply to
Peter

How old is the car? It's possible that, because you complained of pinking, they have retarded the timing. Another cause would be a disconnected vacuum advance pipe. I'm not sure either of these is possible on modern cars. The symptoms you describe are those of retarded timing, though.

Pinking is caused by overly advanced timing, weak mixture, carbon buildup or overheating, by the way.

Reply to
Dan Buchan

I believe the last incarnation of the old 899cc engine, as used in the cinq/seicento, has single point injection and is a "wasted spark" type system with twin coils and no distributor, hence manual adjustment wouldn't be possible. FWIW, my girlfriend has one of these cars, albeit a 1.1 FIRE engined version, and it sounds a bit tinkly at the best of times.

Stuart Sharp

Reply to
Stu

Yes, it can't be adjusted. I'm thinking that there's more friction in the engine, hence the noise and lack of performance - mainly at high revs. Before it was serviced it sounded really good, more like a Vauxhaul (a winey kinda noies if you get what I mean).

Reply to
Peter

If there was more friction in the engine it would be buggered. I don't think that's the case.

The horrid whiney noise a lot of new cars make is caused by various belts that are probably too tight and not being masked by other noises because the engines are otherwise so quiet.

Reply to
Dan Buchan

Hmm, good point. Why's it slower then? Is it because the spark plug gap's been changed?

Reply to
Peter

Possibly if they've been made far too small. There's any number of things they could have done to mess it up - left off a wire or pipe, for instance.

Reply to
Dan Buchan

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