Help me diagnose this!

[S13 Charlie]

Ok, so I have the typical-to-Nissan idle problem. I'll come to a red light and take the car out of gear and the engine will struggle to maintain idle, and most times die. Since it happens when the engine is warm, I replaced the Coolant Temperature sensor. No dice, the problem still occurs. I'm also noticing that when I'm cruising in gear, at or around zero throttle input, the engine is rough and hesitates (and kinda bucks) when I get back into the throttle or let off the throttle. I also am getting code 32 (EGR function) from the ECU intermittently. i.e. CEL will come and go..

Alright, I think that's what's going on for me in a nutshell. Can anyone point me in the right direction? (vacuum leak, stuck TB, bad EGR??) Just in case it would help to know, my mods are:

AEM intake, Blitz Nur-Spec catback exhaust.KYB AGX and Eibach Springs..

Thanks guys,

Charles

[s13EastTN]

The EGR should/will cause it to do that. There is a little circular metal thing towards the back of your Intake manifold. You should be able to push UP FROM THE BOTTOM of it while the car is running and cause it too stutter or die. If you can't push it open it might be stuck, or faulty altogether.

[s13sr20chris]

it really does sound like a stuck open egr valve. you can do a few things. remove it and clean it to see if that helps. removed it temporarily and block off the passages to see if it runs better.

[S13 Charlie]

Thanks guys,

Do EGR valves have a rubber or foam rim (think car speaker), cause I've been fondling my egr valve and it feels like a metal cone with no rubber rim, that is, I can feel the edge of the cone all the way around.

I haven't gotten a check engine light in the past day, but the engine still won't idle. It's weird, because on my way home last night, it didn't stall at all until I pull onto my street. On my way into work this morning, the car won't idle at all, as soon as the revs go down, it just dies.

So far, all the electrical and vacuum connections seem ok. A couple of vac lines look a little stretched - is that ok?

Anyway, my next move is to clean the EGR system out. What is a safe way to block off the pipes, etc. while I have the system removed?

thanks again,

Charlie

I will get to the bottom of this!
Modified by S13 Charlie at 9:17 AM 12/16/2004

[S13 Charlie]

mid-day update...

I had the hood up and the engine was idling (if you could call it that), and I was checking the egr system again. Nothing new, so I started jiggling all the wires I could, injectors, EFI harness, etc. Then I jiggled the MAFS connector and all of a sudden the engine smoothed out a bit. I jiggled some more and now the idle is smooth as glass. At some red lights the idle dips down a bit, but it comes back up to 650-700 and holds. I think maybe with all of the opening and closing of the hood, I upset the MAFS connector..? I'd still like to clean out the maf, if that's possible. What can you use for that, carb cleaner? Sorry for posting this to death, I figure the more descriptive I can be, the better other people can help me.

cheers,

C

[ralphdig]

Clean the maf conector, look for rust there, this will help, check for a good fit, maybe push terminals on conector a little down to hold better.

[180fan]

Use some cleaner on the terminals, scrape away at any corrosion, and tighten the female connectors with a small screwdriver to make the tight seal on top of the cleaning of the hot wire.