Pug 306 Diseasal down on power

Mat bunched up under the throttle pedal? ;-) Sometimes it's a simple as that.

Tim

I have had in cars with a slipping clutch where the owner describes the fault as you have done, neglecting to mention the over revving and smell of burning. Severely dragging brakes can do it too.

IIRC the air filter is at the bottom right of the engine bay (from the front), a big puddle might have soaked the filter. Collapsed air inlet hose. Retarded cam timing will give the effects you describe, and I have seen that on a 205 diesel, but when it got to three teeth back it wouldn't start anymore. Tight valve clearances (IIRC they are shimmed)

Non-turbo 1.9D?

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

Hah! Yes, I did nearly put that in as a caveat. For a flat Diesel it goes ok the couple of times I've driven it. But it prolly weighs about the same as a sack of spuds. He left it in the pub car park last week and they wanted it cleared for the rugby (without putting notices up.) It was in the neatly parked in the road the following morning.

Good one. I'd not thought of that. It's a complete shed so could be Lord Lucan under there.

Good point. He's savvy enough to recognise a clutch, but the brakes are on the list.

If the air filter is down there then I don't recall ever having changed it. I usually only see it when it gets thrown at me with a long MoT fail list rather than ever actually servicing it. Now and again he takes it to people who tell him they've serviced it(!) If it was more modern I'd say MAF to start - do these have one?

Might check the valve clearances then. It's now only limping on[1] until a company car turns up so anything more than a simple fix will be scorned!

[1] Up to now it's only been limping on while I nail things back to it - that's nearly five years! Best fix is the bailer twine I installed to save him clambering over the back seats to release the boot catch.

Check the throttle cable (if its got one) , if its anything like the

305 the retaining and adjusting clips had a habit of breaking up and cable stretching

Has the timing belt ever been changed if its on its last legs that certainly won't help

Injectors starting to fail ,

That's on the list. It's certainly not something that will have been lubricated since it left the factory.

No doubt been done at some point but not in recent memory. It'll get a listen to but I'm not going pulling off covers to look.

Cheers!

And we have a winner :-) Although t'owner swore it wasn't the clutch as there was no burning smell. Went and had a shufti and even before getting out of its parking space I found the biting point was up by the sunroof.

Now, the only clutches I've had dealings with have been Discoverys and their 300 tonnes of gearboxes (plural), props and handbrake drum. I can't decide if a FWD pug with a tiddly little 200mm clutch is going to be easier or harder - I can't find a decent write up either. Some say it's necessary to remove driveshafts from hubs, some suggest it's not. I've always shied away from anything done up to 300Nm.

Words of wisdom folks? Or do I finally go and buy a 3/4" breaker bar?

I don't remember changing a clutch on one of those, but as a general rule removing the drive shafts entirely is always a good plan, left partly on the car they always get in the way and are more difficult to get back in the gearbox, especially if you are working in sub optimal conditions.

Split the bottom ball joints, driveshafts out the hubs and out the gearbox, gearbox out from below.

Not a big or scary job at all, really.

Sub-optimal conditions? Sub-optimal conditions?!?!?

I will have you know that I've had the pigs moved out of their end stable so I can get the car in there. I shall have a roof over my head and hay to lie in!! It will be positively blissful compared to lying out on the gravel and mud where I usually am!!! :-)

(Although to be honest the pigs had already been moved as they'd broken the fence of their outdoor run. I'm just hopeful a tiddly 306 will make the turn in!)

I've got a 1m 3/4" breaker bar on the way. I'm less scared of 300Nm now :-)

Thinking about it, I did do a CV boot on a Subara something-or-other once without any great shakes. Presumably the Japanese, being even smaller than I, don't do their hub nuts up so tight!