S14 strange idle problem

[knoxvillenismo]

Ok so lets say this first. I've spent 4 hours messing with the car today and another 4 hours searching about this problem. I recently got my 95 S14 base model running and driving but the problem now seems to have me stumped.It seems like i have come across something like this before but I'm drawing blanks. the car will start ok, and kinda idle like a$$ until it dies. It stays alive if you give it gas. It drives fine. But here is the weird part; it idles fine if you unplug the MAF. I've tried @ other MAF sensors but no dice. I really need this thing running stat so i can get to work later this week. Please help me out here guys. Surely someone can figure this out!!!!

[Dr.feelgood]

02 censors maybe

[OutToWinPAHC]

It's not throwing a CEL?

[knoxvillenismo]

nope. only code its throwing is for the egr since its straight up not there. i have no vac leaks. the O2 sensor shouldnt be the culprit. its fine tuning. this seems like the maf to me but i cant figure it out. The engine goes into "limp mode" when the maf in unplugged correct? so that makes it seem to be a simple fix. but i tried a maf that i know worked when i took it out of the car and it did the same thing.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Does sound maf related, did you check your maf in the other vehicle? Are you positive there are no vacuum leaks, do you think it could be an injector issue?

[knoxvillenismo]

well i had a miss issue a week or 2 ago and put 4 new injectors in it so i highly doubt its them. im trying to find the place that shows how to check the maf voltage. strange thing i realized; my maf plug has 3 wires going to it but the maf itself has 4 pins? i checked some pics and that seems normalish. just kinda strange. its just really hard for me to troubleshoot this as well because as soon as i start the car i barely have time to get out and hit the throttle to keep it alive. and ya im pretty positive i have no vac leaks because when i had the engine apart i replaced my intake gaskets and when i spray brake cleaner (to find vac leaks) it does nothing. makes no difference.

[mn011890]

thats real weird. my old jeep did this once and we thought injectors, but never found out for sure. it was literally the same thing, it ran just fine as long as i was giving it gas. we just kinda kept driving it like normal and it eventually stopped doing it. now it idles just fine...idk if its really possible, but maybe it was something clogging my injectors and it just sorta came out over time? we did put a bottle of the fuel system cleaner into the tank. for like 3 bux per bottle it might be worth a shot

[knoxvillenismo]

i would try that but i had my injectors cleaned individually off the car

[breadbox]

Do you know your gas tank is clean? You should look at it if not. Hope sediment didnt get into the injectors.

[knoxvillenismo]

no i drained and put new gas in the talk before first start and put a new fuel filter on it. its definitely not the injectors. i know this now because today i realized it only does it when its at operating temp. sensors? wat one to check first? any ideas?

[gigabit240]

My car has done this twice. The first time the wires going to the distributor were bad and that made the car idle terribly until it eventually died. The second time it idled funny I just kept driving on it and it was okay after about a week.. It could also be the throttle sensor the fuel pump.. I'd also try using some gumout and fuel injector cleaner just for safe measure even though you say thats not the problem.. And the second time this happened it was also only occurring at operating temperature. Just drive it as light as possible... Don't accel to hard.. I'm guessing though that when you hit about 3-4k rpm it idles just fine right?

[knoxvillenismo]

My car has done this twice. The first time the wires going to the distributor were bad and that made the car idle terribly until it eventually died. The second time it idled funny I just kept driving on it and it was okay after about a week.. It could also be the throttle sensor the fuel pump.. I'd also try using some gumout and fuel injector cleaner just for safe measure even though you say thats not the problem.. And the second time this happened it was also only occurring at operating temperature. Just drive it as light as possible... Don't accel to hard.. I'm guessing though that when you hit about 3-4k rpm it idles just fine right?

I filled it up with fresh gas and a new fuel filter AGAIN last night. didn't make a difference really so i went against wat you say and went out and beat on it pretty hard. lol. slid a few corners on the rev limiter and got a decent backfire. after the backfire it seemed to idle much better? i find that pretty damn weird.

[Eddiemac]

If you swapped MAFs and still had the same symptoms I would look at the harness and connector. You may have a bad wire or connector, or corrosion at a connetor or ground.

[knoxvillenismo]

i'm gonna trace the wires back tonight and check their continuity with a volt meter and see if that results in anything. i already cleaned the pins and connectors thoroughly and they are like new.

[Eddiemac]

We had a similar problem with a frontier the other day. It was backfiring, then running fine, then dieing. This was like 600 miles after a full tune up, new timing belt, and distributor. It would start back up every time too. It ended up being the female side of the slide connector that goes to the distributor was worn out and a little loose. By wiggling the connector up and down it would go from running perfect to falling on its face. These things can really be a pain sometimes.

[JKL1031]

I have a slight hickup in my diel when my car gets warm as well. I dont have a 2nd O2 sensor unplugged, and running no cat. Its drivable and acceptable, but may get worse. guess i can try some seeafoam.

[knoxvillenismo]

as much as i hate to say it, all the wires checked out fine... what now?

[Eddiemac]

If its only a problem operating temp a sensor may be failing once it gets warm. Distributor or cam sensor are a couple to check at operating temp to see if they are out of range.

[knoxvillenismo]

what sensors to check....
-coolant temp sensor
-MAF
-IACV
-cam angle sensor

Any others? those are all i can think of that will make it do this.