max running rough
11-22-2005, 06:48 AM
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 164
max running rough
Okay, so on my way home this morning from work I notice (while I'm on the freeway doin' about 65mph) that I'm getting a vibration. It seemed to be only happening when I was accelerating though, when I let off the gas it sort of smoothed out. As I came to a stop getting off the freeway, I noticed the car was vibrating while it was idling, not too ruff, but definitely ruffer than normal. I pull over thinking I may see something obvious under the hood. Nothin' catches my eye. As I put it in reverse I notice that it runs even rougher than in drive. The rough idling almost has sort of a pulsating feeling to it I might add. So I get home and park it. Just for kicks I try keeping my foot on the break and moving the transmission through all the gears. It idles just fine in park and neutral, in drive it's a little rough, and in reverse it's worse.
My gut instinct for some reason is telling me that maybe a spark plug is bad and as a result one (hopefully not more) of the pistons arn't firing appropriately. Does this sound like the problem, or what else could it be? Also, How bad would it be to run it in the even that a spark plug is bad, or for some reason a piston or two are not firing? Could this dammage the engine or any other components?
Any help appreciated.
My gut instinct for some reason is telling me that maybe a spark plug is bad and as a result one (hopefully not more) of the pistons arn't firing appropriately. Does this sound like the problem, or what else could it be? Also, How bad would it be to run it in the even that a spark plug is bad, or for some reason a piston or two are not firing? Could this dammage the engine or any other components?
Any help appreciated.
11-22-2005, 07:10 AM
#4
Originally Posted by michaels'max
I'm sorry I don't know much about the engines in these, much less any other car. It's a 92 gxe. That's all I know. How much are injectors for a 6 cylinder auto? And how hard are they to replace?
You have a vg engine..Do a tune up first,it may not be the problem but it can't hurt to do it...Tune up consists of plugs,plug wires,distributor cap,rotor button,fuel filter,etc...
Injectors are around $90 a piece new...
How hard it is depends on your experience....
11-22-2005, 07:32 AM
#5
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I did spark plugs and wires a little over a year ago, I did the fuel filter a few months ago. I have no idea when the fuel injectors were last replaced, the previous owner was mechanically inclined and supposedly kept it up pretty well. He sold it to me a little over a year ago with 186,000 miles on it.
If the problem is a faulty injector, spark plug ect., how much damage could be caused, if any, by continuing to run the vehicle?
If the problem is a faulty injector, spark plug ect., how much damage could be caused, if any, by continuing to run the vehicle?
11-22-2005, 07:41 AM
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,114
Time to clean your IACV, throttle body and EGR valve, replace PCV valve and do the vacuum hose repair. Take a look at http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/1 and go from there.
11-22-2005, 07:56 AM
#7
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I should probably clarify. When I say my car is running rough, not only is it vibrating more than it should, but the rpms are lower than normal, they are just above 500. This is only when the transmission is in drive or reverse, if it's in neutral or park it's rpm's are normal.
11-22-2005, 08:08 AM
#8
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Do the repairs and cleaning as per above, then look into your idle RPMs again. Your car is 14 years old and I am sure you'll find that many vacuum hoses have cracked and hardened tips, specially in the hot areas close to the engine. Do them all, then check to see how your engine runs.
Two tips: the hose from the engine to the brake booster can be replaced with a generic 3/8" hose, or you can buy new ones from the dealer. They are very expensive though. The thin hose to the heater valve can be repaired with the windshield washer hose. The rest you would buy by bringing an old hose to the store and getting them to find you the same internal and external diameter. You would need a total of 10'.
You might have some water in gas though, but I doubt that. Run a $1 bottle of water remover thru a tank of gas though, it won't hurt.
Two tips: the hose from the engine to the brake booster can be replaced with a generic 3/8" hose, or you can buy new ones from the dealer. They are very expensive though. The thin hose to the heater valve can be repaired with the windshield washer hose. The rest you would buy by bringing an old hose to the store and getting them to find you the same internal and external diameter. You would need a total of 10'.
You might have some water in gas though, but I doubt that. Run a $1 bottle of water remover thru a tank of gas though, it won't hurt.
11-27-2005, 10:27 PM
#10
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Posts: 164
Well, this is weird. So, I havn't changed out the vacuum hoses, nor have I attempted to clean out the IACV. However, while doing a few things with a friend this weekend, magically the car began to run normal again. The only things we did were clean off the distributor rotor, and clean and file the battery posts. After we did that, I started up the car to move it onto the street, so that we could work on the other stuff later. I instantly noticed that it was no longer vibrating, and that the rpms appeared normal. We did nothing with the vacuum hoses, or the IACV. However the next day after I had been driving it a little. I went to start it up, and it started doing the same ****, vibrating and low rpms at idle with load (in drive or reverse). I continued to drive the car home, and it was acting up until I reached a stop light. Once I took off from the stop light, the car accelerated and idled normal again. I would think If I had a vacuum leak, that it would continue to act up until the leak was corrected. So, is there anything else that could be causing this sporatic problem. I will be replacing vacuum lines tomorrow. I'd rather not have to do a bunch of other crap if it's not necessary. Any help would be appreciated.
