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Popping, stalling backfiring like crazy, no power...undrivable

Started by SC S12 · Oct 20, 2010 · 25postsSMF 2010–26

SC S12Oct 20, 2010, 7:59 pm · #1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9E4PNsyOcM

Ok i was running errands on monday. Went to the docs office for 30 minutes. when i came out my car was running like this. Ran perfectly fine on the way the no different than any other day.

Checked Fuel, its fine
Changed TPS to brand new one, issue persists
Checked Vacuum lines disconnected reconnected...no change
Checked ECU
MODES
I   Normal
II  Normal
III Code 44 normal
IV Normal
V  Normal

Sprayed a propellant around to see if i missed a vac leak... no go

The Dizzy was a replacement, so i doubt it is that.

The car idles sparatically, sometimes its fine others it drops below the 400rpm mark and then sounds awfull (i turn off the car the second it does it)
If you just ever so slightly press the gass the revs climb normally. If you drive normally, it stalls and backfires and such... Will hold any constant rev from idle to 6200... decelerated fine...
In neutral it is not that bad...(thats the vid, neutral) in gear its awful, so bad it can barley get over 25mph..

Help so i dont have to spend a crazy amount of cash
David BOct 20, 2010, 8:34 pm · #2

ignition maybe, posssibly your misfiring. and your lifters need to be bled or something, they are loud as shit!

SC S12Oct 20, 2010, 8:42 pm · #3

Its a (single) stuck lifter, i bought new ones and they send me the wrong ones...

I know i am misfiring like crazy... so Is it the Dizzy (again?) or mayby the coil packs? its fine after 4k rpm for the most part..

David BOct 20, 2010, 10:34 pm · #4

check your ignition coils, test them. your primary ones is in control i think before 4k rpms.. but usually when a ig coil goes bad it just kinda poops out.
a spare distributor is always good to keep around to throw on... to find out.

where is your new dizzy from? sometimes when you buy new junk its more junk then used oem junk

is there a difference between the primary and secondary coils? i dunno, try swapping them. you should get a reversed effect if so
also try swapping new ig coil wires.. and such.


Post Merge: 10:37:55 PM / 20-Oct-10
from watching the video does it not misfire when your just using 1/2th throttle?

and then misfire under WOT
SC S12Oct 20, 2010, 11:53 pm · #5

It was new from the dealer in the late 80s to replace the recalled one.
ill look at it more thursday

naw, at half it still misfires...when its not misfiring, i am barely on the gas (1/8 to 1/4 throttle).

EDIT:
Not BPT/EGR valve issues
Not Coils either, but i noticed something odd, with the MAF and temp sensors unplugged...it ran the exact same except it wont idle so im thinking that that is the issue

Part two
it was the MAF (200 ohms no matter how the vane was. no fluctuation whatso ever), so i ordered a new one for 150, its not a jecs... but cardone should be good enough...

SC S12Oct 23, 2010, 9:25 pm · #6

OK that old MAF was stuck/ wouldn't move freely and wasn't changing Resistance. So new maf in and it ran fine for all of 4 minutes. then it started up again.

 Changed Fuel Filter and checked pressures 32lb @ idle and 40@ WOT so pressure and Flow Are good.

What Gives?
 IS The Dizzy to blame? I am So confused

roadboy240sxOct 24, 2010, 2:53 am · #7

sounds like the same problem im having

MaxpowOct 24, 2010, 5:44 am · #8

Had something like this come up today... I went into walmart and bought a can of seafoam, disconnected all lines and reconnected, disconnected all plugs put dialectic grease on there reconnected, then I put a about 1/4 of the bottle in the gas tank, 1/4 the bottle in the oil, and the rest of the bottle I sucked in through the intake...

Ran PERFECT afterward. Its been doing this shit where it drives great then about an hour later starts putting and dieing. Now its fine... for now... again. I've had to do this shit all week, constantly disconnecting and reconnecting and it goes away temporarily then comes back.

roadboy240sxOct 24, 2010, 3:02 pm · #9

so its stll broke then.

s12beast87Oct 26, 2010, 2:07 am · #10

I've got this same problem with mine...did anyone ever figure out what it is?/ a cure???

MaxpowOct 26, 2010, 2:11 am · #11

My problem came back today... so pissed. Was not prepared to start working on this SE, busy finishing the other SE, and don't really want to part my 3rd SE. Sad Goddamn S12's.

s12beast87Oct 26, 2010, 5:58 pm · #12

I know! haha, im thinking of just swapping an sr20det in..anyone know of the top of their heads a good thread on it?

