Need Help Desperately!!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 10
From: Lacey, WA
Need Help Desperately!!
well, as you may have read about my problem, i have been desperately seeking help/trying to fix my car. i have had NO PROGRESS on either goal. i type this new thread in hopes that SOMEONE will PLEASE help me with this problem. i know we have a LOT of very smart people on these boards and i KNOW someone out there can shed some light on this hairy situation.
first a little background on my IROC (this is gonna be a LOOOOONG thread, sorry ) Alyssa is a 1989 IROC with her original LB9/5-speed combo still intact. she is getting a little tired but still in fairly good shape. she needs a set of mains, i know, as oil pressure is a LITTLE bit lower then it should be and i can hear a VERY MILD tick when she is cold. the tranny is going FASTER and FASTER every day. i have plans to refurbish them in the near future, with new mains in the motor (to get me by until the 383 is done) and a basic rebuild kit in the T5 (again, to get me by until i can replace it). Alyssa was converted by my friend (previous owner of her) to speed density TPI about a year ago, and has had NO PROBLEMS until now. he only added two wires (for the speed sensor) and cut NOTHING. he studied up on the whole inner workings of BOTH systems for approximately 6 months before touching ANYTHING, just to make sure he got it right. she has a USED 730 ECM with a Hypertech thermo-chip inside(which is new), not sure where he got ithe ECM or it's actual age, which is why i have been asking ways to tell if it is good or bad. she has a "complex" and WILL NOT talk to scanners. they always come back with "vehicle not responding".
now for the problem. about 2 weeks ago, i was coming back from a friend of mine's house. i got a check engine light, ONE TIME. it came on, stayed on about 15 seconds, then IMMEDIATELY went off. it didn't come on again that night. i drove for about 40 more minutes. the next day i left to go to post and on the way there (about 10 mins into the trip) it came back on. this time it didn't go away and the car was weaker and "bucked" slightly. for about the next 3-5 days the car would decide what "mood" she was in. the light would come and go. so finally i REALLY begin digging into her to figure out the problem. i look for the ESC module since i had an extra. i couldn't find the module. i talk to my friend (who is vacationing in Michigan) and he tells me that there is NO ESC module on this car, for it is integrated into the ECM. ok, so i look at the knock sensor. i do the test where ya tap on the block near the sensor to trip it. NOTHING. so i figure the KS is bad. so i go buy another KS and try to install it. note that i said TRY. the old sensor just spun inside itself. so i wait and talk to my friend the next day and he tells me not to worry because there is another coolant plug in the other side of the block (i told him i didn't think it was a coolant plug, but elected to try it anyway) so i go and pull the plug (and of course NO COOLANT came out) and put the KS in that hole and route the wire over to it. this did NOTHING to fix my problem. so i wait and today im suppose to go to my friend's house as we are cleaning our Camaros (95 Z28, 87 IROC and mine) for a show tomorrow. we end up worknig on mine ALL day. to no avail. we found out that the KS wire has PERFECT continuity all the way to the ECM. and it is getting the proper voltage back from the ECM. we tried a few different things and nothing fixed the problem. finally we ended up (well, he did it ) unhooking the ECM. so we go to hook it up and decide to set the timing back down to stock (i had it at 12 adv.) and the car WOULD NOT idle. it would for a very short time, but then the ECM would start wigging out and it would die. it would idle with the ECM not in control (the brown/tan wire unhooked). so i went and drove it just in case the ECM needed to "re-learn" how to idle. it was DETONATING like mad!! this car has NEVER DETONATED AT ALL!!! but now it detonates all the time. and we can't make it stop. i have driven it for about a 35 mile trip (home) and it will not stay running by itself now and will not stop detonating! when i got home i checked to see if i had any NEW codes (i suspected i would with the new problems) and of course i did. now i not only have a code 43, but also a code 42.
well, now ya'll know the WHOLE story. sorry this post is so incredibly long, just needed to give EVERY detail to have the best chance of diagnosing it properly. i appreciate any input (besides "put a carb on it") and thank ya'll in advance for the help!!
