running Awful!

[DavidT]

Running dog awful. MPG is down. Lots of stumbling, stuttering, lack of acceleration. Also noticed a burning smell of some kind... my kid said it smelt like burnt onions??? P0303 and P0307 SES FLASHING at me.
I have done coils and plugs (kinda... ebay coils...). Engine is not reaching normal operating temp. It will fluctuate. 150 degress normally... sometimes lower... rarely up to 180. It wouldnt start the other day... so I wiggled the crank sensor/wiring and it finally started. One of the bolts to the sensor broke off several months ago... could this throw the codes I am getting?
Dont have extra $ to throw at POSSIBLE fixes. I was wondering...
cylinders 3 and 7 are back to back.. could this point to a possible fuel rail/injector problem? I am planning on changing out the thermostat and the ECT sensor. DOubt it will fix the problem. I am about to put her up for sale...
Gee what was the point in forking out almost a grand to weld the cams when everything else falls apart around it? Coils are so dang expensive too!

 

[SHOZ123]

First thing to fix is the t-stat. The engine should warm quickly to 190F or so.

 

[DavidT]

changed the t stat. Engine temp is back to normal. Shes still running ruff. It seems to be more consistent ruff: loopy... like a street bike (Harley?). No power. The more I try to accel, the loopier it gets (for a lack of better terminology) No SES codes yet. I put a long handled screwdriver on each fuel injector and I can hear each one pulse. Does that rule out the injectors?
Should I bother with the ECT sensor?

 

[DavidT]

Well since the last post I still do not have a ses code. I did the fuel filter and the crank sensor tonight... still no luck. Absolutely NO power and sounds ugly. I did unplug a random coil pack and saw no change in the ruf idle. What now? PCM? Ebay coils my problem?
Also, the transmission seems to be acting odd too. It WAS quickly going thru the gears if I accel from a slow roll... going straight to the final gear. NOW it seems to be staying in 2nd too long... rpms climbing to 3500 before changing gear... while slowly accelerating.

 

[luigisho]

Not sure exactly if you have one or more than one problem. I don't trust ebay coils. I had 5 of them and had 2 fail within less than a year. Could be coils, pcm, even less likely egr. However it looks like misfire in cylinders 3&7. If you have an extra coil it would be easier to check. You could swap coils on the front bank and see if the misfire changes to another cylinder. Could be a torque converter problem but it should not do much at idle.

 

[luigisho]

Does the bolt ground the sensor? I think this might be true. It was discussed here this year somewhere. Forget the answer.

Nope it doesn't. Brain fart.

 

[SHOZ123]

The shield for the senor wire must be intact.

 

[DavidT]

what sensor are you guys talking about?
Got a p0133 today?
Any insight on this one?

 

[luigisho]

Was referring to crank sensor.

That is an O2 sensor code. Either faulty sensor, vacuum leak, exhaust leak, faulty wiring, MAF

 

[DavidT]

ahah! Got home and looked under the car (it was dark out) and saw a RED cat! It is the one just north of the flex pipe. Is that the 1st or 2nd bank? 2nd right? Now could this be from a faulty coil pack or injector... or is it the problem itself??? Guess I'll try to have it removed tomorrow...

 

[Scott 99 SHO]

Hi

Sounds like a plugged converter maybe.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Hi

Sounds like a plugged converter maybe.

Yep.

Time for a y-pipe.

 

[DavidT]

well. had both cats removed. Still not right though. I am getting 12 mpg. I can smell raw fuel very strongly while driving. So I assume the cat going bad was due to another problem. It was the cat just upstream of the flex pipe. That points to cylinders 1-4.... right?
I have all 8 original coils out of the car. Is there a way to test them and know with confidence that they are either good OR bad?

With the cats out I am now getting p0133, p0136 and p0141. He left the 02 sensors in tact. Will this create driveability issues or just throw codes?

Looking for a miracle...

 

[nc89sho]

sounds like failed coils to me... i'd try swapping cyl. 7 with one of the old ones and see what happens

 

[DavidT]

Hey Terry! Whats up?

I am thinking of tearing back into it. I plan on inspecting each 1 month old spark plug. Shouldnt the non firing cylinder (or whatever it is) show itself in the spark plug? Also, I was thinking of disconnecting one injector at a time, and driving it for a bit each time. Would that hurt anything? (perhaps one of the injectors is stuck OPEN... and if the raw fuel smell goes away... then presto... found the culprit, right?)

 

[St Louis SHO]

I'd be swapping coils from the front bank to the rear, and then 1 by 1 swapping the front coild for a known good one. If this doesnt help, buy a set of injectors, swap them in and call it a day.

- James

 

[luigisho]

I agree with this except I think you might have a failed coil up front too. Didn't the codes point to cyls 3&7? If so that's both banks. Might be injectors but I really got bad mojo from those ubercheap coils I bought from ebay last year.