I bought the MAF cleaner stuff from Autozone and sprayed it down pretty well.

My TB elbow arrives tomarrow according to UPS, and I think I found a throttle cable (my attempts at a repair today didnt pan out) so maybe a week from today when the cable is here I'll be able to get the car on the road and actually test to see if the new elbow and the new plugs helped any.

I need to OHM check my plug wires (I dont have the money to replace anything at random, I really have to justify buying something) which seems a little bass ackwards since I just changed the damn plugs and it would have been easier then.... but, I forgot and Im stupid. What kind of readout am I looking for as acceptable? Wires look to be OE replacements.

I do know after the plug change just starting the car the idle is smoother and it revs a little better, but its still sluggish when I blip the throttle with my hand and its pig rich until it heats up. If I give it some throttle then just let off it'll backfire and sputter a little. Once it gets up to temp it seems ok though. Well, ok in the context of it the way its currently running,.lol. Ended up spending my day with my neice and girlfriend so I didnt get a chance to look at the EGR. I need to get my Haynes manual out and read up on the testing procedure.. I wish I knew where the hell my vacuum pump has gotten to.

 

No... P0403 is for the EGR solenoid. You don't need to check the EGR, you don't need a vaccum pump, you just need to check the EGR vacuum solenoid, and the wiring to it. The code is based on electrical continuity in the circuit.

 

I'm sorry, I meant EGR code, I wasnt paying attention.

I'll search for the testing procedure, my Haynes doesnt seem to have it.

Thanks!

 

The circuit should have +12V on the brown wire with the key on. The PCM supplies the ground on the gray wire. Try blowing through the solenoid, it should open when you ground the gray wire.

 

Todays update.

Couldnt get to school cause my car wasnt running, so I spent the day tinkering. well, ok, I spent a couple hours tinkering, the rest of the day I spent running around paying bills, lol.

Anyway,

I have the throttle cable setup so that it works now. A small screw was employed and its definatly not a 'repair' I care to show off but it tucks under the cover and will do me until my new cable gets here, atleast it can be driven.

My Trick Flow TB Elbow came today so that went straight on. Nice part by the way. The small vacuum line wasnt pre-drilled but it came with a nipple for it. 1/4in drill bit and about 30 seconds solved the issue.

New plugs are in, as mentioned. With the elbow on and the computer recently reset (unhooked the battery when I moved the starter out of the way for th plugs.. Didnt wanna risk anything.) the car started and idled about like it has honestly. It was peppier and more responsive but it was still pig rich before it was warmed up and has a hesitation when I blip the throttle. Idle is about 1-1.1k cold and maybe 900 or so warm. (180*-ish on up).

SES light is off, but it takes a little bit for it to pop on after the battery has been disconnected.

Took the car out for a drive and its a little faster to be sure, but not by a whole lot. I can stomp the gas at about 2k rpm in first and I dont hardly spin a damn tire. Shifing at redline into second causes a little chirp and thats it. More responsive and everything but still starts to feel 'flat' from 2k up. TPS sensor still tests out bizarre and I have an intermittent miss or dead spot or hiccup between 2-3k rpm. Never in the same place, not always there.

Im gonna wait till the SES light comes back on and get my codes pulled again and check the EGR selenoid and such. Oh, I tried to switch the o2's but they are both dead friggen welded in place. I'm gonna have to soak em in PB off and on for a day or two and see if I can get em off then.

Starting to get frustrated. Combustion looked good based on the old plugs but the car is just running poorly. Gonna do some research about the signs of a bad opti. Previous owners replaced it they said but who knows?

I may also build a little leak finder and pressurize (does 5-ish psi sound safe?) the intake system at the MAF and poke around for hidden leaks and bad hoses. I do this in turbo cars I'm trouble shooting, though they can usually be pushed to 12 or so and it makes finding leaks a little easier.. spray bottle and some soapy water!