Josh
P.S.-i tried posting this in the proper computer help section, but got VERY little help, so im hoping for a little more here. thanks again guys!!
first a little background on my IROC (this is gonna be a LOOOOONG thread, sorry ) Alyssa is a 1989 IROC with her original LB9/5-speed combo still intact. she is getting a little tired but still in fairly good shape. she needs a set of mains, i know, as oil pressure is a LITTLE bit lower then it should be and i can hear a VERY MILD tick when she is cold. the tranny is going FASTER and FASTER every day. i have plans to refurbish them in the near future, with new mains in the motor (to get me by until the 383 is done) and a basic rebuild kit in the T5 (again, to get me by until i can replace it). Alyssa was converted by my friend (previous owner of her) to speed density TPI about a year ago, and has had NO PROBLEMS until now. he only added two wires (for the speed sensor) and cut NOTHING. he studied up on the whole inner workings of BOTH systems for approximately 6 months before touching ANYTHING, just to make sure he got it right. she has a USED 730 ECM with a Hypertech thermo-chip inside(which is new), not sure where he got ithe ECM or it's actual age, which is why i have been asking ways to tell if it is good or bad. she has a "complex" and WILL NOT talk to scanners. they always come back with "vehicle not responding".
now for the problem. about 2 weeks ago, i was coming back from a friend of mine's house. i got a check engine light, ONE TIME. it came on, stayed on about 15 seconds, then IMMEDIATELY went off. it didn't come on again that night. i drove for about 40 more minutes. the next day i left to go to post and on the way there (about 10 mins into the trip) it came back on. this time it didn't go away and the car was weaker and "bucked" slightly. for about the next 3-5 days the car would decide what "mood" she was in. the light would come and go. so finally i REALLY begin digging into her to figure out the problem. i look for the ESC module since i had an extra. i couldn't find the module. i talk to my friend (who is vacationing in Michigan) and he tells me that there is NO ESC module on this car, for it is integrated into the ECM. ok, so i look at the knock sensor. i do the test where ya tap on the block near the sensor to trip it. NOTHING. so i figure the KS is bad. so i go buy another KS and try to install it. note that i said TRY. the old sensor just spun inside itself. so i wait and talk to my friend the next day and he tells me not to worry because there is another coolant plug in the other side of the block (i told him i didn't think it was a coolant plug, but elected to try it anyway) so i go and pull the plug (and of course NO COOLANT came out) and put the KS in that hole and route the wire over to it. this did NOTHING to fix my problem. so i wait and today im suppose to go to my friend's house as we are cleaning our Camaros (95 Z28, 87 IROC and mine) for a show tomorrow. we end up worknig on mine ALL day. to no avail. we found out that the KS wire has PERFECT continuity all the way to the ECM. and it is getting the proper voltage back from the ECM. we tried a few different things and nothing fixed the problem. finally we ended up (well, he did it ) unhooking the ECM. so we go to hook it up and decide to set the timing back down to stock (i had it at 12 adv.) and the car WOULD NOT idle. it would for a very short time, but then the ECM would start wigging out and it would die. it would idle with the ECM not in control (the brown/tan wire unhooked). so i went and drove it just in case the ECM needed to "re-learn" how to idle. it was DETONATING like mad!! this car has NEVER DETONATED AT ALL!!! but now it detonates all the time. and we can't make it stop. i have driven it for about a 35 mile trip (home) and it will not stay running by itself now and will not stop detonating! when i got home i checked to see if i had any NEW codes (i suspected i would with the new problems) and of course i did. now i not only have a code 43, but also a code 42.
well, now ya'll know the WHOLE story. sorry this post is so incredibly long, just needed to give EVERY detail to have the best chance of diagnosing it properly. i appreciate any input (besides "put a carb on it") and thank ya'll in advance for the help!!
Josh
P.S.-i tried posting this in the proper computer help section, but got VERY little help, so im hoping for a little more here. thanks again guys!!
Last edited by 1LEWannabe; Jul 13, 2003 at 12:01 AM.
Registered User
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 158
Wanabe,
From the actions you took I assume you know what a code 42 & 43 mean.
Since she's giving you the silent treatment except for sign language (SES flash codes,) and ESC is handled by the ECM, and you changed the knock sensor, checked the wiring, don't you think it's time you changed the ECM, it may just fix all the problems, or at the very least get her talking to you again, and she just may tell you what you need to know.
BTW, dening her access to the timing was not a good idea. You know detonation is not good for her so why did you risk it?
Please post again when she's not giving you the cold shoulder.
From the actions you took I assume you know what a code 42 & 43 mean.
Since she's giving you the silent treatment except for sign language (SES flash codes,) and ESC is handled by the ECM, and you changed the knock sensor, checked the wiring, don't you think it's time you changed the ECM, it may just fix all the problems, or at the very least get her talking to you again, and she just may tell you what you need to know.
BTW, dening her access to the timing was not a good idea. You know detonation is not good for her so why did you risk it?
Please post again when she's not giving you the cold shoulder.
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