2000 Villager lost power/acceleration

[ArtChee]

2000 Villager Sport = great little vehicle. HOWEVER, since last tune up in June '09, MPG has dropped & over last 3 months am losing power & acceleration. Engine seems to run fine, but no acceleration.

Also, speedometer intermediately goes "crazy": jumps all around, and sometimes dies temporarily. Of course, this causes cruise control to go out.

Could the two problems be connected?

Service Engine Soon light on: CODE = 0400

Thanks for any suggestions.

[tempfixit]

Code P0400= EGR system Malfunction

Yes they could be related as the VSS affects the vaccuum to the egr valve.( The vss tells the pcm to open the egr valve as it moves thus affecting the vacuum to the egr valve, meaning that te front wheels need to be moving in order to check correct vacuum to egr valve at higher rpm.)) I would check the vss connector on the transaxle for looseness and corrided connector, if that not the problem I would check the gear on the vss for wear. These VSS'S are usually a bear to get out, many people have broken them trying to remove, make sure to use pliers or vise grip on the metal base of the vss.

Another thing to do is to clean the MAF Sensor as this will greatly affect mileage and performance of engine, or TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) could be flaking out as it is a wear item.

report back with results.

[ArtChee]

Took the Villager to a local shop for the acceleration problem. Turned out to be a "clogged" Catalytic Converter. The "honeycomb" was all busted/broken. Replaced, and plenty of acceleration now.

Don't know yet if that affected the speedometer or not. Will know when get it out on hiway.

Thanks,
ArtChee

[ArtChee]

Erratic speedometer caused by dirty or faulty VSS - Vehicle Speed Sensor. Very knowledgeable (seemingly) mechanic explained that it MAY be the VSS, but no guarantee. Could be caused by other electronic factors. Put in new VSS - so far all's well.

[divot91]

how did you get the code out of the car?

[ArtChee]

Replaced Cat.Converter; Vehicle Speed Sensor which eliminated the "Check Engine Soon" light... temporarily. It is back on now, but no apparent problems. Will deal with it next time I'm in to the garage.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by divot91

how did you get the code out of the car?

To retrieve the code you need a obd ll scanner. There is a way to get the 93 to 95 obd l codes without a scanner.