Mental Hyundai

[peteconnors]

Hi All,
So I was in a Hyundai Pony the other day and it was a bit wierd...
I had just popped down to the shops on a cold and misty morning, the wipers had to be on as the mist was almost a fine drizzle. On leaving the shops, the car started fine, I got to the T Junction, and when a gap appeared I went to pull out. As I touched the accelerator the car died, unusual I thought, as this was an automatic. I managed to get the car restarted, although it was quite spluttery, and popped and banged a bit. I carried on to the roundabout, and the same thing happened. I got it restarted once more, and carried on, although at this point it was spluttering a lot, there was no power to the car at all. It drove smooth if you eased up off the power, but would splutter more if you tried to accelerate. My first instinct was a lack of fuel or air, but when I managed to get it home I revved it while stationary and it revved fine, only spluttering when in gear. Stumped, I phoned the local mechanic, who said to bring it down a couple hours later.
Two hours later I got into the car to take it to the garage and it ran fine. Obviously he couldn't diagnose a problem that wasn't there, but it would be nice to figure out what the problem was. The car is a bit wierd normally, as I lose radio reception when I plug the phone charger in... I do have a theory on the lack of power though:
A few years back my sis gave me her Mini for free, providing I collected it. I was living in Bournemouth at the time, and she was in Newcastle. I caught the coach up and drove it back the the next day. It had been raining through the night, and the roads were still wet when I left that morning. About 50 miles south of Newcastle the car started spluttering, and losing power. I downshifted, but the same happened. I had not long fuelled up, and the gauge was Ok, so I knew it had to be something else. I fortunately managed to get to a lay-by, and called the AA. When they arrived they diagnosed a most common problem with Minis in the rain: water in the distributor. All the spray from the various cars and lorries had got through the grill and soaked the distributor cap. All I could do was wait for it to dry out. A couple hours later, with the roads almost dry it started fine, and ran Ok for the remaining 370 miles. I reckon that the Pony suffered a similar problem the other day, although if anyone has any other theories I be glad to hear them.

[Craig]

It's called pony for a reason...

[Bluebottle]

Craig, notice he says 'a' pony, not his pony!

Peter, (and anyone else for that matter....) next time squirt some WD40 on the cap and it should run properly if it is a damp problem. I never travel without it!

[peteconnors]

Craig: wasn't the Mustang also called a Pony?

[Craig]

Nuff said

[JimW]

For your Mini, depending on age etc. you could also think "carburettor icing".

The Pony should not suffer from that in this day and age.

Regards

Jim

[maximus]

It is a Hyundai though, until recent times the technology used was ancient!

[peteconnors]

Well, it happened again on Saturday morning and it wasn't damp... same junction too! I figured it couldn't hurt to delve in under the bonnet so I got the WD out and took the dizzy cap off (very arkwardly located in the 1.5). It had obviously never been taken off before so a good clean out got a couple rags looking decidedly second hand. I dipped the oil too, except couldn't tell whether that was a factor as the dipstick was dry. OOPS!! It took over 3 litres to bring it back within the range and made a hell of a difference to the engine (which is a Toyota block apparently), now much smoother!
While I prefer more expensive (and usually German) cars, I cannot fault the Hyundai. I bought it when I was working at Dominos, one little old lady owner, 46,000 miles for £250!! It was like it had just comout of the showroom. I did around 25,000 miles in it before giving it to my mum, and this spluttering has been the first thing to go wrong on it. Perhaps it's not used to having such an easy life after a year with me terrorizing the streets of Telford!