legacycentral bbs

This weekend I went around the car and replaced some cracked hoses, my alternator, vaccum lines and plug wires. On the way to work the car was driving very well but I got a CEL. After I checked the car out and shut it down, I restarted it and the CEL was gone.

From what you said it sounds like one or more of your spark plug wires were bad. You're getting better combustion now so maybe your getting some knock or maybe your O2 sensor is seeing new concentrations. What octane do you use?

I'd pull your codes and then reset the ecu and clear the codes. Then if you get another CEL it will be fresh and it'll be much easier to know what is throwing it.

It could be the IAC, or the knock sensor (usually if the knock sensor throws a code it's either bad or wet and the car will drive very bad while it's having a fit), Could be the O2 sensor....could be a lot of things. We'll have to pull your codes and stuff to know for sure. Besides, if your car is running that much better then I want a ride!

Yeah, definitely pull the code. In fact, get some 1/4" quick disconnect connectors and some 18 AWG wire and extend the black and green connectors so you can pull codes easily. Then print out my quick reference of codes and keep it in the glove box.

Diagnosing stuff is a lot easier if you can pull and clear codes right away. In this case it might be a pressure sensing code or something too.

This morning it was still running like a champ and no CEL. I got a CEL once before that went away on restart and it turned out to be my speed sensor which raises a question.

My speed sensor make a lot of grinding noise. It's been toyed with, that's for sure. I was told by a subbie dealer that it needed lubricated but the noise is coming from behind the dash. How could I lubricate that!? I think she was pulling my leg(acy).

That idea with the quikconnects is a good one. It just so happens that a lot of the VFD's here at work use them extensively and there's lots of spare parts.

I was wondering if you thought it would be worth it, vikash, to get a couple latches, a shift register, other digital parts and a seven-segment display to make a simple CEL readout for the console area....

Matt - yeah we'll have to check out my codes and maybe get the laptop online with the car and see what my sensors are reading. I did PB Blast the hell out of it several times the other day to prepare for replacing the uppipe.

I don't think you could get it to work with just discrete components, particularly if there are multiple codes and stuff. It's not a big deal to just read the blinks out anyway, as long as you're not trying to do it while driving.

I did mount a pair of toggle switches in the blank panel where the height control switch goes on air suspension models, which makes it really easy to pull codes right away.

You may be able to lubricate the VSS or speedometer or whatever if you remove the gauge cluster. Is it possible that maybe the cable is just loose, though?

Loose from the tranny or the back of the gauge cluster? It's a little loose on both ends. It's hard to say.