ok its official, my car has turned for the worst. first let me start by saying that dispite my best efforts in persuasion, the car basically sat still for the 7 months i was deployed, probably being started maybe twice. that said...

when i got in it after getting back home, the battery was dead, bought a new one, problem solved. i started to buy some new upgrade type stuff and installed it all myself, but nothing dealing with the engine, all suspension stuff, so that shouldnt effect engine manorisms much right? ok... so i started to notice a little stumble above 5500 rpms or so. well yesterday i took it to the car wash (the same one ive been through 40 times) and when they were done i got in it, and started it up and it wouldnt idle AND the SES light was on. it has never been on before, ever. so i was a little worried, but i didnt make sense to say that it was something that happened at the car wash. if anything i thought they might have gotten a little water on the opti, because the car would still drive and it felt like it did when i cleaned my engine bay and i gotten a little water down there. so i let it sit, and now it idles just fine.

but today i took it to base to get the light scanned, and i got a code 42, IGNITION CONTROL (IC) CIRCUIT (SHORTED OR GROUNDED CIRCUIT). im not sure how that happened but whatever. so on the way home from there, just 30 min ago, the car started shifting REALLY strange. its an automatic and i always leave it in OD and it would hold the gear all the way to 3500 rpms and when it would shift it shifted so hard it would snap my damn neck back. VERY ANNOYING. it did that for about 15 miles on the way home. right now its parked and i dont have a clue what to do with it.

btw my car is a lot harder to start lately. you know how you can hear the fuel pump when you put the key to the on position? well when its hard starting, it makes funny noises.


what should i check first..?? im a sponge and ready to absorb knowledge, thanks for the help.

 

First things first, check out this site for where you should start with diagnosing and solving your problem.

http://home.comcast.net/~fastbird/Tr...ech%20Aids.htm

 

Not possessed, but quite possibly a bad aptispark

 

anyone know where i can buy some sort of scanner tool, so that i can scan it and clear the codes myself? the place that i can get the code cleared is like 20 miles away and i really dont want to drive it that far. thanks.