Car loses power when accelerating

Tiny
MONYATSE LESUFI
  • MEMBER
  • 2001 NISSAN ALMERA
  • 1.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 350,000 MILES
My car had only problem of throwing out water on reserve bottle an radiator becomes empty. I took it to machinic who said it was top casket, we replaced top gasket after that my car started losing power when accelerating. The engine was performing very well before it went for top casket replacement. What can it be the problem?
Saturday, October 17th, 2020 AT 7:46 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi,

When the head gasket was replaced, did the mechanic check to make sure the head wasn't warped? Is the check engine light staying on when the engine is running?

There are many things that can cause a power loss. Since work was just done on the cylinder head, I would confirm engine compression is good. This will tell us if something went wrong with the repair. Here is a link that shows how it's done. Take a look through it and let me know if it is something you can don.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

Also, let me know if there has been coolant usage, if there are any strange sounds from the engine, and if there are any smells from the exhaust or smoke.

I will watch for your reply.

Joe
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Sunday, October 18th, 2020 AT 5:50 PM
Tiny
MONYATSE LESUFI
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
The machinic checked the removed gasket and he confirmed that it was damaged, that was the reason why at first the car was throwing out water using the reserve tank. The is no engine light on the car it just don't have power, it drives only on 85km per hour. It the morning when is cold it doesn't move at all until it get warm or hot.
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Sunday, October 18th, 2020 AT 7:59 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi,

The idea that there is a power loss opens us up to many things. Since there was a head gasket issue before, I'm questioning if something like the catalytic converter may have plugged due to previous problems. Take a look through this link and let me know if you feel it parallels what you experience.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/bad-catalytic-converter-symptoms

Also, let me know if there are any sounds or smells you notice when it's running.

Joe
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+2
Sunday, October 18th, 2020 AT 8:34 PM
Tiny
MONYATSE LESUFI
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Possible it might be catalyst converter, there is no funny sound but there was even some bad smell even before we opened the engine. That was smell was not persistent, it used to come and go. Now when revving the engine, it sound like is cloned and sometimes is blocking the exhaust system.
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Monday, October 19th, 2020 AT 6:23 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi,

Do me a favor. Remove the oxygen sensor pre-catalytic converter and see if you get back some of the power. Or here is a link that explains how to check the converter:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-catalytic-converter

Try that and let me know the results.

Joe
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Monday, October 19th, 2020 AT 7:00 PM

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