SC S12Oct 27, 2010, 2:01 pm · #13
Sounds like CA18DE, KA24xE, or SR20DE Might be the end all cure...

Im at my whits end, so with the help of my father over the next few (insert length of time here) will be checking each part of the emissions/engine control system, one at a time..

Mines at the point now that when you push the ac button in it stalls and sputters...idles at a little over 400, bounces the car around, and sounds like a diesel
s12beast87Oct 28, 2010, 4:06 am · #14

I've got a lead in our problem! Iduuno if it's all of the problem, but I heard it's the EGR valve, it needs replaced.  Is it true?? Could that be it??

SC S12Oct 28, 2010, 1:10 pm · #15

Already checked it, mine operates fine. But it might be your problem

tommyOct 28, 2010, 2:04 pm · #16
SC S12 on 02:01:43 PM / 27-Oct-10Mines at the point now that when you push the ac button in it stalls and sputters...idles at a little over 400, bounces the car around, and sounds like a diesel

told you those ca20 are not very powerful, yours can't even spin the A/C compressor! lol

Seriously, I'd say spray all the intake component (intake itself, throttle body and all the vaccum connection) with carb cleaner and a good dose of it, if you don't have a vaccum leak, maybe one of the port is obstructed with 20 year old dirt and crap... but I don,t think it would keep it from pulling under load...

But what I would really dig deep into would be the timing belts... put the engine at TDC, remove top belt cover and check the timing marks... if it's just a teeth or 2 off, it could make it run like hell... mine jumped 4 tooth a couple of year ago, not enough to bend valves, but just enough for it to run like crap for a couple of week and suddenly stall going 70 on the highway and refuse to start again...  turns out the timing belt bender idler pulley seized and the belt rubbed against it for some time... probably jumped teeth one at a time until it couldn't run anymore... I was lucky cause if the belt would have snaped or jumped a couple more teeth the last time... the ca20e is an interference engine...

the engine timing being out of wack would explain why everything looks O.K. and the ECU is not sending any codes...

Just my 2 cents

*edit*

Did you check fuel pressure before the FPR (fuel pressure regulator) and AFTER... because if your FPR is not bleeding any extra fuel back into the tank, it will dump crazy amount of fuel into the intake (no matter how short the injector burst are), and a lot of it will not get burned, so it backfires and run like crap... are you puffing black smoke out of the tail pipe???
SC S12Oct 28, 2010, 3:05 pm · #17

Na, no smoke at all...
Ill check timing this weekend... and hopefully can ad a solution to the thread and stop posting in it...as long as i keep updating it, it means im not driving it lol

tommyOct 28, 2010, 4:05 pm · #18

Stop filling it with diesel... unleaded regular gasoline will do the trick Wink

I sure hope you'll find the cure soon...

SC S12Oct 31, 2010, 2:09 am · #19

Dizzy Cap and rotor....

the cap had corroded up real bad, i had no spark.
then it ran fine.Really fine...fine enough that i dont think i want a KA or CADE

tommyNov 3, 2010, 12:53 pm · #20

I thought you had a new dizzy.... oh well, it would have been my first guess if you hadn't mentionned that it was "a replacement"... I must have read "been replaced" or assume something like this...  glad to see it back on the road and running well

SC S12Nov 4, 2010, 1:04 am · #21

I had a new dizzy installed. in 1987
I just assumed it should be fine. Obviously it was not.

The Exhaust socket (from coil) on the dizzy was corroded up real bad, grayish powder everywhere (looked like aluminum oxide). the Intake sockets (from Dizzy to plugs) were corroded so bad that no juice was flowing.
rather strange, the Exhaust from the dizzy and the intake (from coil) looked brand new. And my rotor had some gouging and nicks in it so i replaced it.

Just strange that it was something so simple, and that i overlooked it, for two weeks

roadboy240sxNov 6, 2010, 4:12 pm · #22

mine has brand new cap and rotor and still nothing

SlickS12Nov 6, 2010, 4:22 pm · #23

Check your ignition coils yet (both of them)?  I was having a problem where the engine wouldn't budge past 3k without almost dying out.  Turns out I needed anew cap and rotor and mysteriously the line going to fpr was melted in half..?

ericclopeinNov 10, 2010, 4:05 pm · #24

same kind of thing happened to me. its the coils, they seem to love to fuck up on these cars

MaxpowNov 10, 2010, 4:59 pm · #25

Truth is about 30 problems on these cars have the same characteristics so its hard to decipher exactly what it is each time without replacing an asston of stuff.