Shes doing it again

[MoldyOldy240]

Yea I have a 45 going off right now as well... don't know what it is yet

BTW

You guys, that was one of the best E-chats I've read in a long time.

[S3t0_S13]

im still suffering from power lossim gnna order a fuel pump sooni reeallly hope its not wiring or whatnotthe car cold runs great, after warmup is when power loss may pop uplucas injector cleaner and some fuel pump additiave didnt help

any more ideas gentlemen?

[240sxmech]

LIKE I SAID TEST YOUR ALTERNATOR. Damn you guys like just buying parts before you know whats wrong with it . I told you to test your alternator did you NO .You guys wonder why people dont help anymore because you dont listen and do what they say and then reply and let them know if its bad or not ,you just guess and then start buying parts when you dont have a clue whats wrong with your car. Good riddance.

[usdm_180sx]

This might be way off but try checking the distributor cap and rotor. That went bad in my s13 and it bogged. Just one more stone to unturn in your trouble shooting quest

[S3t0_S13]

i have 0 experience with any electrical issues with this carhow do i go about checking the alt/distributor and battery lineswhat tool do i use and how?like i said, mechanically i can do it, electronics im

[240sxmech]

read my reply to you on 12/16/2007 .Im done anymore help and you are gonna have to pay.

[S3t0_S13]

read my reply to you on 12/16/2007 .Im done anymore help and you are gonna have to pay.

the volts are running fine, ive checked outi asking in regards as to HOW to check the distributor cuz the voltmeter is running 14 flat

[DJButton]

Oops forgot to check back in here. Hmm, Norm has a good point man, take off the dist cap and check for corosion on the rotor, good be a contributing factor.

[S3t0_S13]

i shall take the cap off today and let u know!thanks for all the help daniel and everyone

[S3t0_S13]

alrite gentlemen seems the problem was in fact the distributor cap it was corroded

nice call norm!

[usdm_180sx]

Schweet! Glad you got it all worked out

[S3t0_S13]

argh!!!!its doing it AGAIN!!!!

im pretty sure i have spark fellas, it just seems my throttle isnt working, i can mash the gas and i feel 0 difference

this problem still comes and goes, now its been like this for a weekim going nuts!!!!!!

[Vegascorbin]

I may have missed it but did you check/change the fuel filter?

[S3t0_S13]

yea its less then 5000 miles on itnew alternator capone new fuel injector ( but the car is worse then when the inject died)timing has been adjustedcompression is around 145 all around

its driving me mad, i swear, i feel as if my pedal has no action after a quarter of the way down anymore

and then the next day ill be running great, and hitting power like its random spots, and fly for a hour or so, then go all blahh!!

[Vegascorbin]

Whem it is running good and then fails, is it just after hitting abump or dip in the road? or coming to a stop?

Sounds like either a bad ground / power or a loose connection somewhere.

It may take some time but I would go over the entire car and verify that each connector is properly seated and that the ground and +12 wires are CLEAN and tight.

You know that when you finaly find it it will be some simple little thing you had looked at lots of times but never noticed.

When you check the connectors, check them ALL. Do not skip any just because you looked at it 2 days ago. Take a fresh look at all of them.

[S3t0_S13]

its usually when i come to a full stop

what connectors bud?? sorry, im good mechanical wise, but the second it comes to electronics, im reallly really behind,

please explain what wires, where, how i check them, whats a sign of a bad ground and what not

ooh!, and my RPM gauge just went haywire on me, its jumping all over the place now!!

[Vegascorbin]

When I say check all wires / connectors I mean if you can find it, check it.

when you check for loose connectors, hold both sides of the connector and push them together to ensure they are connected.

A good ground should be tight, not oil soaked. Do not trust your eyes! grab hold of the connectrion and see if it moves. IF IN DOUBT remove the bolt (or nut) and clean the wire and where it contacts metal.

You say it happens when you come to a stop. How is the vaccum brake booster? Are the power brakes working normaly? If it is causeing a major vaccum leak.

I know that I am talking about a very long process with no guarentee of finding anything. This is kind of a "when all else fails" type of fix.

[Vegascorbin]

Just had another thought.

How about the Throtle Position Sensior? I don't know how to test. When we suspected ours we just replaced it ($38 @ Autozone in Las Vegas). Having a race car we did not want to mess around with it.

Anyone else have a comment on what a flaky TPS would act like? Or how to check one?

