brian96se

i am having some issues with my car. my car is running horrible. i checked the ecu for codes and got a code for a bad cat and an evap leak. the car would want to stall each time i drive. if i ease into it, it would usually do ok. but even a few times just easing into it, the car would want to stall. i had to blip the gas a few times, so the car can go again. and if i go 3/4 to flooring it, the car seem like it wouldn't go anywhere for a second or two, and then it would move. again, it would stall on me sometimes too. each time, the car started back up ok. a bad cat or evap leak wouldn't make the car this bad, would it? i just put in a new evap canister today. i don't know if that will make any difference or not. hope you guys understand what i mean. it's kind of hard to describe. i just bought this car from my cousin not too long ago. he thought he fixed the problem. before i bought it, at one time, the car wouldn't even start at all. whatever he did to fix it didn't solve this problem. please help.

tomservo291

hey, for your evap leak are you getting 0903 i think it is?

I have that code currently, along with KS (but my car runs great.)
That is a code that says the evap canister is failing, which is the actually system that does the diagnostic, not saying it has a leak.

brian96se

the new evap canister didn't do a thing. waste of money. the car is doing even worse now. tonight, it stalled on me about five times. didn't matter if i ease into it or not. so that answer my question. an evap leak will not affect how the car runs. i think it only affects emission. i think the same for the faulty cat. my cousin checked the car out for me and he also isn't sure what's wrong. all the vacuum hoses and fuel lines seem fine. my cuz didn't say it could be the idle air control valve. he had a similar problem with the car running roughly before. he installed a new iacv and the car ran good again. he cleaned up the old iacv and put that back in thinking it was dirty. not sure why he put the old one back in. he still have the new one, so we will give that a shot. put back the newer one in and see how it goes. my cuz guarantee me he will try to fix this because he feels bad about it. i know my cuz, he isn't the type who would intentionally sell me his car if he knew that it still had problems. i hope he can fix it because i have absolutely no clue.

tomservo291

While you're at it clean the throttle body (how many miles do you have?)
I cleaned mine at 60k and it was VERY dirty, it helped my idle and starting power IMMENSLEY.

If yours has been done recently then that probably isn't it, but if it hasnt been done that you know of and you have a lot of miles it definitely doesnt hurt.

www.motorvate.ca has a very good tutorial

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

A clogged cat will definately cause the proplems your describing. It could be blocking up your exhaust system. You can check for a clogged cat by listening to the tail pipe. If your tail pipe has a very quiet, steady smooth non pulsating flow of air chances are your cat is plugged up. You should be able to hear and feel the pulses of exhaust gasses from your cars engine at idle at the tail pipe.

Frank Fontaine

The cannister is the least expensive of 3 parts needed for the EVAP repair. The other two are called the boost sensor and purge valve assy. And yes, the car has a hard time starting when the amb. temp is warm and the car is warmed up.

brian96se

the sound coming out of the tailpipe is a pulsing sound. it sounds like it's about to stall even. and it smells kind of funny. not bad smelling, but not normal. on cool nights, there would be heavy amount of white smoke coming out from the tailpipe. the car has around 80k miles. the throttle body was cleaned around 60k miles according to my cousin.

so i should go ahead and change the other two parts of the evap system too?

brian96se

what a waste of a day. today, we changed replaced the iacv and removed the stock cat. stock cat had an opening of a dime. so thought replacing that should take care of it. nope. so we tried replacing the iacv. the problem is still there. the car will start, but would stall only going a short distance. took a test drive around the block and it stalled on me 3 times. i am out of ideas. could it be the engine? i am taking the car to the dealer on monday because i am clueless.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Sorry about not able to solve this problem for you cuz. I feel real bad that you are having this problem. I really thought I had all the kinks taken care of. If not, I would definitely not sell you the car if I know the problems still exist. We'll take care of this problem eventually.

Vaudeville Villain

Same codes here and mine runs strong as well, but it's 0304 (KS), 0705 (EVAP), and 0309 (Vent Control Valve). The canister is not failing, however - the usual suspects are a faulty vent control valve (the code = the solution? that's crazy!) or a problem in the vaccum lines (either a leak or a clog). I plan on flushing mine when the weather gets better to see if I can clear it. My stupid SES light glows at me all day, and I hate it...

tomservo291

0903
Diagnostic Trouble Code 0903 indicates a problem with the Evaporative Emission (EVAP) Canister Vent Control Valve or its associated electric circuit.

This part is used by the Engine Control Module to perform the fuel system leak test. Since it is used only for self-diagnosis your engine will run perfectly well despite the dashboard Malfunction Indicator Lamp.

The EVAP canister and this valve are located under the car, near the rear left tire. You might check to make sure all the electrical connectors in that area are secure.

There's no telling how expensive the repair will be, because no definite diagnosis has been made. Maybe you just have to re-plug a loose connector. Since the EVAP system is part of the emissions control system you might have warranty coverage.


****

I think you said 0309 instead of 0903 by accident, but anyways that's the code that I have... and that SES pisses me off too. I know mine HAS TO be electrical due to the times in which it comes on ... only when it is getting very wet. Atleast, I HOPE it has to; I'm hoping I can just get in there finally when all this snow goes away and it gets a bit warmer and clean it all up and cover up the electrical connections and such.

However, have you looked at it? I don't see any electrical connectors like the FAQ suggests checking ...

****

Also, I just realized when you said vacuum... In my engine bay I get this sort of faint sucking/clicking sound; it's very hard to describe. Once the engine is warmed up is kind of is a subtle sucking followed by a low click and repeats (probably a 2-3 second cycle of sound) and I for the life of me can't figure out what it is! I thought I had traced the sound down to the PCV valve causing it, and I changed that ... And, I *THINK* it was gone for awhile, but now it persists again.

