Diagnosis help...one last time (kinda long)

Okay, I have posted this issue kinda before but I wll post it one more time because something new has propagated...all help is appreciated.

1.) Car idles really really weird ever since my intake install. Its kinda like a rythmic beat, and the car shakes...you can especially feel this at low low speed and sitting at a stoplight.

2.) The low oil light came on today and I was down prolly about 1.5-2 qts. Its been 3500 miles since my last oil change. Its never burned oil before...there is no smoke, there was no coolant in the oil, no oil in the coolant etc...

3.) City gas mileage is down from 17ish mpg to about 13.

4.) Car sometimes dies when put into D or R (AOD-E)

The car as about 112k on the clock. Intake swap very recently but it seemed to go really well.

I am also having an issue with the transmission that I have attributed to the neutral safety switch (MLPS) which I am replacing tommorow but I don't think that has much to do with it. All its causing is the car to downshift randomly, sometimes all the way to neutral (maybe causing bad gas mileage?)

Its really hot here, triple digits most the time and quite humid, dunno if that has anything to do with it.

I do get engine codes for the thermactor air control system and I have questioned whether or not by cats could be clogged up nicely.

I plan full tune up tommorow or the next day depending upon when I get the MLPS finished (plugs, wires, cap and rotor) I run 89 octane because I ping with the lower stuff. Also plan to clean the IAC and the like.

Couple of things I was thinking were that the little thingamajig (sorry I dunno what its called) that plugs in to the lower intake in the back sits pretty loose and might not be working (maybe thats the PCV?), some of the plug wires are not seperated very well and may be arcing, the idle may be set wrong and that may cause a lot of fuel burn, and the distributor may have been reinstalled just slightly off.

Anyway, I need this car it is my transportation to school and my DD. School is 1,000 miles away and I am leaving soon so I want to check EVERY possibility. The car is stil fairly new to me and I have no idea about the maintenance record before I got it. All help is appreciated, I check this board almost hourly so feel free to ask questions or for pictures, or even sound clip maybe.

Sorry so long, thanks for your time!

OKay, well the tune up is where I was heading just wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting my time. I don't have a timing light, do you think I should break down and buy one or is there another way? I know that the link says you should be able to spin the distributor but I couldn't It was weird. When I reinstalled the dizzy I could line up the rotor, then go to install the dizzy aligned with the marks I made, then the rotor would spin off somewhere else and the dizzy wouldn't move at all, so how does it just spin?

The swap was awhile ago and directly after it still seemed to run pretty well...I was getting up to 20mpg in mostly city driving and saw up to 27mpg on the highway with the top down. The oil seemed to stay level and the car felt good and strong. The first problems (dieing) started about two weeks after the swap, then I started getting heat out of the floorboard, then the tranny switch went all crazy, and now the new oil issue.

Anyway, if anyone else has ideas please post, if not then I will just run through the full tune up listed in my haynes and then see what happens.

Oh yah, can anyone identify the aforementioned thingamajig? It rests in the little hole in the back of the lower (albeit not very well, it just kinda sits there not at all sealed). It has a vacuum hose which runs underneath the upper. Any ideas on the proper diameters of the vaccuum hoses under there? Thanks again, sorry to take so much time with this but the more that goes wrong the poor I feel like pushing her off a cliff with the most riced out civic ever and video taping it.....ooo scary.....thanks again!

Yeah the PCV definitely slides in and out VERY easily. So where do I get this screen and how do I know which one to buy? Something I can just run down to the local Schucks (AKA Kragen/Checker) and grab one?

Yeah, the hold down bolt was definitely loosened it just wouldn't move. Teh biggest problem with it was that the fuel line at the front of the intake is in the way making it extremely difficult to get it into position, so maybe its sitting funky.

How do I get the engine to TDC as easily as possible to reposition the dizzy for the timing check?

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the stang net community working with rocket scientist idiots like myself.

EDIT: Thinking about it and checking the stocker, the stock lower has a screen type thing in the bottom of the hole where the PCV was, whereas the trick flow was just a hole I think....could this be the problem? The screen on the old lower doesn't seem to clean though, looks like a good bit of gunk there and i'm not sure it would come out.

And if the screen doesn't exist at all, would it explain any of my issues?

Roger that, looks like thats probably the problem. So now what do I do to clean it up. Will the oil just burn up in the combustion chambers or do I need to pull the heads and clean it all out. Do I need to remove the lower and look for a mess there. I just want it all better and soon, so what to do about it. Looking at my pics I see that there was no screen in the hole at all....oops!

EDIT: If the PCV is in the lower why would the oil get to the upper? Does the flow come out of the lower and into the upper?

CManT1914 said:

It sucks huh?

-Chris

Click to expand...

Well I think thats the problem (in more ways than one) Thanks alot, I will go down and get a new screen/grommet/valve tommorow and replace it....also look into the oil seperator.

I'll post again here when I get some more information or if I have another question. I really appreciate the help.

I am also noticing that I din't reinstall the baffle from the stock lower to the new lower. Darn it, how important is this piece? I replaced the screen and the PCV grommet is that going to stop the oil or should I pull the lower to put the baffle on it? I knew I was forgetting something.

okay, so just to check, if I get the separator I don't need to tear out the intake and reinstall the baffle right away correct?

The seals look good and I guess I will throw the other $60 into getting the oil separator (sure beats pulling that beast of an intake)

OT: I also did the MLPS/Neutral Safety Switch/Transmission selector today. Man is that a PITA...First it wouldn't start unless I had my hand pushing the selector all the way forward, and now the back-up lights won't come on. Oh well, at least it likes to stay in gear now. Thanks again for all the help, i'll let ya'll know if I have any issues with the oil separator.