Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
Alright guys, just giving you an update. Replaced the distributor, which solved many of the aforementioned problems. However, the truck was still running rich and bogging. Replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor, since it’s cheap and why not (I know, I know, don’t throw parts at a problem.. This one was sorta maintenance. Should have seen the one that came out…). I also replaced the Fuel Pressure Regulator, which I suspect was a part of the reason the injectors were dumping fuel with the key in the ‘On’ position. Pump primes, fuel leaks past regulator, not good.
Also, per your suggestions, double-checked all grounds and, lo and behold, the previous owners had decided, in their infinite wisdom, to simply stick the broken ends of the grounds between two washers held onto the thermostat housing stud by two different-sized rusty nuts. This poor girl has been put through hell, I keep finding strange janky repairs made previously.
Anyway, repaired that, and the truck ran around the block. Power was there at >1600rpm, no hesitation or backfiring. Below that there was a bit of stuttering; in all honesty, what with my shenanigans with the fuel system and such, the fuel level may be a bit low, which may contribute to that problem.:whistle:
I have noticed that the injectors do not spray a pleasant pattern, so a injector rebuild is in the very near future. As in, Wednesday. This truck needs to be running before winter so that I can get to work the days the minivan can’t. Crunch time.
Thanks all for the suggestions, I will continue to update on my progress. In a few thousand that 350 is coming out anyway but I’m hoping I can get it to last another year or so.
EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention, I will also be replacing the plug wires. I have not replaced them since I have owned the truck, and Lord knows when/if the previous owners did.
Alright guys, just giving you an update. Replaced the distributor, which solved many of the aforementioned problems. However, the truck was still running rich and bogging. Replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor, since it’s cheap and why not (I know, I know, don’t throw parts at a problem.. This one was sorta maintenance. Should have seen the one that came out…). I also replaced the Fuel Pressure Regulator, which I suspect was a part of the reason the injectors were dumping fuel with the key in the ‘On’ position. Pump primes, fuel leaks past regulator, not good.
Also, per your suggestions, double-checked all grounds and, lo and behold, the previous owners had decided, in their infinite wisdom, to simply stick the broken ends of the grounds between two washers held onto the thermostat housing stud by two different-sized rusty nuts. This poor girl has been put through hell, I keep finding strange janky repairs made previously.
Anyway, repaired that, and the truck ran around the block. Power was there at >1600rpm, no hesitation or backfiring. Below that there was a bit of stuttering; in all honesty, what with my shenanigans with the fuel system and such, the fuel level may be a bit low, which may contribute to that problem.:whistle:
I have noticed that the injectors do not spray a pleasant pattern, so a injector rebuild is in the very near future. As in, Wednesday. This truck needs to be running before winter so that I can get to work the days the minivan can’t. Crunch time.
Thanks all for the suggestions, I will continue to update on my progress. In a few thousand that 350 is coming out anyway but I’m hoping I can get it to last another year or so.
EDIT: Oh, forgot to mention, I will also be replacing the plug wires. I have not replaced them since I have owned the truck, and Lord knows when/if the previous owners did.
:woohoo:
Sorry got excited when I saw that ETCG responded. I will be off work tomorrow, and will be working on the truck. Will start by going through all those fusible links, will double check all grounds, and I’m going to install a different distributor assembly I have laying around. I still have to take out the current distributor and inspect it as well.
On a side note, asked a GM mechanic about it and he said he had never heard of these symptoms. He recommended trying to get it to run long enough to generate trouble codes, which I will attempt. Maybe that will help narrow down the problem as well.
:silly:
:woohoo:
Sorry got excited when I saw that ETCG responded. I will be off work tomorrow, and will be working on the truck. Will start by going through all those fusible links, will double check all grounds, and I’m going to install a different distributor assembly I have laying around. I still have to take out the current distributor and inspect it as well.
On a side note, asked a GM mechanic about it and he said he had never heard of these symptoms. He recommended trying to get it to run long enough to generate trouble codes, which I will attempt. Maybe that will help narrow down the problem as well.
:silly:
I’m honestly not sure if it hit anything. I looked in the general area where it fell as soon as the truck died, and didn’t see anything obvious like a wire knocked loose or something. The blown fusible link was in the area the wrench fell, I suppose it could have played a role. It seems to be a bit more than coincidence, the wrench fell and the truck died. However, I’ve not been able to substantiate any direct effect corresponding to the dropped wrench, so I’m not sure if it was coincidence or not.
There’s not much on the passenger side of the engine bay in the way of electrical, there is a series of hot 12V connections mounted on the firewall, a braided ground running to the frame underneath, and miscellaneous engine bay lighting circuits. Most of the harnesses run from the firewall directly behind the engine, and were not in the path of the falling wrench.
I’m honestly not sure if it hit anything. I looked in the general area where it fell as soon as the truck died, and didn’t see anything obvious like a wire knocked loose or something. The blown fusible link was in the area the wrench fell, I suppose it could have played a role. It seems to be a bit more than coincidence, the wrench fell and the truck died. However, I’ve not been able to substantiate any direct effect corresponding to the dropped wrench, so I’m not sure if it was coincidence or not.
There’s not much on the passenger side of the engine bay in the way of electrical, there is a series of hot 12V connections mounted on the firewall, a braided ground running to the frame underneath, and miscellaneous engine bay lighting circuits. Most of the harnesses run from the firewall directly behind the engine, and were not in the path of the falling wrench.
Noid light test showed same symptoms I saw, no light when ignition is in ‘ON’ position, but sometimes after cranking it will pulse as if the engine is running, but in a really weird way, like way too fast.
