Intermittent Stumbling Code 214

[alorenz]

About 2 months ago my '92 started to act up. It would start to run rough with a severe loss of power, but not all the time just once every other day or so and only for a minute or 2 at a time. The CEL would come on and would then go off and back to running normally. I ran the codes and the only one that came up was 214. After reading through the forum I replaced the CID sensor and the car was ok again for about a week. At that point it started doing the same thing again so I replaced the DIS with the one from my '91. Once again it ran ok for about 2 weeks until yesterday when it started to idle high (almost 2K) and stumble badly under acceleration for a few minutes and then back to normal again. Ran codes and again only got 214. Started it up and drove to work this morning and no problems at all.

It does this both when the engine is hot and cold, sometimes right after I start it up and other times not until I have been driving for 30 minutes. Does anyone have any suggestions of what could cause this problem?

 

[jlunde15]

Here it comes......

......have you done the 60k?

before mine was done, and cps and ckp were replaced, my 92 would have a sometimes erratic idle, and would stumble under full throttle; granted, I also got a "bad ecu" code.

 

[rubydist]

its possible that the new cam sensor you put in is bad, but more likely that there is a wiring issue in that circuit.

does the tach act crazy when you are having the issue of poor power? that would confirm the cam sensor or wiring as the most likely culprit.

 

[msteiny]

Cam seal? Is there oil in the cam sensor housing?

 

[alorenz]

its possible that the new cam sensor you put in is bad, but more likely that there is a wiring issue in that circuit.

does the tach act crazy when you are having the issue of poor power? that would confirm the cam sensor or wiring as the most likely culprit.

The car ran fine with no issues for the past 10 days or so until yesterday morning when the CEL came on and the car began to hesitate and sputter again on and off for a few minutes. With the car in neutral the RPMs went up to 3K and 4K by itself until I shut it down, not just the tach but the actual RPMs. In the afternoon I started it up and drove home with no sign of a problem. Once again I pulled the codes and only 214 comes up. This morning it acted up again with the exact same symptoms.

I've read a few posts from the past where people have mentioned unplugging the cam sensor. If the car were to run normally with it unplugged would it be a way to determine that the sensor and/or wiring is the problem? Pretty sure its not the sensor itself because I just replaced it.

 

[rubydist]

just cause you put on a new sensor does not mean its good.

if you unplug the cam sensor, the car may take 3-4 attempts to start, since the pcm doesn't know which cylinder is #1 w/o that, but once running it will run normally except for the lack of tach reading.

if you unplug the cam sensor and all is well, then you have it narrowed down to: cam sensor, cam sensor wiring, pcm as possible culprits.

 

[dcssho]

If you read my post from last month my car did the same thing. I unplugged my sensor while the car was acting up and running and it drove perfect. I replaced the cid sensor and all is well. My sensor was from RCM, I got another new one from autozone for 36$ put it in and the car is fine. New parts are not always good.... good luck hope thats all it is.

 

[alorenz]

I drove the car for 4 days with the CID sensor unplugged and it was fine. I went to Autozone and exchanged the sensor I bought from them and installed the new one. Everything was fine for a few days and then this morning it started doing the same thing, CEL came on and then the RPMs rose up to 3K while in neutral and stalled at a red light. I unplugged the sensor and started it up and drove the rest of the way to work no problem. Any idea what I should do or check at this point?

 

[smity9384]

Did you ever discover the culprit?

I am having a similar issue. I thought it was the ignition module. So I had swapped that about six months back and was good until recently. I'm wondering if perhaps it was just dumb luck that it did not act up between then and now.

I'm going to look into the CID this weekend.

 

[projectSHO89]

Way back when I got my 2nd 94, it was doing the same thing.

Finally found that there were TWO rubber seals inside the connector instead of the required one. Someone had left the old seal in the connector shell when replacing the sensor which apparently came with a new one and it was getting an intermittent CID signal. I removed the extra seal and had no further problems for the rest of the time I owned that car.

Long shot on yours, but possible.