no power in each gear

[brendy]

i need some help

just recently i drove my car for about 40 mins and then drove back from this place and on the way back i realised that in each gear i had hardly any power in each gear

in 1st i could only just pull off
2nd would get to 20 and no higher
3rd, 30 no higer
4th took ages to get to 40 and 5th gear would go hardly anywhere, i managed to get to 70 but wouldnt go any faster even going down hill, you can hear the engine going for it and its making a really loud low drone.
only occasionally this would happen, i pulled out of a junction after stopping and it was fine
can anyone help me to tell me why this happens
help is greatly appreciated
thanks

[PRICER]

dunno mate sounds a weird one that, try jacking the wheels up making sure that the brakes aernt binding or something can you stand still and rev the engine and it will rev free as in up and down the whole rev range?

[brendy]

i dont think its the brakes, i could try that, yer it will rev up and down, but i dont have rev counter so i dont know what the revs are like in each gear :/ it does still make the loud droning sound, its just as soon as i put it in each gear it just doesnt rev hardly

my mate sed he had similar problem on his ped and he sed one of the pistons has cracked, but dunno wether it would be same thing :/

[essexjohn]

Sounds like what happened to my old vectra, it was going into "limp mode" due to the cam sensor wire being loose. What car\engine is it? look on here for instructions on how to do a "paperclip test" it shows up any faults in the car via a flashing light on the dash that you read and compare to a list of numbers telling you what each fault is, I'll try to find a link for you.

[beano4390]

Does your engine management light come on? As essexjohn said your car myt be going into limp mode, this stops you reving high and doing more damage to what ever is wrong... Try paperclip test but also check your fluids i.e gearbox oil and all your sensors.. Has it only recently started happening? Could also just be the cold, I have noticed my car feels sluggish at moment but onces it's properly warm it's fine...

[brendy]

oh right. my car is a 1.4l 8v. when it first happened the engine light did come on. i never knew what it ment though. it happened like 3 weeks ago, when it was first cold. the engine was quite warm though, coz it happened half way through my journey. ill try a paperclip test and see what it says but i think it might just be giving in, it sometimes does work if i turn engine off and on again then it works

[beano4390]

Yea do a paperclip test first mate, see what code that gives you an trase it back to the problem... Could just be a sensor problem... Does the box make a whining noise or anything... Normally if the box or clutch is on way out you'll no cause it'll whine or squeal.. Is it harder to get into gear than it was before?

[brendy]

well occasionally there is a very high pitch squeak coming from the right hand side of the engine, i think it could be the cambelt slipping or something, the gears are still the same, if anything they easier too put in tbh. im gonna do a paperclip test today and see what it brings up.