My '03 25 [1.6 CVT with 60 km on it] has been running very sweetly. I travel about 100km to and from work every day in it and I'm really enjoying being back in a Rover.
But, on start up for the homeward journey today [last Tuesday] the car began to run very roughly. The motor performs well but there is no power and the acceleration is at best snail-like. Sport mode doesn't happen and I crept up the few hills that I normally bound over.
There have been no problems to date.
I browsed a variety of threads / topics in the forum. Some comment on CVT fluid needing changing. Some talk about a sensor being faulty.
Fluid level while hot [ie at the end of the trip] was halfway between the two nicks in the dip stick. Colour is red [like a strawberry!] and smelt ok too.
I'm the second owner. The car has been dealer serviced since new.
I find it hard to believe the fluid could be faulty as these transmissions have fewer moving parts than more traditional transmissions. Sensor faulty???
Like I said, this situation had a sudden and unexpected onset. Symptoms again: struggles to accelerate, very little acceleration, CVT doesn't work in 'manual' mode, it's like leaving the hand brake on [which it isn't!], engine 'labours' in drive and the rev's struggle to pick up to 2000, and while cruising are about 1100rpm [usually about 2100], slowing to corner or come to a stop there is a juddering and I feel that the engine may stall [it doesn't] - a bit like coming to a halt in a manual but still in 3rd or 4th gear. Reversing is a struggle too.
The engine starts ok and idles perfectly in P or N. Could a faulty ignition component be the root cause? Performance has been spot on to date and no missing or misfiring etc.
I suspected the lambda sensor. These can fail and effect the air/fuel mix. I have a coolant leak which I suspect is a faulty inlet manifold gasket [there's no oily residue in the header tank, or bubbles appearing in it either as you would expect from a faulty H/gasket]. The silicates in the coolant mix can coat the sensor and render it inoperable. Gasket replacement scheduled for next week [and OAT type coolant going in too].
The Coolant temp' sensor has also been suggested but I haven't explored that yet.
Can the CVT jam in one 'gear'? I realise there are no gears but can they jam in a high ratio? Maybe a road speed or engine load sensor failure making the ECU think it's on the open road???
The more I think about it the more I suspect an electrical / electronic fault, but I haven't the foggiest as to where!