11-29-2005, 04:09 PM
#11
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 60
a vac leak can come and go, as the line heats up/cools down it expands/shinks...it might be cracked just enough to only lose vac under some conditions.
try out all the sugestions and see how u go....even if they dont fix the problem, it is good maintence for later
try out all the sugestions and see how u go....even if they dont fix the problem, it is good maintence for later
11-29-2005, 09:05 PM
#13
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 405
same
I am having the EXACT same problem; started intermittantly last week and worked up to being nonstop until today. ive put custom headers and a y-pipe and a monza exhaust on my car as well; the headers need sealed better which will be happening next week by a local shop, but yeah...this problem sucks because when youre used to running 200hp and get knocked back down to the stock 160 or so and the car shakes...it sucks ***. especially when i get home because i can still feel the shaking, you know.
i have to repeatedly tighten the bolt on parts on the headers and y-pipe and noticed my y-pipe was disconnected a bit from the rear header.
retightened it. no real change.
also noticed a lot of carbon all over the bottom of the chassis and all over the components under the hood! ive had a bit of an exhaust leak and it had been much worse before, but only since the problem started had everything gotten so dirty.
i opened up the distributor cap and cleaned up what i could; its still in good shape.
my friend and i replaced all of the spark plugs except one this morning(which was seized...no use dethreading it at the moment!) and i saw no real changes except cleaner acceleration within gears. they needed replaced, though; they were ****ing shot; all cylinders had apparently been running "too hot" and the #5 cylinder plug had oil deposits (which i figured with the fact that im buring a bit of oil).
i went to work delivering pizzas for 5 hours today and still had the problem. it has been about 33 degrees all day. i went home...
i then, 20 minutes later, went to my girlfriends and on the way, i noticed the vibration was gone and the shifting was back to normal. there has been a two degree difference in the temperature (31 degrees)
im afraid it will happen again!
so here are the symptoms:
bad torque, especially in first gear
horse power loss
VERY dirty exhaust fumes
the "putt putt" sound coming from exhaust
bad vibration
low idling, especially in drive and ESPECIALLY in reverse
i have also notice that i am leaking coolant from the small, 7 inch overflow tube in the coolant overflow tank; what the hell is up with that?
also burned a lot of oil in the last couple thousand miles
most of the symptoms sound like classic tune up symptoms, but ive never experienced this before. my last car was kinda jumpy at specific parts during shifting due to a lack of tune up, but this is crazy!
just thought id report my symptoms as well because this seems to be a problem with the 92 gxes...and there will be more to come.
i have to repeatedly tighten the bolt on parts on the headers and y-pipe and noticed my y-pipe was disconnected a bit from the rear header.
retightened it. no real change.
also noticed a lot of carbon all over the bottom of the chassis and all over the components under the hood! ive had a bit of an exhaust leak and it had been much worse before, but only since the problem started had everything gotten so dirty.
i opened up the distributor cap and cleaned up what i could; its still in good shape.
my friend and i replaced all of the spark plugs except one this morning(which was seized...no use dethreading it at the moment!) and i saw no real changes except cleaner acceleration within gears. they needed replaced, though; they were ****ing shot; all cylinders had apparently been running "too hot" and the #5 cylinder plug had oil deposits (which i figured with the fact that im buring a bit of oil).
i went to work delivering pizzas for 5 hours today and still had the problem. it has been about 33 degrees all day. i went home...
i then, 20 minutes later, went to my girlfriends and on the way, i noticed the vibration was gone and the shifting was back to normal. there has been a two degree difference in the temperature (31 degrees)
im afraid it will happen again!
so here are the symptoms:
bad torque, especially in first gear
horse power loss
VERY dirty exhaust fumes
the "putt putt" sound coming from exhaust
bad vibration
low idling, especially in drive and ESPECIALLY in reverse
i have also notice that i am leaking coolant from the small, 7 inch overflow tube in the coolant overflow tank; what the hell is up with that?
also burned a lot of oil in the last couple thousand miles
most of the symptoms sound like classic tune up symptoms, but ive never experienced this before. my last car was kinda jumpy at specific parts during shifting due to a lack of tune up, but this is crazy!
just thought id report my symptoms as well because this seems to be a problem with the 92 gxes...and there will be more to come.
11-30-2005, 09:04 AM
#17
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 405
the oil burning could just be a seal burning out like seals like to do over time; cant afford to not fix it no matter what, but not worth letting a shop fix it and break something else for me to come back 3 weeks later like they like to do.
11-30-2005, 09:25 AM
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 405
actually, for the VERY top car's problem, it sounds like you just need a tune up.
my problem was that the car wasnt accelerating as quick in any gear; quite possibly got some bad gas, but more likely that my injectors are going out.
looks like i need to make a ritual out of puting chevron in.
my problem was that the car wasnt accelerating as quick in any gear; quite possibly got some bad gas, but more likely that my injectors are going out.
looks like i need to make a ritual out of puting chevron in.
11-30-2005, 03:39 PM
#19
Originally Posted by 91BlackMax
I am having the same rough idling when the car is stopped. Pull the code off the ecu, 33 which points to the o2 sensor.
Can someone recommand a brand of o2 sensor I should be using or go with oem?
Can someone recommand a brand of o2 sensor I should be using or go with oem?
11-30-2005, 03:40 PM
#20
Originally Posted by alextothestars
sounds about right; i have 3 inch headers and y-pipe, which changes flow. apparently, a bigger o2 sensor is recommended; i have heard of people using bosch o2s to compensate for the higher flow.
12-01-2005, 05:01 AM
#24
Originally Posted by MyGreenMax94
No wonder your broke...Like me...
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