heya,
i just bought a 03 se te auto max that came into my dad's dealer on trade in. 118,500km (in canada)(78k miles?) driven by a 60's lady only used to put around town and cart around grand kids. was told that it almost never saw highway km.

so my problem is that its painfully slow. i know its auto, even with tcs off, and holding the brake while giving gas and letting off brake while flooring it i never get any wheelspin, its just rolls away.

i have changed the oil and oil catch pan, run seafoam thru the car. there are no ses or cel light on, but i checked for codes anyway and nothing came up. i can swear my 87 corolla gt-s in stock form is faster...

what do i do to get the power back??? i've read maf sensor replacement, but i'm a student and dont want to just replace things without codes, as i make about 140 a week doing deliveries 2 nights a week and having to pay for gas and insurance leaves me with next to no money to spend... any advice or tips to get some of the power back would be appreciated

 

Reset the ECU (in the stickies) and then drive it around. The ECU "learns" the way you drive and adjusts for it. When I bought my Dad's V6 626, resetting the ECU made a huge improvement in throttle response.

 

Reopened and edited per OP's request.

 

thanks for repoening the thread.

ok, so i've reset the ecu, cleaned the maf sensor and drove around for about 300km(180ish miles) in a somewhat spirited manner. now with tcs off and brake torquing it, i get a fraction of a second of wheelspin, also the car is running on 215/50/17 potenza g009 tires if this makes a difference. power is till down i have also hooked up the car to autoenginuity software and everything seems to be within normal parameters except i got a P0328 which is a knock sensor code, i havent changed it yet cuz the part is just over 200 from the local dealer and it was sunday. i did however notice that my timing at idle, with no accessories running is 7-8 btdc according to autoenginuity, and the corrected timing value of -1 is given again according to AE(what does this corrected figure mean?). i have tried to advance it the 2 degrees the program allows, but it says an error occured. could the 7-8 degrees btdc be a result of a bad knock sensor trying to save the engine? the maf read out was 4.58 gm/s or something like that.

the AE was used pre maf cleaning and ecu reset and although slight improvements have been noticed after those were done, it still doesn't feel right. i used to own a 2000 gle with an auto and when it accelerated from a stop up to highway speeds the car always felt like there was a sense or urgency or willingness to accelerate. this feels like its on a stroll in the park? does this make sense?

 

FWIW trying to determine power levels by spinning tires is like calculating your MPG by eyeballing the fuel gauge; ridiculous.

 

You dont need to spin your wheels for your car to have power..

 

1) Grow up and stop trying to do burnouts. In my experience your car will treat you only as well as you treat it.

2) If its true your only running 7-8 degrees BTDC then theres your power loss. IIRC these cars should be running 15 degrees stock (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Sounds like the lady your bought the car from was using low octane/low quality gas. Add a full tank of 93 octane and maybe add some octane boost. Reset ECU again, and go for a drive. Hopefully that helps.

3) No more burnout attempts.

 

thats what i thought 15 degrees, i was using the wheelspin as to show how little low end torque it has. i filled up with 91, the best stuff at most stations here about 50km/30miles ago but had a quarter tank of the original tank i got the car with. any more insight to what autoenginuity is telling me?: the corrected timing of -1? or 4.58 maf reading?

 

... maybe thats what my aunt needs to do.. cuz i drove her 626 in Chicago's crazy *** traffic.. and i could barely pass a Toyota Prius.. lmfao

 

Bad knock sensor FTL. These KSs seem to be becoming more troublesome (I need to remember to bypass mine).

 

ks will kill power too...get one for $60 on ebay

 

it could be a clogged cat....i know when i purchased mine, the cat was clogged. when it 'blew out' there was a huge difference in performance, i still need to replace/get rid of it

 

what do you mean by "blew out"? the car just passed an emissions test. will the car self adjust its timing to around 15degrees btdc, once it gets used to 91 and ecu reset?

 

not if your knock sensor is bad..

 

You can try the KS simulator and see what happens. I can PM you details if interested.

 

thanks boris, i pm'd u about the ks simulator. i'd like to see what it does or if the ks is the culprit for the abysmal power.

 

your timing according to autoenginuity should be a minimum of 15 degrees. 17 degrees would be better. But I don't think you will get it there until the knock sensor is fixed. I have a feeling "the little old lady" ran 87 octane in the car which caused the knock sensor to go and the timing to retard. Replace the knock sensor, hit the dealership and ask them to advance the timing to a minimum of 15*BTDC. Resetting the ECU will not advance the timing to where it needs to be. It will cost you 45-90 depending on the dealership. I have advanced the timing with my AE software on about 50 cars over the last few years. I have seen quite a few that had there timing at less than 15, I did an 06 last week that was only showing as 11*.

Also for the AE software to advance the timing the car cannot have any codes showing or pending. It must be warmed up to operating temperature. But if the timing is only at 7-8 you will only be able to bump it up to 10. I've just noticed that some people say that the ECU will adjust itself back to 15, but I'm not sure if that is the case. When I was having emissions test problems I retarded the timing to 10 degrees to pass the test. It did not reset to 15 after a few days of driving even with Sunoco 94 in the tank so I went to the local dealership and paid the 45 for the reset. I asked them to reset to 17, so I can bump it to 19* with the AE software if I choose

 

i have access to the ae software when i'm at home in mississauga, i might try it if i can get it the ks simulator to work at the same time? what is the difference between the dealer reset and the reset instructions in the stickies?

 

There may not be a difference, I know I have reset the ecu with the AE software a few times for a few g35's because Infiniti dealerships had skewed a couple of guys mods by playing with the AFR with the consult. One guy have 3 or 4 mods went and got an oil change and they decided that because he had an SES light they would do him the favor and play with his AFR a bit. He lost all his horsepower from the mods, so I reset him with the AE. I have had a few guys with low timing and I was not able to "reset" back to 15*. Maybe the conditions were not right. I'm not 100% sure. I just know that once the knock sensor is fixed, the dealership can set the timing at whatever they want without resetting everything back to default.

BTY I'm in Hamilton, so just around the corner from you. You should sign up with the local toronto forum and come out to a few meets. if you have problems with the software I might be able to help you out.