Hesitation and stalling

xtr3m3 · Jan 31, 2007

I recently posted, on here having problems with my idle, well ive been busy an wasnt able to get it checked, Realized finally I have a blown head gasket I guess "no milky substence in the oil thou" anyways lately when I start my car it does not stay running, unless I have my foot on the gas. An finally after 1 min or so i can let off the gas but the car jumps in idle and even goes down to .300 in RPM and idles very bad. An i have to give it extra acceleration when taking off from 1st.. Also when i accelerate it seems to hesistate then out of nowhere the car seems to like shoot like a rocket "Car in 2nd gear hitting around 2800 RPM then the car seems to flow more freely and take off"

hopefully someone can help me out on this situation "also MPG is horrible too"

"Also the amps jump back and forth when the car seems to stall all out but it catches its self"

1TallMF · Jan 31, 2007

Have you checked for codes? Try unplugging your IAC to see if the idle changes. If it does get worse or won't stay running with it unplugged, its probably not the problem, but I wouldn't rule it out just yet. Have you checked your timing and set it to 10*? The other problem I could see would be perhapse a bad TPS. Check the voltage at the TPS at idle, it should be just between 0.8 - 0.99V and should increase linearly up to WOT to somewhere around 4.5V. Also, have you cleaned the MAF sensor lately? Couldn't hurt.

xtr3m3 · Jan 31, 2007

timing *10 explain im sorry im totally new to some of the tech =P also im going to clean the MAF Sensor again sprayed it with break clean last time it cleaned up but it seemed im getting hella carbon build up possibly.. I just cant figure out that having a blown head gasket wouldnt show milky residue in the oil

1TallMF · Jan 31, 2007

A blown head gasket won't necessarily cause problems with losing coolant if the blow occurs between two cylinder walls, but in this case it would cause compression problems for both those cylinders and a significant loss of power. Did you have the head gasket replaced? If not, thats probably the issue. If you did have it fixed, have your timing checked to see if the distributor is set at 10 degrees advance when the engine was re-assembled. You can be experiencing the symptoms you are describing if the spark timing is retarded by a a large amount. There are many write-ups that describe how to set the timing if you have not done it before, just do a search. Or a shop can do it in a matter of minutes.

As for the MAF, you might want to get a can a electric contact cleaner, as this leaves zero residue. You might also have to use a q-tip and VERY GENTLY rub the small wires if they look brown at all. I know the spray alone wasn't enough to properly clean mine.

xtr3m3 · Jan 31, 2007

yea im going to take it to the shop today and have them run a system diag and also adjust the timing just moved.. so no tools

Also yea, the head gasket part again

I didnt take it off or anything I just noticed a mild smell of coolant and also when I punch the gas -WOT- in 3rd 4th and 5th a heap load of smoke comes out of my exaust, White stank smoke that smells like burnt coolant so assuming thats my issue im going to replace them,

I dont want to change anything until I get it scanned.. Ive done it before haha and spent way to much money on something that was less then 30.00 to fix

Also this problem with the idle seems to be getting worse and worse.. last week it was just acting up here and there this week its horrible

1TallMF · Jan 31, 2007

xtr3m3 said:
yea im going to take it to the shop today and have them run a system diag and also adjust the timing just moved.. so no tools

lol I know how you feel, I lived like that for a year, no place to work on the car and no tools, so I had to get a shop to do alot of easy repairs . All is good now, I finally have a garage to work in

rj95svt · Jan 31, 2007

Have the shop do a compression test while they are checking for codes. Keep a close eye on your coolant levels too. More than likely you have one or two cylinders that don't have the compression they are supposed to.

xtr3m3 · Feb 1, 2007

So Screwed "

So anyways, I take my car into the shop yesterday and they look at it .. I tell them I wanted a scan well in phoenix most of the shops are mexican owned they do all by hands not machines... They tell me that my fuel pressure is low or something but levels seemed fine. So they take off my upper plentnum and replace all my injectors they said 2 were not working correctly, which they were right I noticed 2 of the injectors were not firing correctly. Anyways they replace that try to time my motor its still running wrong, previous to this they told me my spark plugs were shot because 2 cyclinders are not firing correctly.. I noticed that but had a feeling the spark plugs were not bad. The spark plugs were just changed around 2k miles ago! So I buy AC-DELCO's well they provide them.. 2 cyc are still not firing right.... So thats when they put the new injectors on it.. Finally 7hrs later "they also replaced the valve cover gaskets too." Im driving home my car seems not to have any nuts like it doesnt want to go!! The problem I posted earlier still is there I asked them an said possibly my TPS sensor is not working correctly or one of the sensors.. They said no... I said also the car blows white smoke when the car is revved high/drove hard I might think its a head gasket.. They said no so I thought they were going to fix my problem... NOPE so mainly I have 2 cyl that are not firing right, an to top that my starter makes grinding sounds now when I start it up.. it never did that before, They also closed one of my hoses from the firewall - vacuum line that broke, It did control the idle a bit but did not fix the problem

Problems still

-When car first starts -idle goes up and down

-My Amp gauge also flickers too when the car wants to die and it catches its self and doesnt die

-when I first accelerate and let off the gas,, the idle drops to 100-300 for 3-6 sec then dies

-when I hit the gas its very very retarted

-when im in motion and hit the gas for the first part of the gears it seems very sluggish until i get into higher RPM's

-Starter now makes a grinding sound when starting...