Do you think it's possible this type of sound is caused from a vacuum leak, and would there be more of a result from this that I would notice? Or is it the PCV and it just managed to get F'd up again very quickly..

96ItaliaSE

iTrader: (3)

your head near pcv is right over the evap vent control valve......could be out or failing...

tomservo291

The EVAP valve is located near the PCV in the engine bay... where?

The FAQ for my code claims "The EVAP canister and this valve are located under the car, near the rear left tire. You might check to make sure all the electrical connectors in that area are secure."

96ItaliaSE

iTrader: (3)

Evap vent control valve

tomservo291

Hahaha, thank you for the diagram

I'll check it out in the daylight tommorow.

Vaudeville Villain

It's both codes according to my FSM, plus 0215 as well.

Advice for 0309 and 0215:
1. EVAP canister vent control valve
2. EVAP control system pressure sensor
3. Blocked rubber tube to EVAP canister vent control valve
4. Water separator
5. EVAP canister is saturated with water
6. Vacuum cut valve (0309 only)

Advice for 0903:
1. Harness or connectors (EVAP canister vent control valve circuit is open or shorted.)
2. EVAP canister vent control valve

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

My old car is having major issues. The car still stalls even after fixing the cat and evap problems. I think it has something to do with the fuel system. I would sometime hear a backfire coming out from the exhaust. We took it to a mechanic who is known to be pretty good. He said he checked everything. He said it's not the engine, even though I don't think he check it. He's just sure it's not the engine. Is he right? Maybe the car needs a new engine? Sometime after the car stalled, it would not start back up. It would start back up after a second try. Most of the times, it would start back up on the first try though. This stalling issue is driving me crazy even though this isn't my car anymore. Still, I feel bad for my cousin having to deal with this. Case in point, I rode with my cousin to grab a bite to eat. On the way to the fast food joint and back, the car stalled on us about five times. WTH?! I was sure it's a fuel issue, but the mechanic said he checked that out already. I'm running out of ideas. Help?

Vaudeville Villain

Sounds like a fuel system or compression problem to me.....

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Still trying to figure out the problem for my cousin. Could one of these cause the problem:


1. faulty FPR
2. dirty/faulty PCV valve
3. faulty MAFS


Checked the codes and didn't get any for the above items. So not sure if that mean they're fine or what. Anymore input?

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

Clogged fuel filter?

I doubt its the MAFS, though you can try to jiggle the connector, and if the car stalls, there lies your problems. PCV valve wouldn't do it. Could be the FPR, though I've never heard of one being that erradic. Also, I'd check all of the fuel injectors to make sure they are in good operating condition.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Went with my cousin to pick up the car from the mechanic just now. The car seem to run better. Mechanic said something about the coil packs were dirty, he cleaned them up. Think that's all he did. There still seem to be a slighty hesitation. If the car doesn't stall anymore, we can deal with the hesitation. My cousin brought the car back to his place. Hopefully, this is the end of it. *crossing my fingers*

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Car is running fine now. My cousin still haven't try to floor it. He's afraid something might go wrong if he did. I told him not to worry because when he had those problems, even taking it easy would make the car stall. Glad we got this problem solved. I felt guilty selling him the car with problems that I thought I fixed. Like I said, I wasn't going to rest until I help him figure this thing out. Thanks to all who helped.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

The car is doing good, but the idle is kind of low. In drive with the a/c off, the idle is at about 500 rpm or just slightly above it. I know that's not normal. I tried to adjust the idle by using the screw on top of the IACV, but that didn't work. I know I could also adjust the idle by using the TPS. I need to remove the whole unit contains the TPS? How do I do that? The screws that hold it in place seem to be difficult to remove. And after I remove it, how do I adjust it? Turning it, which way? Sorry for the questions, but I want to make sure the car is in top condition so my cousin doesn't have to worry about it. Tks!

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

BUMP.......

alpicone

my 98 idles at about 550. As long as its idling smooth leave it.

96ItaliaSE

iTrader: (3)

yah bro im not sure what your looking for??? you have done extensive work to it and I know it takes 3 consecutive trips for the ECU to read all those changes. The idles is a little low but monitor it closely....declare victory and walk away

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

We spoke too soon. My cousin called me to tell me the car stalled on him again today. It stalled twice today. It didn't happen as often as before, but we thought the problem was fixed. I will probably have to look at a few things for him again this weekend or bring the car to the mechanic again. There were two codes that came up when he checked. 0705=Evap code again and 0903= Evap canister vent control valve. Somehow I doubt an Evap problem would cause the car to stall. Right? If that's the case, it must be something else.

Can't be the fuel filter could it? I changed it out at around 70k miles, the car has 82k miles now. Could it be clogged somehow? Another thing I'm looking at is maybe a faulty FPR. Then it also could be the coil packs. I did get any codes for the above mentioned items though.

Man...if we still can't fix it, I might have to tell my cousin maybe it's a better idea to just sell/trade the car.

Frank Fontaine

Again, the canister is only 1/3 parts necessary to correct the problem. I don't like to give advice which falls on deaf ears. If you take the car to a dealership, they will fix it. Yes, it costs $400+. What I don't understand is why you doubt the validity of the code. The boost sensor is expensive, but you will chase your tail if you don't have it replaced. Code says evap and you're looking at coil packs?

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Ok, I'll take your advice. If that doesn't do it, I'll go crazy.