 

how many miles on the car? Has the opti ever been replaced?
Maybe check ur fuel filter as well

 

If you soak O2 sensors with any sort of hydrocarbon, you run the chance of comtaminating them. They use the air from the outside to compare to the exhaust gas, and if you soak the outside of the sensor, you run the risk of plugging up the tiny passage that lets outside air into the huosing. A better way is to heat them up with a torch.

 

I tried heating them, haha. Used my O/A torch and man they wont budge. If i go at them much harder I'll likely rip them out of the pipe, threads, bung and all. Maybe it'll take a couple sessions. Hell, maybe a smaller torch? Localize the heat more and maybe keep the sensor a little cooler. I may be outputting enough heat to expend them both close to evenly.

Anyway,

Ok, a new update.. My god.

Code P0300, Misfire.

The car is getting progressively worse. Today it started to misfire and surge (the surge is a gain in power, not a loss.. *shrug*) Primarily 3k and under. The SES light is always on due to the o2 but not it will start to flash and the car will stumble and sound horrible as it misfires, then it quits for a short perior and goes back to running about like it has, slow, but steady, then starts to misfire again and the SES light flashes at me. P0300 is the only new code its throwing.

Since its getting worse every damn time I drive it its parked until I can work this out. I had to take some time off school because of it..

Sigh, this is becoming messy.


130k on the odo and the Opti was replaced a few grand ago by the previous owners, or so I was told. I dont know if it was new, junk yarded or what. Plug wires all looked fine and I just put plugs in it.

The problem 'seems' most pronounced between 2-3k rpms but its definatly there from idle on up. After 3 it seems to taper off, but the car still has no guts and runs like ****. Its so bad now passing poeple on the way home from school took some work and 6th gear was useless, I had to cruise in 5th the whole way and keep the RPM's up a little.

*bangs head on table*

Oh, bought a fuel filter, will install tonight or tomorrow, weather permitting.

 

I've known guys with timing chain issues at your mileage that was causing the same problems...

 

Sigh.. Latest update.

Well, new plugs, new coil, new fuel filter (cheap and easy..) and new ICM and still the exact same problems!

At low RPM now the car sputters and backfires and bogs badly, it seems to get better as RPM's increase but its still not good and doesnt pull anywhere near like it should. It felt better tonight than it has, but I think thats cause its 20 degrees cooler tonight than it has been since the car really started showing problems, I dont attribute the SLIGHT gain in power to the new coil and ICM, just cooler, denser air.

Coil wire seems fine. I got under the car last night about 1am and and poked around to try to see any arcing or the like and visually, it doesnt seem to be jumping around any.

Ive been saying it was running rich on cold start and such but I dont think thats actually the case.. I think its just not igniting all the mix, and now it doesnt really matter if its warmed up or not, it runs like **** regardless.

I'm gonna put a timing light on a wire tomarrow and just see if its a consistent flash or if it appears erratic or anything and I bought some new vac lines. Some of them are looking pretty tired and starting to show those dry-rot like cracks around the fittings, so I figure its worth the big whopping 2$ in hose to replace them. Still need to replace the wires but this just doesnt seem like it would be something like that. It happened quick, and its getting progressively worse quickly, I know its possible, but it just seems unlikely, as wires are usually a QUICK issue (a burned or severed wire) or a very slow and gradual failure thats hard to really notice. My problem is increasing by very noticeable degrees almost every time its driven.

One thing that did go away, with the new coil and ICM was the severe misfire I was seeing between 2-3k RPM's, where they whole car would shake and sputter and the SES light would flash. I only put about 5 miles on it during the test drive, but before-hand it was doing that immediatly.. So maybe I helped SOMETHING, lol.

How would I go about iding this as a timing belt issue?

Anyone have any other suggestions? Anyone else thinking Opti? I saw the Accel unit for 300$ and will probably go with that whenever I can afford it. This car is killin me, lol. Have missed this entire week of school over this. I cant risk getting on a 2 hour hghway drive to my apartment and have it poop out on me on the interstate, luckily Ive been able to bum rides to work thus far though.

Any suggestions are appreciated it.