Can anyone suggest why I might be getting this issue. We've a 2.0l Automatic fuel injection type 4 - when in Park or Neutral she idles lovely, BUT when put into Drive or Reverse the revs drop right down to the point where she often cuts out...traffic lights etc. Any help or guidance would be appreciated. I'm no mechanic so go easy with me - I'm learning. Thanks
I also have a 2.0 Auto. I would check the points gap first if you still have them. Followed by checking the timing. Borrow or purchase a timing light if you don’t have one, Accuspark do one for about 20 quid which will do the job. Make sure you have no air leaks. The servo hose or gearbox mod valve hose are favorites for splitting. Then set the idle speed as per the manufacturer at 950rpm. Mine also stutters a bit when in drive as the rpm does drop quite a bit, not so bad as to cause it to stall though. It is carb though not fuel injection & getting the carbs set correctly is another issue you don’t have
Have you tried increasing the tick over a little to see if that helps....its the big brass screw on the foot of throttle body (fuel injection) , clockwise to increase revs (I think, if not its anti clockwise to increase) try a little turn at a time. In the pic you will see the long throttle spring, look to the top of this and this screw is under the pipe on the right of the spring. Can get to this quite easy from the engine lid.
You can get multimeters with a tacho/rpm meter on quite cheap if you want to set the idle more accurately.
Thanks for your suggestion & the picture. I did this and yes it ticked over quicker, but not when in 'Drive'. It just made the drop in revs more noticeable. A good place to start though.Thank you,
I am way out of my depth on this but could the torque converter be putting too much drag on the engine?
Thanks for this. I'm thinking now it may be an air leak which I'll need to check out. I've been tinkering with the idle speed to no success once in gear, so will need to reset this - thanks for your help.
If you can get underneath you will see a hose going to the rear right hand side of the auto box. This is the pipe to the mod valve. Pull it off at the gearbox & make sure there is no ATF (auto transmission oil) in the hose. If there is it is a sign the mod valve is failing and allowing oil to be sucked out of the gearbox by the engine. This happened to mine & needs picking up sooner rather than later as i had to have my auto box overhauled due to this happening. Another tell tale sign is more smoke from the exhaust due to it burning the ATF. And of course the ATF level dropping on the dipstick.
@Gooders - could you advise where the dipstick is to check the ATF level. As you might have guessed I haven't cleared this issue yet. Thank you
It should be in the left hand side of the engine bay in a long tube which goes through the bulkhead to the auto box. You can see the tube in the picture. I have supported it with a bracket and clamp. Check the level after a run. Gear lever in P.
Just to muddy the waters, I'm guessing you have the later 010 box. This won't have the vacuum connection, so I don't think the problem of oil getting sucked out applies. Fresh fluid is good. Is yours clean and red or brown? There's usually a quite noticable drop in rpm going from idle in neutral to idle in drive so adjust up to suit. Also see if there's anything useful in the attachment. Regrettably I don't have FI so things may be different there.
As andyv says you probably have a later model Auto box to mine so dipstick is probably in a different place.
sounds familiar. Mine did the same, stalled when in gear but fine in park. soon as load was put on it stammered & faded. It turned out to be an air leak, a hose clip loose under the van from the servo to the engine! check & check again.
