Car running horribly - 91 L

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:31 am

No need to drain coolant, better done when cool so you don't burn yourself.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT SOCKET!!!!!! and pretend you are doing it a few times. You can fubar the sensor if you are not careful.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:13 am

I have videos! Forgive me for the lack of sound...my car isn't that loud. But, you can kind of tell when the camera is lurching with the car. You can however hear the idling. I mean, it's idling so shitty that the car is smoking. WTF!?

I was sitting at a light and I wasted an entire green light due to refiring and the car just shutting off on me as soon as I turned it on. Not a fun experience.
Click here to watch Bucking(9.8 MB)
Click here to watch Bad-idle(4.8 MB)

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:52 am

The car is not going to run okay and then run shitty later if the timing belt is off by several teeth. It will run shitty from the very moment you start it. Valve timing is purely mechanical, the ECU has nothing to do with it.

Strange that all this is going on, and you have no CEL.

Have you tried a different MAF sensor, just for the hell of it?

You don't have any vacuum leaks do you?

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:57 am

subyluvr2212 wrote:Strange that all this is going on, and you have no CEL.

Have you tried a different MAF sensor, just for the hell of it?

You don't have any vacuum leaks do you?

Yep. No CEL. Ever.

Nope, I don't have an extra.

Not as far as I know. I know about the carb cleaner method and I'll have to try that if the CTS doesn't fix it up.

Carbix · Post by **Carbix** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 2:59 am

hate to say it... but it sounds like u have a lifter that is getting stuck... i had EVERYTHING you are talking about with my sunfire... do u ever hear a clicking sound. or a claping sound. that could be your liffter getting raped by your cam

and would give your jumping you have talked about. being that the boxer was ment to be balanced and is now WAY off.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:16 am

I don't think it's something permanent. Simply because it goes away. If it were a stuck lifter, it would happen all the time. It's a mechanical thing. You have to understand, this car when it runs without bucking, it runs great. It's just that it bucks when it gets warm and it doesn't even buck all the time. I taped a few clean entrances onto the highway with no bucking. Tomorrow I'm doing the CTS and after that, I'm going for fuel pump.

My dad thinks it was just a bad tank of gas. I'm not so sure. Plus, I've never heard tapping or anything of the like. My car is quiet when it idles correctly.

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:23 am

Lots of smoke = too much gas = Bad temp sensor..... My experience

realfinn · Post by **realfinn** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:35 pm

As for the coolant sensor, I changed mine without a drop spilling and didn't drain coolant. Not sure how it will work on the NA but I took the cap off the coolant tank (you would probably take your radiator cap off - obviously don't do it when the car is hot). and I had my friend hold his hand over it to make a seal. Then I pulled the old one out and put the new one in and nothing squirted out at all. Just make sure you use some teflon tape on the threads...if you don't she'll leak.

If that doesn't take care of it...change the plugs and wires...and it probably wouldn't hurt to try another coil...or atleast inspect yours to see if there is a crack in it somewhere. If the engine gets hot and expands a crack it can cause all sorts of firinig issues. Wires and plugs can be cheap and it doesn't ever hurt to freshen em up.

If for some reason you think it might be a timing belt issue (which I doubt) its really not that big of an ordeal to change it. If I remember correctly I only paid 35-$40 for mine and I borrowed a chain wrench from my buddy to get the crank pulley off.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:10 pm

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!!

Mostly. Under spirited driving, car drives like it's brand new. Under low throttle, it hesitates a little. Add to that, it still has fits of crazy ass idle (see idle video) but no more bucking! And no more stalling out!!!

*rejoices*

Giving the car a rev while in neutral seems to clear up the crazy idle. God only knows why that happens.

douglas vincent · Post by **douglas vincent** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:37 pm

And WHY/HOW was it solved!?!!?!!?!?

quicklook · Post by **quicklook** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:27 pm

don't be a chucklehead, tell us what solved the problem.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 5:36 pm

douglas vincent wrote:And WHY/HOW was it solved!?!!?!!?!?

Coolant Temp. Sensor replacement FTW.

Still trying to figure out how to get rid of that anti-freeze that leaked out.

Brat4by4 · Post by **Brat4by4** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:06 pm

Manarius wrote:Still trying to figure out how to get rid of that anti-freeze that leaked out.