-Shop says my clutch is 2 far open when its not engaged causing the car to feel like the clutch is still down to a point "I dont know if I want to waste more money at this shop"

I need help bad guys!! I need to figure this out asap!!!

xtr3m3 · Feb 1, 2007

rj95svt said:
Have the shop do a compression test while they are checking for codes. Keep a close eye on your coolant levels too. More than likely you have one or two cylinders that don't have the compression they are supposed to.

I asked them to!! I said could you do a compression test they didnt... Grrrr 215.00 down and wasted!

1TallMF · Feb 1, 2007

That sucks man, you could've gotten a compression tester for alot less money and done it yourself. I once wasted $178 to have a shop diagnose a bad miss on acceleration because I had no time during the week to work on it myself, and after several hours of checking out everything they were not able to find the cause of the miss. It took me all of 5 minutes the following week to notice that two of my plug wire boots were cracked/rotted/broken/melted, so I replaced the plugs and wires and it ran like a champ. I'm never taking it to any shop again for diagnostic work.

But anyways, back on topic. Did they inspect the old plugs when they took them out? If there is in fact a bit of antifreeze getting into one or more cylinders under heavy load/high rpm, then you will normally see a sort of greenish-white residue on the ceramic insualtor and the electrodes of the plug. If so, then a compression test can determine if its indeed a head gasket issue or rather a lower intake gasket leak.

xtr3m3 · Feb 1, 2007

they didnt seem bad, that I remember also do you think my symptoms could be caused by a head gasket or possibly a lower intake leak?? Sheesh im so stressed out right now I really need to get this finished!

1TallMF · Feb 1, 2007

Its more likely to be a head gasket issue, but again, the compression test can confirm this.

rj95svt · Feb 1, 2007

more than likely you have a head gasket blown between two cylinders causing most of your problem. DON'T EVER USE THAT SHOP AGAIN! They are not very profesional and it sounds like they just throw parts at a problem till it goes away which will only cost you alot of extra money. You need to find a good reputable shop that will diagnose the problem correctly.

xtr3m3 · Feb 1, 2007

yea i did waste money but it woulda cost more then 200.00 to get my valve cover gaskets replaced in michigan. Also now i went to start my car im on break at school and the starter just turns the motor does not.. Im hoping that the starter broke away from the motor =/ gonna push start it then get it to a shop asap!!

xtr3m3 · Feb 1, 2007

speaking of which .. so that would cause less spark in 2 cyl, cuz when I pulled the wires out of the cap they had little no no spark what so ever just want to confirm cant really afford much more.. I have to pay the end of the month bills..

rj95svt · Feb 1, 2007

It would have nothing to do with the actual spark from the plugs and wires but those two cylinders would have low compression and very low if any output from those cylinders. Again the first thing to make sure that this is the problem is a compression test. BTW have you lost any water out of the radiator?

xtr3m3 · Feb 2, 2007

Ok.. I went to an actuall reputable shop yesterday. they fixed most my problems! They ran a compression test.. all showing around 120-130 so they are fine for compression. The egr had a problem so they capped it for me the vacuum lines. Also there is a vacuum leak and 2 of my fuel injectors need new seals so they are fixing that for me today.. Also possibly the MAF sensor is shot also they will run some checks for the correct volt pattern! The smoke i listed previous to this topic. IS GONE no idea what they did but it fixed it.. SO in general my main problems are caused by a damn vacuum leak that was bad with the previous motor I had in there.. So they will be capping the emission lines and other un nessacerry things.. This shop the owner worked on my car and had his own 69 stang with a 302 BOSS sittin in there just showing be the difference in a built 302 and the one thats semi stock in mine hahaha

Anyways hopefully everything goes well.. If you ever come to phoenix and need a car fixed .. if on the autoshop banner, if it is mexican I would recommend you not to stop they will end up ****in **** up like the one that worked on mine!!

I will keep it posted to see if all the problems are fixed!

I noticed now I can punch it into 2nd and be able to roast! and fish tail woohoo

rj95svt · Feb 2, 2007

thats great that the headgasket was not a problem. Good luck with your car.

1TallMF · Feb 2, 2007

Good to hear the problems turned-out to be external, that saves alot of money and headaches. That must've been one helluva vacuum leak!

xtr3m3 · Feb 2, 2007

well found out some more info.. Well after 5hrs at the shop they have done this..

They changed the seals on my fuel injectors.. dang thing was lose and spitting fuel out =/

then they also fixed the vacuum leak..

Still not smoothing out

They then ran a sys diag..

My damn Fuel Pressure per Injector was going CRAZYYY

Running very very rich also

.... The levels were moving very very fast up and down like the computer could not get it correct

Myself and the shop have came down to it might be the ECU

The Ecu is getting good Power an Ground!!

There are over 60 wires LoL so they are going to check it Monday morning

Thats all that can be left everything else has been checked all the levels volts an so forth are perfect within the sensors!!

I hope finally after this I can regain the nuts my car once had hahaah

Hesitation and stalling

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