Trixie is running rough.....again

B

beerdog

Registered
Sharon's car started running real rough today. Seems like a cylinder is missing. She thought she smelled gas on the way home, but I could not tell. Gas mileage was typical. It ran fine the whole way home. No water in the spark plug wells. I borrowed a scanner from a parts store, but none of the codes it spit back were listed on the service manual CD. It was a basic Actron scanner that does not allow you to select a specific car. They no longer loan the super scanner. Here are the codes. I have not tried much else besides this yet. I am going to try and find a better scanner tomorrow.

P29C2 Fuel air metering auxiliary emission controls
P04B3 auxiliary emission controls
P060E
C2180
P2067 #3 cylinder injector control circuit low
P0246 turbo/sup wastegate solenoid A high


I did not get them all at once. I had to drive around a while and continually scan it.


any suggestions? Could the diff swap have caused a problem?
 
I only smelled gas when the driver's side window was open. Also, I haven't got the chip programmed for the 3.73's.
 
I'm guessing that this is not your problem :) :

P0246 turbo/sup wastegate solenoid A high

I don't think that you have a waste gate solenoid.

Yet.:D

I'd clear the codes, get the chip programmed, and go from there. You already replaced all the coils and boots didn't you?
 
I'm afraid none of those codes make any sense to me. :eek:

My first check would be the fuel pressure.

The gear change should not cause any adverse conditions with a/f mixture, chip or no chip.

Try pulling the chip? Disconnect the battery and pull the chip. Reconnect the battery and see how it responds.
 
billcu said:
I'd clear the codes, get the chip programmed, and go from there. You already replaced all the coils and boots didn't you?
Click to expand...

all the boots are new, but I only replaced the coils that were bad so it is possible one of them went bad. I still need ot take a closer look.
 
I have never checked the fuel pressure before. Is it as simple as connecting a guage to the port on the drivers side fuel rail at the front? I remember seeing a fuel pressure gauge in that area on JP's car.
 
You can find a fuel pressure test gauge setup at your local parts store. Make sure you get one for fuel injection applications.

There is a schrader valve on the DS fuel rail. The test gauge should have an adapter that will allow the gauge to hook up to this(usually at the end of a short hose).

Disconnect the vacuum hose at the fuel pressure regulator on the PS fuel rail when reading fuel pressure at idle. Factory setting is 39 psi.

Next step is to load test.
 
BeerDog- Make sure when you hook up that scanner you delete all codes. I've used the cheap Actron unit and have found that for some reason they will give those crazy readings (maybe a battery in the unit issue). But in any event go ahead and clear all codes in the unit and the car then go about retesting, and see if more sense doesn't come of this
 
Is it a sign of trouble when a spark plug is completely loose and totaly black?

Ended up being a bad coil. I think it is about time I change them all.
 
And you know, I always wanted to go out in a big blaze - I've got one more chance, eh? My car loves me, I've always known that.
 
I changed all the plugs while I was at it. It still has some of the factory original coils which are now exhibiting some small hairline cracks so they will fail eventually. These will be replaced to. I do not think the car is firing correctly. Jamie noted when we tested the diff swap that the car did not seem to have the power it should. It just does not seem to have the pop it should.

The plug was loose to the point that it took absolutely no force to break it loose. Replacing it did not fix the misfire issue. Only swapping in a coil from my car did. The bad coil was working, just at a degraded performance level.

I think the plug was black because a little oil is leaking into the spark plug well (and the misfiring of course). I assume there are seals in the head cover that need to be replaced. This particular spark plug well was not the only one with a little oil in it.

Is there any way to test coil performance? It would be interesting to quantify the performance difference between a new coil and an old coil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top