My 99 Max is acting weird.

One day, runs great, no check engine light. Next day, check engine light comes on, car runs somewhat worse. Next day, whild driving, check engine light flashes on and off, car starts idling rough, loss of power. Next day, check engine light is still on but car is running fine. All are random events and you never know what "car" you're going to get when you start it up. 124k on it.

Then one day, things changed slightly (for the worse!) and now when the car was in its "best" mood, it ran decent but is now misfiring/stumbling under acceleration. (smooth at cruising speed though). I had enough.

Took car into reputable shop. When I dropped it off, check engine light was off. They replaced the plugs and fuel filter. Picked it up. Misfire under acceleration is now gone but a day later, paragraph one starts all over again.

Went to Autozone last night. Codes that were pulled using the Autozone (in order:

p1320 Manufacturers control ignition system
p0325 Knock sensor
p0304 misfire cyclinder 4
p1320 Manufacturers control ignition system
p0325 Knock sensor
p0304 misfire cyclinder 4

not sure why the same codes were in there twice. I've been reading the posts and I realize that what the Autozone tester says and the sticky on check engine light problems says are similar but not entirely in agreement.

I'm trying to figure out where to start to get this fixed once and for all.

I'm wondering if the p0304 that was stored was a result of the previous "misfire" problem but I also see in the sticky that 0304 and 0325 seem to be closely related (according to the author).

I also know that a code can also generate another (false code).

For you guys that have been through similar situations, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this car.

Checking out the KS seems easy enough so figure that might be a good starting point. Any thoughts on the other codes?

Thanks!

 

seems like you a need to repalce the #4 cyclinder coilpack. that would be the best starting point

 

Are you saying that because of the error code? Any possibility that this might be an old code created from having a bad plug and now that I've replaced the plugs, should just be cleared and move on?

Just trying to understand how you came to this conclusion.

Thanks.

 

i have had the same problem for awhile, and planning on taking care of it tomarrow.. its probably either your coil pack or injector.. how many miles on your max? your KS might be okay..

actually you have a 99 it prolly is your coil pack, 99's are infamous for having coil pack issues, id start there.

 

Got 124k miles. Ran some good injector cleaner through it about 6 months ago but didn't help or hinder. Still could be injector though I guess.

You're the second guy to mention the coilpak so sounds like a good place to start. I think I will check the electrical reading on the KS but not change it unless I know for sure it's bad.

Thanks.

 

no prob. don't replace your KS just yet, try your coilpack, then injectors,... then check codes. good luck

 

when i had a bad plug i had the cyclindermisfire code but not the p1320 code. 99's are very known for bad coils and since you replaced the spark plug and are still having misfires it is most likely you have a bad coil. best thing to do is replace all six and not deal with the hassles of the other 5 failing later, or for now replace the culprit (#4 cyclinder) and deal with the other 5 later.

when my coil went bad on my #5 cyclinder all i had was an intermitent kicking jerking with a loss of rpms for a second when car was in gear. my coil was not completly shot so i had to guess as to which coil was causing the problem by changing 1 and seeing if it made a difference and then moving the new coil from cylinder to cylinder. finally by the 3rd attempt i had found the problem coil. you are lucky enough for the computer to basically tell you which coil is bad. if you want to be 110% sure its your coil, swap out the #2 coil and the #4 coil, then reset the ecu. if the misfire code changes to cylinder #2 misfire then you know for sure its the coil.

 

Ok, sounds like I should change them all unless they are big $$$ and difficult to change.

Thanks for the tips.

 

they cost about $60 online and around to $75-$85 retail at a dealer. changing them is very simple. its one step less then changing a sparkplug.

http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.ph...howpage&pid=33

just do all of that minus removing the plugs

# 2,4,6 cylinder are the front three(left) and #'s 1,3,5 (right) are the rear three

 

here is a link to a good online retailer


http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...99&catalogid=1


the mitsubishi coils seem to be the prefered brand. our 99's came with the hanshins from the factory which seem prone to a high rate of failure

 

Just got off the phone with Autozone. $65 and in stock 3 blocks away. Any known problems using their stuff??

 

Ok, replaced #4 coilpak. Cleared codes. Light stayed off for a day or so and now back on. Cleared it one more time just to make sure but the CEL came back on 30 minutes later. Current codes are as follows:

P0400 - EG Flow Malfunction
P0325 - Knock sensor

So I've added a new code, kept a code and lost a code (from my original post)

Suggestions, gents??

 

hmmm ... knock sensor MAY be bad. EG Flow Malfunctions sounds like EGR Flow Malfunction. If that is the case then you have a clogged EGR system. I don't know how, but you can test to determine if the EGR valve and solenoid are good. If they are good then you will need to clean the EGR system out. I know I had no CEL or codes and my valve and solenoid were bad. I failed emissions because of that and ran rich.

 

knock sensors are also common to fail on a max, regardless of year. A bad KS will affect your acceleration & gas mileage.

Knock Sensors are usually a ghost code, unless something like a bad O2 sensor can trigger the KS code as well

 

I've had the KS code off and on since I've had the car so I wouldn't be surprised if it needed a new one. BUT I would hate to buy one and install it and still have the same problem.

But this P0400 flow malfunction code is new. Today is the first time I've seen it.

So do you recommend replacing the KS?

 

given your mileage and another code that triggered the KS code, might as well replace it. Has the KS been previously replaced or is this the original KS? Check the group deal forums on a new KS if you haven't changed the KS

As for the EGR code, could be your EGR valve is bad and prob. needs to be replaced as well