Kittens love that stuff...

Carbix · Post by **Carbix** » Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:58 pm

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:38 am

Problem SOLVED? Uhhhh.

So, I drove the car 15 miles right after I put in the sensor. Nothing goes wrong. I drive the car about 12 miles to go to a friend's house and it starts doing the same shit. Idling wacky, wimping out while driving normally (this pisses me off the most, driving along and all of a sudden losing power for no good reason), and just overall shitting around. It doesn't stall out and it doesn't buck under WOT, but under normal driving conditions, it's still the dumbest thing ever.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with this thing. I'm beginning to wonder if it really is bad gas or pump or something. It seems that revving the car up in neutral seems to clear it up for a little while (like 5 minutes), then it goes back to being retarded again. At least there's no more bucking...I couldn't stand that.

Car did throw a CEL when I started it up coming home tonight....it didn't stay on though, but at least the code is stored.

Another thing: When the car acts like it's not getting any gas, it gets really loud. I guess it's pinging or something, because the engine gets really mechanically loud. I don't really know how to describe it. My engine is normally very quiet and the only noise from it is the singing PS pump and Alt and a slight tick from a stuck lifter, but when the car starts having its fit, it gets very loud.

free5ty1e · Post by **free5ty1e** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:08 am

Has all of this been on a single tank of gas, or have you filled up at a different station since then?

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:20 pm

The car acted funny on a different station's tank of gas, so I went to another station and the problems continue. I put some injector cleaner in the tank to see if there's any water or whatever in the tank or in the lines (I know the cleaner is not the problem though because I've run it before without problems).

Car's throwing a 22(knock) and 23(Air flow) CEL. WTF now!?

n2x4 · Post by **n2x4** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:21 pm

knock sensor could be a thing to check, if you've got the original one, it's probably got a nice crack in it.

Tried running seafoam through it? I just ran mine throuth the Idle Air Control valve along the hose that it uses to hook up to the intake.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:52 pm

n2x4 wrote:knock sensor could be a thing to check, if you've got the original one, it's probably got a nice crack in it.

Tried running seafoam through it? I just ran mine throuth the Idle Air Control valve along the hose that it uses to hook up to the intake.

It's the original. I don't know what it looks like...as I've never pulled it out.

I ran seafoam through it last year. I can't really to it by myself because I need someone to hold the accelerator as I feed it.

Here's the knock sensor...you're right...it has a nice crack or two

Would that cause my issues with the running piss poor?

The resistance from the sensor part to the connector part is 700k+ ohms. That's way outside the 560ish range that the manual says.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:16 pm

The knock sensor won't help...

But it's the airflow meter code that throws out a red flag. Seriously, just pull one from a JY and try it. A good upstanding JY won't charge you more than $25 for a MAF sensor.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:29 am

JY around here wants 75 for the MAF

Update: Car is undriveable at operating temperature. It bucks like mad, won't stay on, and can be unresponsive to the throttle (I can't even rev it in neutral at some points).

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 6:38 pm

Car is still undriveable after replacing knock sensor. I'm running out of sensors guys.....

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:47 am

Reset ECU. No more code for knock sensor. Constant light for MAF. Still bucks like crazy and doesn't drive correctly. I can't even bother to drive it on the road, it's not safe. It stalls out at stops and stalls when I try to give it gas. Seems to rev just fine in neutral though....

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 5:07 am

have you tried unplugging the maf?

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 2:38 pm

scottzg wrote:have you tried unplugging the maf?

Yeah. It didn't run any differently (maybe even worse than it already does) plus it give me a constant CEL.

So, I reset the ECU again. During the "relearn" part, the car idled just fine until it got warm and then it starting idling weirdly until it eventually just idled itself off. When the RPM would drop really low, it spewed some liquid out the tail pipes. It was clear in nature, and I tried to smell it and it smelled like nothing. I thought maybe it was gas, but I couldn't smell it (although, I can't really smell anything anyways). After that incident, I tried to restart the car, and all it would do is idle for a second and shut off.

subyluvr2212 is sending me a new MAF which should be here on Wednesday. Hopefully this will fix the problem. I'm still running out of ideas.

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Car running horribly - 91 L