How would I trace the grounds to see if there’s a short somewhere? I ohmed out the grounds from the injector to the ECM, they were fine, reached behind the distributor and wiggled the wires going into the ignition control module to see if I could get em to short, and they didn’t. Also ohmed the wires from ICM to ECM and they were fine as well, couldn’t get anything to short.
Is it possible that the pickup coil or some other component of the distributor is shorting and causing this?
Thanks!
EDIT: Also, something I forgot to mention, the connector for the Crankshaft Position Sensor into the ICM is pretty messed up, is that a possible cause? If that shorted, would it tell the ICM that the engine is in the same position multiple times or something? Not trying to get ahead of diagnostics, just trying to provide all info!
Noid light test showed same symptoms I saw, no light when ignition is in ‘ON’ position, but sometimes after cranking it will pulse as if the engine is running, but in a really weird way, like way too fast.
How would I trace the grounds to see if there’s a short somewhere? I ohmed out the grounds from the injector to the ECM, they were fine, reached behind the distributor and wiggled the wires going into the ignition control module to see if I could get em to short, and they didn’t. Also ohmed the wires from ICM to ECM and they were fine as well, couldn’t get anything to short.
Is it possible that the pickup coil or some other component of the distributor is shorting and causing this?
Thanks!
EDIT: Also, something I forgot to mention, the connector for the Crankshaft Position Sensor into the ICM is pretty messed up, is that a possible cause? If that shorted, would it tell the ICM that the engine is in the same position multiple times or something? Not trying to get ahead of diagnostics, just trying to provide all info!
You didn’t break the MAF sensor did you…? :unsure: What did you clean it with, and how? Are there any codes? MAF sensor tells the computer amount of air entering the engine (as you probably know), so as to allow it to calculate the correct air/fuel ratio. If that’s all whacked out, it may be allowing a ton of fuel to enter the engine, some of which isn’t being ignited in the combustion chamber and is igniting in the exhaust system. The smoke under the hood sounds weird, don’t quite have an answer for that.
You didn’t break the MAF sensor did you…? :unsure: What did you clean it with, and how? Are there any codes? MAF sensor tells the computer amount of air entering the engine (as you probably know), so as to allow it to calculate the correct air/fuel ratio. If that’s all whacked out, it may be allowing a ton of fuel to enter the engine, some of which isn’t being ignited in the combustion chamber and is igniting in the exhaust system. The smoke under the hood sounds weird, don’t quite have an answer for that.
Alright back again, this time with a legitimate solution. It started happening again, much to my chagrin. My solution came about by accident actually. Was on the highway, it was late, I was tired, and it was shifting all over the place. I wound up getting pissed off at it, and floored it repeatedly. After that, it stopped. Later, I remembered something I had read on a Jeep forum somewhere. It stated that if your TPS is going out, sometimes it can help to ‘recalibrate’ it, so to speak. They suggested doing this by turning the key to the ‘on’ position and slowly depressing and releasing the gas pedal several times. I believe that I ‘recalibrated’ it by flooring it repeatedly on the highway. So, when it started acting up again a couple weeks later, I turned the key to the ‘on’ position, slowly depressed and released the gas pedal, and bam! No uber-sensitive transmission that shifts all over the place at the slightest throttle change. So, my TPS is slowly going out, but this will keep it functional til I have the money to replace 🙂 Hope this is helpful to some extent.
Alright back again, this time with a legitimate solution. It started happening again, much to my chagrin. My solution came about by accident actually. Was on the highway, it was late, I was tired, and it was shifting all over the place. I wound up getting pissed off at it, and floored it repeatedly. After that, it stopped. Later, I remembered something I had read on a Jeep forum somewhere. It stated that if your TPS is going out, sometimes it can help to ‘recalibrate’ it, so to speak. They suggested doing this by turning the key to the ‘on’ position and slowly depressing and releasing the gas pedal several times. I believe that I ‘recalibrated’ it by flooring it repeatedly on the highway. So, when it started acting up again a couple weeks later, I turned the key to the ‘on’ position, slowly depressed and released the gas pedal, and bam! No uber-sensitive transmission that shifts all over the place at the slightest throttle change. So, my TPS is slowly going out, but this will keep it functional til I have the money to replace 🙂 Hope this is helpful to some extent.
Would suggest testing fuel pressure (check your vehicle’s specs and test with vacuum hose attached and unattached, check for PSI difference between the two), checking the vacuum hose to the regulator for any gas, as well as pulling a plug to check the running condition of the engine (lean/rich). Is it stalling while driving, at idle, or both? And are there any codes beside the one you saw concerning the VTEC solenoid?
Would suggest testing fuel pressure (check your vehicle’s specs and test with vacuum hose attached and unattached, check for PSI difference between the two), checking the vacuum hose to the regulator for any gas, as well as pulling a plug to check the running condition of the engine (lean/rich). Is it stalling while driving, at idle, or both? And are there any codes beside the one you saw concerning the VTEC solenoid?
For what it’s worth, I believe all of those codes affect the EVAP system, and thus shouldn’t directly correlate with any of the symptoms you have described. As stated before, this seems to be indicative of a larger problem. I would suggest pulling a plug to look at the running condition of the engine, listening around for vacuum leaks, as well as checking your transmission fluid. That’s usually a decent place to start for a DIY’er. The fact that you’re not retrieving any codes for the plethora of sensors that contribute to a healthy engine doesn’t rule them out as culprits, either. If possible, take it back to your mechanic and have him connect it to a scanner to have a look at real-time data. Without more info, it’s really difficult to track down problems unless you’re very experienced and there in person, or just reeeeaally lucky.
🙂
P.S. People have had luck fixing those codes by replacing their gas cap, purge solenoid or evap canister. Seems like you have more serious problems to concern yourself with though! 😀