Rough running

[MorpheusGPR]

Car is running rough after the upper 60k (not the shims just the rest)

A few things done:

upper 60 (minus the shims)
BBB
Ported TB (it now has a new TPS sensor as well)
Cut the stock air box
Add red vacumn lines
Tranny fluid and filter
Oil and filter


Ummm thats about all I can think of.

Anything commonly missed that I might have screwed up? I double checked the one side of plugs that has the goofy order. I was wondering about the plug wires crossing over each other (they are AC Delcos) but its hard not to at somepoint the way the pack is set up.

I will double check my gap tomorrow afternoon but it should be within spec (motor craft plugs)

I was also getting a lot of smoke coming from the engine bay, I could not find any leaks in the valve covers though...It did seems to disipate some as time went on?

I drove the car down the street and got on it to see any higher rpms issues and it seemed to run ok but when idleing in the driveway it would fluctuate rpm to some degree and then spit and sputter and a couple of times it stalled.

Also a note that I forgot to mention is that the tach was not working when I drove it What would I have unplugged to cause that?

Sure would be nice to get this thing on the road again, its been a long time.

 

[SonicRiot]

The CPS my be unplugged. Also, check the MAF to see if it's plugged in.

Recheck all of your vaccuum lines. Also, check the intake manifold to make sure there are no leaks.

The smoke may have been residual oil on the exhaust.

I didn't think any AC Delco boots fit SHOs...

 

[SHOtimer]

If the CPS was unplugged the car wouldn't run. I would be suspicous of vacuum leaks since you had the intake apart. And that the iginition system (the DIS) does not have a solid ground path after reassemblying the intake.

Doug

 

[MorpheusGPR]

Ok with a little break I went out tonight and looked around some more (after cleaning up some...messy work). I found a spot where a plug should go!!! Sweet so I looked around and finally found the plug. It goes to an electrical connector near the firewall that is very close to the canister that has vacumn lines going to the secondaries, this also has some vacumn linesrunning to it. Its black in color and next to a gray box with a larger plug. I jockied some wires around and got it plugged in. Fired the car back up and it seemed to run smoother. I did not let it run too long. I did notice my tach is still not working so I went ahead and popped a vacumn line and put about half a can of sea foam into the upper intake (I only did it now because I knew the car would be sitting for a bit), turned the car back off and unhooked the negative line on the battery to try and reset the computer.

Any ideas to why the tach is not working?

How does this sound so far? I did not check my plug gaps yet, I might do this but so far I have high hopes of driving the car to work tomorrow.

 

[laxmax327]

yea i dont think those wires seal correctly w/ the plugs. that could def cause issues, its prob missing some sparks. no clue why the tach wouldnt be working w/ the things you did.

 

[MorpheusGPR]

Drove the car to work today. Overall ran decent but on half a dozen occasions when driving at hwy speed or trying to accelerate it would hesitate, felt almost like someone put the e-brake on and it was causing a drag.

Also at a couple of the stop lights it felt a little rough.

 

[MorpheusGPR]

Could having cut the front of the air box open to allow more air to flow into the filter be causing issues?

I have located no further loose wires or hoses.

It drove me around all day but had times of hesitation and it would feel like there was no power and then out of no place it would go to normal and take off.

 

[ohfosho]

ok did you change your CID (cam) sensor? that is most likely why you have no tach, but im supprised that you havent had any stalling issues! (i went through many sensor issues last summer/fall), the first sensor to go out on me was the cam sensor. it poped a code 214, and my car would stall the odd time, amy tach would read zero sometimes...dropping off when it felt like it, and then popping back to life whenever. it also would not start when warm. i did not notice any missfiring or odd running issues though. 2 months later my CPS had to be done...the car starting stalling often, and not restarting...i got a code 211. also had the VSS replaced just before that...i thought that that was the reason for the stalling, but i knew that the VSS (vehicle speed sensor), needed to be changed due to hard shifting, uncalled for downshifting, and a code for it...i dont recall which code...states VSS fault)

 

[laxmax327]

yea could be the cam sensor but my money is still on the plug wires.

 

[jedhead]

Could having cut the front of the air box open to allow more air to flow into the filter be causing issues?

I have located no further loose wires or hoses.

It drove me around all day but had times of hesitation and it would feel like there was no power and then out of no place it would go to normal and take off.

That would only cause the engine to ingest hot air from the engine compartment instead of the cold air in the fender well with an attendent loss in some power. You can get for vacumn leaks by spraying possible leak areas with starter fluid. If the rpms jump there is you leak. Has the car sat a long time? If so your gas may be bad. My SHO ran rough for a while after sitting for a few months while the tranny was getting rebuilt because of the gas going bad in the tank.

Bob

 

[MorpheusGPR]

Quick update:

The tack and fuel gauge both work now. I took the two plugs of the DIS and put dialectic greese on them, I also took a plug near the back (also goes to a smaller great - metal box?) and put greese on it and a zip tie to help try to hold it together better. I did the zip tie because somehow when it was being taken apart the clip thats holds it on tight was broken.

I did not run it last night but when I got in this morning the tach and fuel gauge both seem to be working.

It did seem a little better running, but as I got closer to work it did some spittering and sputtering again. Not as bad as yesterday though.

It is now also throwing the check engine light so it must have a code to tell me. I work late tonight and tomorrow night so it might be Sat until I get to work on it more but please keep the suggestions coming.

I guess I could have left the box alone but I was hoping it would bring in some air from the headlight area. At least it seems as though that should not be the problem?

I did get a bit of a noise from the front this morning when backing it out of the garage...not sure what it was and not sure how to describe it. I would say it was probably from the drivers side but might have echoed too.

 

[MorpheusGPR]

Oh as for sitting, I would say it has been down for around 2-3 months? That sounds about right. I did top my tank off with premium yesterday to try and help that and also because the fuel gauge was not working and I thought I had 3/4 tank but put in around 10 gallons. I have a fuel filter from advanced auto that I really need to swap in as well and fix the exhaust leak too.

 

[MorpheusGPR]

I am still getting the roughness at times. Sometimes it seems fine, ok, but others like tonight on my way home from work it got pretty rough and seems like it was stumbling around.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

Morph:

I've even mixed the plug wires when I've had the intake off. Double check them, your problems sound like a mis-matched wire.

 

[jedhead]

Did you replace your hoses on the manifold? They get hard and brittle with age. I replaced mine when I did the cams. You may have vacumn leaks from the hoses.

Bob

 

[V6&V8SHO]

I remember that there is a bolt that must be screwed in all the way on the intake because it is a ground. Cant remember where exactly but that solved my tach going wierd issue.