Gutless micra

[CMF_john the bed]

Hi guys,
I am new to this forum and was looking for some advice on our micra.
We have a 2002 black tempest 1.0 which replaced a 97 vibe 1.0 which got backended and written off.
The tempest we have had since new and the vibe from 7000miles.
I am concered because of the huge difference between the 2 cars. The older vibe was quicker more fun and had much better fuel economy.The currant micra is terrible on fuel and really flat.
When having the newer car serviced I brought this up and they said it passed all the checks. But for the newer micras to pass certain emission tests nissan detuned them slightly.
Is it just a case that the newer micras are no where near as good compared to the older models?
Any ideas or help would be appreciated guys

cheers

jtb

 

[CMF_w8upforme]

Weight may be one of the problems that makes the newer micra feel gutless, due to extra streghtening in the doors etc, you got airco in the newer type as this adds on quite a bit as well.

Don't think fuel economy on my car is that bad actually considering I'm only doing really small drives from and to work, average of 12kms per liter is not that bad, (city trafic)
Mine is the 1.4 though...
Highway average is about 15 or 16 km per liter, acc to Nissan in their testing programm its 18 or 19 km per liter, so 15-16km per liter is about realistic I guess.
Don't know what economy is on your micra??

 

[CMF_makes]

Hi John,

My impression is that the checks usually conducted by nissan dealers are pretty basic and more-or-less just confirm that the various sensors within and attached to the motor are working. Well that was my experience anyway....

The sensors may be functioning (because the car does start & run) however the car might not actually be working to it's best possible efficiency.

I suggest that a proper "dyno tune" will help identify if there's a problem somewhere and will ensure your car is running to it's best potential.

Good luck with it.

 

[CMF_john the bed]

Thanks for the advice guys.
I was thinking about getting it tuned up, just thought i'd see if anyone else had the same problem as me 1st.
Like I had said the girl in the showroom had said the newer versions of the micra had to be de-tuned to meet the european emissions so it could just be the euro models.
The model we have is quite basic no air con or electrics so the weight between the 2 micras shouldn't be too far apart. I thought it was only a small facelift anyway.
I'll post a follow up once I have had it tuned.

 

[CMF_john the bed]

Just had the micra looked at our local garage. When he put it on the machine to check it out it all appeared normal. Which I am guessing is all that would of been done when it was serviced both times.
But when they looked further into it the found a senser wasn't working on the engine managment system. the engine is only fueling the car as if it is running at 2000rpm. That is why the car is so guttless. The ouch part is to replace the part its £485 + vat. Which is a genuine nissan part. The garage said that they had seen this problem before on another micra.

The bit that I find annoying is, that the car had been like this since we bought it so my guess it never really worked properly and we just got on with it. Wish I had kicked up more of a fuss when it had gone in for the services.

I hope this might help anyone else out who might have the same thing.

All the best

john

 

[CMF_micra-man]

So John, what was the part they replaced?

 

[CMF_Yom]

Sounds like the airflow meter.

There's nothing else on it which controls the fuel flow.

Appears that the newer model airflow meters are dodgey as well!

 

[CMF_john the bed]

They have not replaced it yet. It was only a service to find the root of the problem.
The garage seem to think they can get a non genuine part for a £100 less.
Just looking at the receipt they have put its the throttle body that need replacing.

 

[CMF_Yom]

Yeh the throttle body is combined in the same unit as the airflow meter.

There are reconditioned parts around on ebay. They have warrenty - you can't really go wrong.