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I recently cleaned my throttle body, upper intake manifold, and EGR valve with carb & choke cleaner. The car starts fine but it idles and accelerates rough. I know the 0171 means its running lean and the 0113 means the IAT is seeing a high temperature. I also know that the 0171 is pointing to a vacuum leak, but I don’t think there is one and I haven’t found one. I used the carb spray to spot check for vacuum leaks with the engine running and I didn’t notice any difference in the idle. I’ve also cleaned the pcv valve and made sure the ball is rattling.I don’t want to thrown any parts at it. My question is could some of the carb cleaner or residue have gotten into the intake passages? Could the carb cleaner have damaged the TB? There’s a warning about the teflon coating…. Can I “clean this up” with some seafoam or deep creep without removing the UIM? Is the TB FUBAR? Doesn’t seem like this is going to resolve on it’s own and I don’t wanna make a bad situation worse. I’d really appreciate your help on this one folks. Suggestions / fixes welcome.
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Ah well even thought you say you don’t need antifreeze you do as it does more than just prevent freezing it also lubricates the system as well as rust prevention. The fact that you’ve run for long enough on straight water could mean that you really are full of rust which will possibly give false readings to the coolant temp as well as clog up key passaged in the system, you might consider having it flushed and filled with coolant.
I think I’ve figured it out guys. Decided to do an idle relearn since that was cheaper than buying new parts and easier than all the tests I’ve run so far. I’m happy to report that the CEL has stayed off and that the idle in park has really smoothed out. I’ve only been able to drive it about 5 miles, and I’ve read it needs at least 10 miles or so for a full relearn. I’ll repeat it if necessary, but I think she’s gonna smooth out over the course of the next few miles / days. Thanks for all your help on this everyone.
Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:
Ah well even thought you say you don’t need antifreeze you do as it does more than just prevent freezing it also lubricates the system as well as rust prevention. The fact that you’ve run for long enough on straight water could mean that you really are full of rust which will possibly give false readings to the coolant temp as well as clog up key passaged in the system, you might consider having it flushed and filled with coolant.
Didn’t say water, I said I run 100% coolant. It also has rust inhibitors as you mentioned. The cooling system damage was done well before 2009 when I got the car. I did a chemical flush with Prestone radiator flush and 100% distilled water already like 3 weeks ago. Flushed and backflushed the heater core with tap water and blew it all out with forced air before reconnecting it. Replaced heater hose assembly as it was leaking / corroded. It was beautiful while it lasted. Cleaned coolant reservoir with brake parts cleaner and coffee beans. I’m considering doing the flush / reservoir cleaning again since the reservoir walls are rusted up again.
I’m just trying to mitigate further damage and get the most out of it that I can. Thanks.My apologies, I misread you. Still running 100% antifreeze is not a good idea either because actually water moves heat better than just about anything else on the planet, 100% antifreeze will not cool as well as a mix so the best policy is to use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water depending on your climate but 100% water or antifreeze is not what I would recommend. Keep us updated on any new developments.
Hi all. It’s been a few weeks but the rough idle returned with P0171 and P0301. I got the MAF sensor cleaner and did that – no improvement. I got an ELM 327 scantool to retrieve the freeze frame data which is posted below.
P0301 IS THE DTC THAT CAUSED THIS FREEZE FRAME DATA TO BE STORED
CYLINDER 1 MISFIRE DETECTED
FUEL SYSTEM 1 STATUS CLOSED LOOP CONTROL USING OXYGEN SENSOR – NORMAL
CALCULATED LOAD 76.5%
COOLANT TEMPERATURE 85 Deg C 185 Deg F
SHORT TERM FUEL TRIM BANK 1 8.59% RICH (+)
LONG TERM FUEL TRIM BANK 1 15.63% RICH (+)
SHORT TERM FUEL TRIM BANK 2 4.69% RICH (+)
LONG TERM FUEL TRIM BANK 2 7.03% LEAN (-)
FUEL PRESSURE NOT AVAILABLE
ENGINE SPEED 1954.50 RPM
VEHICLE SPEED 46 KMH 29MPHI don’t know anything about fuel trims yet. The s/w is EasyOBD II ver. 2.4 (no datalogging). I never found a vacuum leak and I’m still thinking the coil pack may need to be replaced. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
That freeze frame data is indicating you have an ignition misfire under a load. So i would stress test the ignition system with an adjustable ignition tester.
Also, looking at bank 1 LTFT, its clear as day that the PCM is adding fuel to make up for a lean condition on that side of the engine. The best way of locating a vacuum leak is with a smoke machine. I would also be looking at the exhaust manifold also for any cranks near the o2 sensor.
Did you ever check your fuel pressure or complete a power balance test?
Here are some video’s by Eric that may help.
Power balance test –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAOmUjAj … t3EVppbf88
Finding vacuum leaks without a smoke machine –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPqbaSg … t3EVppbf88
Thanks Dreamer. The PB test on the Vulcan’s not as easy as the car in the vid but I have some HV gloves in the event that I do attempt it. Already did the spray test for vac leaks. I’ll call a few shops / mechanics and see about the proper ignition test before I take any chances.
If they are easier to get to, you can unplug the fuel injectors instead of you spark plugs to get the same results for your power balance.
A rich condition is to much fuel which is from the misfire. wouldn’t lean be vacuum? If the misfire condition is solved the rich condition should
go away.Vacuum leaks=the car will run rich (on the scan tool). Unmetered air is entering the system, and the o2 sensors are seeing more air, and adding more fuel. A misfire will cause the o2 sensors to see more fuel, because it isn’t being burned in the cylinder, and the ECM will take fuel out, causing a lean running condition (again, on the scan tool). In short, vacuum leaks= +STFT/LTFT, misfire = -STFT/LTFT.
I can see what you’re reading and how it might be confusing. If the car is adding fuel for whatever reason, it’s a lean condition, but the computer is RICHENING the mixture, does that makes sense? And vise versa.
*Sigh* I’ve retyped this about 6 times trying to make it less confusing, and I think I’m going in the wrong direction. Sorry bro.
Your readings indicate the computer is driving it rich, you might want to double check for vacuum leaks.
Fuel trim is what the computer is TRYING to do NOT how the engine is running, in short if you have a lean condition as a result of a vacuum leak the computer will add fuel i.e. make it ‘rich’ in order to correct for the lean condition hence the reason for the positive fuel trim numbers. If the engine was running rich the computer would subtract fuel in order to lean out the mixture which would be indicated by negative fuel trim numbers.
Problem solved everybody. Before I go on let me just say thanks for all your help. I took it to a mechanic for a full diagnostic and he confirmed that there were no vacuum leaks. He also found the misfire was being caused by a loose connector on the injector (under the UIM!!!!) I would’ve never found that. I’m so glad I didn’t break down and buy that ignition coil! NOW SHE IDLES AND RUNS LIKE A DREAM!!!
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