Sportrak Running Lumpy

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I'm having an ongoing problem with my Sportrak ELXi. The engine is running lumpy. It starts ok, but once under any kind of load it feels like it's missing occasionally and feels very under powered. I've had the plugs out and they all look ok. Also checked all the connections to the distributor cap.

It's a bit damp this morning and I've come to start the car and it's running even worse. It doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders.

I was wondering if it's a plug / plug lead / ignition problem, but I would expect that to cause the engine to back fire every now and again, which it doesn't do! I'm now starting to wonder if it could be the injectors? I've never had the misfortune of having to put up with a petrol injection engine before, so I'm a bit shy of doing stuff I don't fully understand.

Finally, if you're thinking it's fuel starvation, so did I! I've had the fuel filter off and made sure it's got a good flow through it. I even blew it out with an air line. What makes me think it's not fuel is the fact it doesn't get any worse when the revs are high. If anything, it gets better, which I just put down to the engine running faster and smoothing itself out a bit.

Is it possible to take the fuel injection junk off this engine and replace it with a simple carb? I would like to be able to do away with any unnecessary complications and the fuel injection system seems to be a really big one.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Andy.

I'd check all the basic

I'd check all the basic stuff first.... new leads may help. Also check the sensors. Under the bonnet on the right side of the fire wall is a green "plug" with 6 little bungs in...
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remove 5,6 plugs join with wire... on the dash the engine light will be flashing. If its flashing in a series of sets... eg. pause, then 5 consecutive flashes a particular sensor is at fault. There is a great post on here somewhere... naming the sensor "flash" codes.

The other thing to check is if you have vaccum in your fuel tank. I did. Solved by drilling a tiny hole in the fuel cap.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give it all a try tomorrow. A friend had a poke around under the bonnet today and says he got a belt off the HT lead that feeds the dizzy, so maybe he's found the problem the hard way! Smile