Well I spent the whole weekend changing my plugs and wires (hope to never to do that again, what a PITA) also did the TB bypass while I had the alt. abd intake tubing outa there. So I finished everything up and started the car and it ran great, reved it a little and it sounded smooth.

Took the car onto the road and it started to buck violently. I mean my neck hurt after that 2 min drive it was bucking so bad. Car was completely undrivable. Gauges went nuts, check engine light would flash on and off very quickly. As soon as i would press the clutch in the car would smooth out. If I reved it hard with the clutch in it would do it but not if i reved it to like 3000 or less. So basically the car wont do anything while under load.

What is wrong?????

I am 99% sure i plugged everything back in. I mean asside from ripping it all down and looking at it again. I was very meticulous when I was reassebling everything.

I am dreading taking this car into a shop around here. I much rather try and take care of it myself and save the cash and the aggrevation of dealing with the shops here.

Please help!! I miss having the Z on the road running the way it should.

Oh, and if anyone is in the Tiverton, Rhode Island area and would like to lend a had fixing this problem it would be a great help. (I pay in beer and food, and sometimes $$$) Please PM me

Thanks guys,
Ed

 

-look for crossed wires

-check and make sure the boots are all on fully

-did you tq the spark plugs? Are they at least all snug? What did you gap them at?

-do you have headers? did you use heat sheilds?

-b

 

Sounds like a burnt wire, if the SES light is flashing than you are having a misfire. I had the same problem when I changed my plugs I routed my #8 plug wire wrong and it burnt up after about an hour of driving I had the same symptoms as you.

 

No headers (stock manifolds) Replaced boot heat sheilds that were existing. All plugs gapped .55 NGK plugs checked gaps. did plugs wires one at a time as not to cross them. Boots were all put on tight. heard/felt the click. plugs are all very snug.



More i think about it the more i am worried its the Opti, I spilled a tiny bit of coolant when i did the TB bypass, but not much at all.
Thanks

 

it would take 30 mins or so like you said for his plug wires burnt through, if it started right away I would lean toward crossed wires.

If you spilled coolant on your opti it is possible you trashed it but dont jump to that conclusion. make sure you pluged all of your electrical connections back in.

Make sure you didnt hook your coolant line up to a vacuum hose somehow. that would be bad....

 

wouldnt a crossed wire cause a rough idle. This thing idles beautifully. Im not trying to contradict you just trying to figure this out from all angles with my LIMITED knowledge.

Thanks for all the replies so far keep'em coming.

Ed

 

yeah it should.... has it been long enough that the coolant on the opti would have evaporated?
Do you have spark plug boot pliers?
I used them to push all the boots onto the opti, if you have aloose boot there it could cause that problem.

 

i know you probably did good work when working on your own vehicle, but have to ask this question. How hard were the boots to get off the old plugs? did you have to wrestle with any of them? I've had wires look good, put them back on, and find out the plug clip has seperated from the wire.

if you have a scan tool or can get the car to a auto zone or somewhere that scans obdii codes, you will have your answer, it'll tell you exactly which cyl is misfiring.

 

I do not have boot pliers so i guess that is possible though the connections seemed very tight they all clicked in. also this seems alot more than a simple missfire, I have had that. reason i changed the plugs was because one wire was bad and the car didnt have any power.

This is serious bucking. It felt like the car got hit, it was so hard. it is impossible to drive.

Thanks guys

 

The old boots were not to bad to get off. but they were all replaced with a new set of Taylor wires anyway.

Thanks

 

No funny smell under hood? Scan it, get cyl # which is misfiring, check that wire and plug. They can be burnt / loose / or even defective. Check coil wire.

 

Oh i forgot to add No it probably hasnt been long enough for the coolant to evaporate. This happened right after I did the bypass. and I lost daylight so I couldn't work on it anymore that day. Today I am at work I am kinda hoping that by some miracle I will go home today and the coolant will have dried up and the car will be fine but i dont think my luck is that good.

Thanks

 

You burnt a wire. I went through 5 sets of wires and 2 optis before I figured out why the wire was burning. I would suggest going through (take your time) and make sure that the are all tight and AWAY from headers. Also look right behind the PS pump pulley. My wire holder opended 1 time and all the wires were cut but the pulley. Dont go buy a opti UNTIL you check the easy first.

Matt

 

Question, did you bleed the coolant system? O and I think u've got burnt wire(s).

 

Aren't the plugs supposed to be gapped at .050 not .55?