[S3t0_S13]

hmmm i shall check all wires in the engine bay and their connectorshow bout the large amount of wires running under the driver side fender??

nah my brakes work fine...

however, that TPS sounds intriguing, as i feel my throttle has no sense of depth to it, yes if anyone know how to check for one....

[C-Kwik]

my problem is throttle it seemsmy car has no dfference on like 20% throttle and WOTi can punch it in 1st gear or give it half pedal and it still picks up the sameit comes and goes though thats what has me this morning my car was running perfect till about an hour ago where it just dipped on the power band and i felt like i was 1 gear above what i should be...........

Highly doubtful. The throttle is controlled by a cable attached to the gas pedal. If it were to not open fully, you would feel resistance to movement in the gas pedal.

Just reading through this thread, I'd start with the error code. While it is indicating there may be an injector leak, consider that the OBD codes are based on certain conditions that exist that cause the ECU to believe there is a leak. Depending on how it is programmed to sense this, it could be reading fuel pressure, or O2 sensor readings in relation to injector duty cycles. If any are out of range, it might assume there is a leak, but ultimately other related failures can cause the code to be triggered. You should probably invest in a FSM as it will probably have a troubleshooting flow chart that will take you step by step through the process of diagnosing the cause of the code.

If resolving the code doesn't resolve the problem, the FSM will probably have a flow chart for a problem that closely resembles the one you are experiencing.

Worst case scenario, you might consider taking it to a machanic or the dealer. A shop will typically charge you for the diagnostic, but allow you to put that towards the repair if you decide to have them complete the repair. I had a short in the wiring on the S13 I owned and didn't have the time to troubleshoot the issue. In total I spent about $300 for them to find and repair the short. In the S14 I owned, I had a coolant temp senspor wire break within the insulation causing intermittent problems. I had a company car at that time so I was able to take my time with it and repair it myself. Total cost to me was a wire connector and some electrical tape. It took me a couple of weeks to figure it out though as I could only look at it after work and on the weekends.

[S3t0_S13]

thanks for the second option c-kwikI meant as in my throttle feels no different, not that its phsyically STUCK in placei was considering it to be a TPS problem, but not sure, since it comes and goes....

ive actually had the CEL off for a while, but if im cruising and i shut off my car, and put into gear for a "push" start, 90% my car returns to full power state, whilst the CEL magically returns, only in that situation i must say

so technically, my car runs great with CEL on that i force by shutting her off while moving and re-starting the car in like 4th gear...

i need to investigate my o2 sensor soonbut it seems most people are directing me to the large amount of wires under the drivers fender

[smurf13]

my car is doin the same ish...for the first month or so it was doing fine then all of a sudden...bam!!! no power. from 20% throttle all the way to WOT it feels just the same. sumtimes if i ride second to around 4500 then stomp on it, it will feel like it pulls, its especially dreadfull from a stop. im gunna check my fuel pump and distributor rotor today. A local mechanic thinks its a timing issue. he said the chain could be marked improperly but so far here is everything ive changed and has had no affect.

here's a list of everything we checked that i can rememberits got good if not perfect compressionits got good fuel pressurechanged oil filterchecked timing, its at 20 advancechanged spark plugs and wireschanged coil packchanged o2 sensorchanged fuel injectorschecked tps and mafchecked coolant temp sensor. all seem to be working right.

and i also have mad timing chain rattle, im not sure if that has anything to do with it

[S3t0_S13]

my timing chain is fairly new, and ive rode on it for about 3 years with no problem, a mechanic adjusted my timing a while ago so i dnno

we'll figure it out soon hopefullyim glad im not the onyl one with this problem

[Vegascorbin]

Smurf13: it sounds like your timing chain may have jumpped a tooth. If you know the timing chain is rattleing i would fix that and then see what you have.

S3t0_S13:If you have done all that Smurf13 has done with the same result then you may need to re-check the timing chain alignment. Even if a mechanic adjusted the timing electricly (which is what you do when you adjust the distributor) the mechanical timing (set by the timing chain) may be off enough to cause problems but not harm the engine.

