General Help

Well I'm taking a short vacation, so hopefully I can find some time to work on the S12 (finally) and get it running right. Right now its idle isn't very smooth, once or twice it's died after idling for a few min, and a handful of times it just straight up refused to start. Lately though it's been starting up OK. On my digi-dash, the low oil pressure indicator blinks at idle.. have no idea what that's about.. It also has a strong smell that just really sticks to everything... I think it may be running rich..

I'll probably be trying a lot of things and not know what I'm doing, so hopefully people can help me out by answering the questions I dump in here.. I figured it'd be better than starting a bunch of new threads.. Oh, and if I'm totally taking the wrong approach to trying to solve these problems, please school me and put me on the right path ;)

Anyway, on the to - do list right now ..

Cap & Rotor: I know, I probably should've changed these when I first got the car.. How do I do this? I have the CA20E, but in the club's faqs there's an article on doing this for the VG30E ( http://www.club-s12.org/main/FAQ/vg30mods/distributor/index.html ) .. is this the same procedure for the CA20? .. if not, what's different?

O2 Sensor: Is there a way to tell if the current one is working or not?

I was also wondering if anyone's tried SeaFoam ( http://seafoamsales.com/ ). A few of my friends swear by it, but I dunno.. I've never heard of it.

Cap & Rotor: I know, I probably should've changed these when I first got the car.. How do I do this? I have the CA20E, but in the club's faqs there's an article on doing this for the VG30E ( http://www.club-s12.org/main/FAQ/vg30mods/distributor/index.html ) .. is this the same procedure for the CA20? .. if not, what's different?
i just did this the other day.. there are 2 philips head screws you take out and then the cap just comes right off.. then just get a 8mm socket and remove the bolt holding on the rotor and that just slides off too.. just reverse the process to put it back together! Super simple to do and only takes a few minutes

oh and with the seafoam.. i put that in my engine when i first got the car and it helped it run better again.. you can put it in the oil and/or gas

Get your cap and rotor from Carquest. If you get their "gold" line, cap and rotor....they have brass terminals and contacts, and don't cost much more than the regular ones. Think I paid around $35 for both. Well worth it. They are both blue in color too...which matches my color scheme in the engine bay quite nice. http://www.carquest.com/engine_controls.html
If you get a new O2 sensor get a NGK one.......www.sparkplugs.com has them for about $50. Whatever you do....don't get a Bosch one. I put a new one in with my new motor....and I think it's already dead after 1000 miles.

low pressure can be from a number of things here is were you can start.

1) Low on oil (pressure will go down)

2) Block problems (bearing going out, or another problem) will cause loss of pressure

3) Broken oil pump, clog, etc. (Pressure will drop)

dont rip on bosch too much i have had nothing but good o2 senors from bosch.. and i have ran about 20gallons of 110octane on my current o2 and its still good most o2's would have already died after 5 gals of 110octane..

i just did this the other day.. there are 2 philips head screws you take out and then the cap just comes right off.. then just get a 8mm socket and remove the bolt holding on the rotor and that just slides off too.. just reverse the process to put it back together! Super simple to do and only takes a few minutes

oh and with the seafoam.. i put that in my engine when i first got the car and it helped it run better again.. you can put it in the oil and/or gas

Good to know! Definitely sounds like something I can handle..

With the seafoam, how does it work exactly? .. like how did you use it, and what's it supposed to do? From what I gather from their webpage, you pour it in with your oil or gas, and it burns off carbon deposits inside the engine, and the fumes come out of your exhaust?

low pressure can be from a number of things here is were you can start.

1) Low on oil (pressure will go down)

2) Block problems (bearing going out, or another problem) will cause loss of pressure

3) Broken oil pump, clog, etc. (Pressure will drop)

I checked the oil after I noticed the light blinking, and it turned out I have more than the marked max level... would this affect the pressure reading?

What would be noticable symptoms of a block problem?

I haven't had an oil change in about a year because I've been having problems getting the car to run reliably ever since, and never really got around to solving them... I don't think I've been able to drive it more than around 1500 miles since.. Does that increase the chance of a clog or something like that? It's spent most of its time sitting in a driveway or a shop..

While driving, the oil pressure seems to be fine.. it's only during idle that it reads low and the light starts blinking...

theres a good chance the oil pump won't last to much longer. A flashing light a lot of times means the oil pump is starting to ware out and may not last very long or it can hold in there for a while if the car is not driven every day. When you say extra oil do you mean a little like under 1/2 a quart or is it more. The longer you go without finding what's causing the light to flash the higher the possibility of blowing your engine.

Well......everyones got their own opinion on Bosch products.......me for one have had nothing but problems with them.....from their spark plugs being crap, going through 3 of their starters in about a 4 week period, and now the O2 sensor possibly being toasted after 1000 miles. Thats it for me..but if your having luck with the brand.....more power to you.