VEvolution

Hey guys, my good friend BklynsmoeVE is stuck in the city with the legendary VE, and everytime he starts it up, the motor stumbles a bit and just stalls. He claims it was starting to do this earlier today, but now it really set into motion, and he is basically stranded. Any express ideas? The fuel pump I replaced with a brand new Nissan one 30k ago, incase anybody might have thought fuel pump. Car has been maintained well also. Thanks.

Edit: His heater core has been leaking for the last few days, but he keeps checking the coolant level, and says the car never overheated. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

VEvolution

Ok, so he made it home, but this is still an issue that needs serious addressing.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Well, if his heater core is leaking, the concern shouldn't be whether or not it's overheating, it should be whether or not it is leaking on the ECU.

Brad92SE

iTrader: (9)

Maybe the IACV or MAF? When he starts it, what happens if he tries to give it gas to keep it running?

VEvolution

Thats a really good call Hectic. He has been saying hes been smelling some burnt smell in the cabin as of late. Does the dash need to come off to replace this heater core?

Well we cleaned out the IACV and MAF not too long ago. We didn't have a gasket for one of the ports on the IACV, so I used some RTV gasket maker, but that was like 5 months ago, and everything other then the idle was fine but we just assumed injector from an earlier thread we had up. And your right, when he starts it he has to keep giving it gas to keep it running if I understood him correctly. He said he used both of his feet to get home, with left foot braking action F1 style lol

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

yup.. dash has to come out to change the heater core. it's a PITA.

The cheap fix if you don't need heat anymore is to remove the heater core hoses in the engine bay and loop them back together, bypassing the heater core.

That'll at least stop the water leaking into the cabin and buy him some time to fix it.

It's a full weekend job to remove the dash, replace the heater core, and put it all back in.

the idle problem could be one of many things. I'm goign to guess something with fuel though- fuel pump, pressure regulator, suddenly failed injector, something.

could also be a failed IACV.

could also be something in the ECU got wet and fried. like the IACV control circuits.

VEvolution

Thanks Matt, you da man. We might try that bypass thing tommorrow. Hopefully his ECU ain't fried. He was talkin about his oil warning light flickering on the dash as well. Sounds like something in that car is going hay-wire.

Gunther

Well hows the oil level? He'd probably notice all the smoke billowing out the back.... but the light is there for a reason.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

We know a leaking heater core will damage the ECU (I keep a spare ECU in da trunk) so multiple engine control problems will point to it. Did you guys even checked if the ECU was getting wet before y'all went into alarmist mode? Tell your boy to log on so we can get an idea of what is what, this is when he needs to be on here...right ?

tothemax2003

how about fuel filter when its dirty it also does this.

VEvolution

Well we moniter the oil level on the car very periodically, almost as often as a Le Manns race car, but it's always where it should be. Don't you think if the coolant is leaking over the ECU, it would cause all kinds of warning lights to go on in the dash? I think it makes sense.

Hes on his way commander. Should be on tonight. Thats very good of you keeping the ECU in the trunk. I think thats something we will add to our list of things to keep in the trunk during our cross country VE tour.

Replaced close to 6k miles ago.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

why not the MAF sensor?

BklynsmoeVE

iTrader: (1)

hey guys thanks a lot for the help and timely posting too, sorry i couldnt put this thread up myself or even post on it for the matter my only source of internet was my phone which my i lost a few weeks ago, have had little time due to work to get on the org..anyways very much appreciated again.

now for the problem..my car was almost dieing on me earliar in the day..i found out it was low on coolant, added some and keep driving and everything was okay for the time being.(this is me alrdy driving around with a bad heater core for about a week ).So i drive to work parked it with no prob ,came back 5 hrs later after its been pouring out..start my car warm up it for 5 mins start driving home i pull up to a light, my car starts to slowly die then stall...

after starting it numerously i figured out that i had to keep it gased with my foot to keep the car running..now that im typing this out it kinda makes sense its the ecu..cause even when i would shift from lets say 1st to 2nd or 3 to 4th etc..i would have to keep it gased while shifting or else the rpms would just drop down to 0 and die..if i let go of my foot while its in gear then its fine but after a few seconds i get a really bad shaking/vibrating feel. I had to do some really wierd maneuvering to make it home, keeping it gased with my right foot during shifting and trying to brake with my left foot too and then dodging nyc cabs left and right. it took me like 10 mins and a few close calls to get the hang of it..lol( i would forget to keep it gased..car stalls..wheel locks..brakes no good..)

anyway lastly i liked to add wen i finally made it home and after it dieing on me so many times wen i finally parked it and let go of the gas because i wasnt going to bother turning the key just yet..the car freakin stays on..its at literally 1 rpm or w.e the car is on for sure but its sooooo freakin low its almost suffocating..i was just sitting there wondering why it chose to not die now..this is actually when my engine oil light was flickering on and off..

anyway at that point i was clueless to any of this ecu talk cuz umm idk im a ve enthusiast in the making but ve evo told me that the heater core cld have leaked on to the ecu..i just checked if its wet over there and i guess needlessly to say it is wet..i didnt bother trying to start it just yet im going to start going down the list this weekend.

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

So a great mod would be a way to protect the ECU from a leaking heater core. Seems like our cars are susceptible to that problem. Flushing the radiator from time to time can prolong the life of the radiator and heater core as well. Going with the Toyota juice when I put in the new radiator (copper tank).

Gunther

Yea it makes a lot of sense, and should probably be the first thing addressed. Plus breathing all that coolant (from the other thread) doesn't sound very healthy

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

I ride around with a spare heater core, starter, fuel pump/ sending unit, clutch master/ slave, brake booster/ master...etc including a full size spare to match the rims I wear, in da trunk .

Gunther

What do you get like 3mpgs? lol

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

Nah...peace of mind.

VEvolution

Issue solved
And it was the most simplest thing.

We first started with the heater core bypass procedure which was pretty effortless. Afterwords, we pulled the ECU out, which was getting a bit wet, so we naturally assumed thats probably whats causing everything. Cleaned it up, along with the big plug that goes to it.. Dried it up with a hot fan. Wrapped it in a plastic bag, and put it back under the dash thinking everything was gonna be okay. Start it up, same crap. With us just looking at the running motor with sadness, BklynsmoeVE hears something. I heard it too, but figured it was just the crappy running of the motor that was causing the hissing sound. I should have known better. We investigated closer, and guess what it was? Yes, a simple small old brittle hose popped off the intake and thats all it was. Everything went back to normal and we're glad we got to take care of the leaking coolant into the cabin and thankfully the ECU was not damaged. Thanks again guys.

VEvolution

Great to hear from an OG. Yeah, we were very happy that it turned out so simple. He also got his tranny shifting just yesterday when he got stranded by his job, and non of the gears would engage, except first. Thanks to this wonderful place(org) he was able to throw some self tappers into the clutch pedal assembly bracket and worked like a charm. Thing didn't even look loose. I wonder if the mechanics would have figured that out, or go for a tranny replacement..