[S3t0_S13]

is it something that can come and go very randomly??my car was running perfect this entire day, it was soo much fun to have full power, i was chirping into 2nd and 3rd gear all day

then about 10 min before i got home, my engine just lost power, i was mashing on it in 2nd gear and it took me a good 7 seconds to go from about 20mph to 50mph

it usually comes and goes with ignition, each time i start it, it stays in full power more or dead mode till i turn it off

[aziankingz]

hey seto..i might have the same problem..does the engine/shift knob shake also and sound like a muscle car/exhaust leak? ive been having this problem since i bought the car..the car runs fine at first startup and after a few minutes of driving..about 15 minutes..it shakes and has no power!! or if the car is running fine and i turn off the car and start it up again..the car shakes/power is loss. if that is the same as your problem..then i would love to find the answer

[smurf13]

well today i was messing with my timing and i advanced it like a mofo took it up the street and spun second a little bit...the first time since the first months i had my car. then shifted into 3rd...eh attempted to shift into third and thats when s**t hit the fan... zerothread?id=308962 ... so i wasnt even to drive it anymore to tell if changing the timing made that much of a difference

[S3t0_S13]

hey seto..i might have the same problem..does the engine/shift knob shake also and sound like a muscle car/exhaust leak? ive been having this problem since i bought the car..the car runs fine at first startup and after a few minutes of driving..about 15 minutes..it shakes and has no power!! or if the car is running fine and i turn off the car and start it up again..the car shakes/power is loss. if that is the same as your problem..then i would love to find the answer

yea were sharing a lot of the similiarites aziankingi hope we can figure this out man...

[Vegascorbin]

This sound a little like the problem we are haveing with our race car. When we hold high RPM (4k to 5.5K) the engine will cut out untill the RPM drops to about 2.5K then picks back up to the prior RPM. Some times it goes right back other times it takes a few seconds.

The RPM is not high enough to hit the REV limiter so it is something different.

Lets review what can cause RPM falloff;1 loss of fuel2 change in vacum3 loss or change in spark4 internal mechanical problem (timing chain, broken piston etc.)5 operator input (taking foot off the gas etc)

These are the things i have come up with at a very basic level that can cause this type of problem.

I am pretty sure that we can eliminate number 4 as we have all checked our timing chains and the engine runs fine sometimes which it would not do with a broken piston etc.

If number 5 was the cause we would not be complaining. That leave numbers 1, 2, and 3.

1 Loss of fuel. What would cause this? Bad fuel pump, cloged fuel filter, bad/faulty injector, colasped / blocked fuel line, faulty Fuel Pressure Regulator. In my case we have eliminated all of the above. Does anybody else have any other things that would cause loss of fuel that the group needs to look at?

2 change in vacum. the vacum will change as you open /close the throttle plate. So what esle can change the vacum? Bad vacum lines, assorted valves that are not operating properly etc. This is a tough one to find as there are a ton of vacum line to worry about. Facter to consider, age of car, any lines that have been replaced, lines that are subject to heat, lines that may hav ebeen flexed while doing other work. A good vacum routing layout and a few feet of asorted size vacum line could work here.

3loss or change in spark. How is the spark generated? What devices give input that change the spark (TPS etc) This is the area that we are suspecting for our problem. Is the coil breaking down under high load? Is the CPS giving consistant output for the speed. Early KA24E used an optical CPS inside the distriputor. We took apart a distriputor to look at the CPS and founs a LOT of dirt. Could this be causeing a problem at higher RPM? Don't know but we are going to atempt to clean it out anyway.

Just think of all the things that could affect #1, 2, or 3 and that will probably lead to an answer. My gut tells me that the problem is some part got old and decided that it dosen't want to play any more. This is common with electrical parts. They will work at low speeds and not at high.

Sorry for the length of the post but I think if we all break it down to basics and apply it to our situations we will find something.

I hope this post will provoke an idea in somebody that will help us all.

[S3t0_S13]

thats a very basic, yet in depth chart to diagnose a problem vegas. Mine is the opposite, launch sucks, power sucks until about 5500 RPM, when the car seems to magically gain power, and what little is left of the power band at that stage. Im not too proficient with fuel lines, but could it be, at 5500 RPM, there is little or no fuel being returned to my tank? anything before that is having a problem getting back? im shooting in the dark here, and maybe we wayyyy off, but common sense says if the car GAINS regular power after 5.5K, where the engines almost at optimum speed, isnt fuel at optimum speed?

I dont know really, my car was running like a dream most of 2day, i pulled off the freeway and that second it started to run like crapeven my rev's were slow rising, and they were sticking for a second or two....i dnno, im gonna try and check fuel and wiring really soon

hope we can fix this fellas