Hey guys,

Haven't been on here in so long. My car has got some issues, so I'm looking to see if people here can diagnose them and to see approx. how much it would cost. It's a 1999 Cali Spec SE 5sp with 193,XXX miles.

1) Darkish smoke coming out of the exhaust when I first start the car. I hear this is common with old cars.

2) Knocking sound when I'm excelerating in medium to high RPM's. Also, I get smaller studders from the engine even if the RPM's are kept fairly low all the time. Not smooth at all. Could this be coil packs?

3) I think it's my rear wheels are making this very loud noise. I got into a very small accident last year where my car spun around 180 degrees at a fairly high speed. No damage at all to the car, but I think it started happening after this. It just sounds like road noise, but it's very, very noticeable and annoying especially for back seat passengers. Could it be my bearings? Maybe bearings plus something else?

Thanks guys.

Dan

 

1. When's the last time you did a tune-up? Any codes by chance?
2. More than likely the coilpacks. 99's are known to have troublesome coilpacks. New coilpacks are ~$60 each. You may need 1 coilpack, you may need more. You'll have to diagnose to find out.
3. I agree that's it likely to be the bearings, but not certain based on your description. Check/diagnose and find out. Is the noise consistent? Intermittent? Clunky? Whiny? Screechy??

 

1 + 2) could be a dirty motor and or tuneup. I would use a bottle of Redline SI-1 to clean any deposits. Then use some Auto-RX to clean any possible sludge.

3) what kind of noise? a loud hum? grinding? or knocking? the bearings on the rear are simple to change and last i checked was about $110 each side.

 

Thanks guys. My CEL light just came on yesterday (even though my engines been acting like this for a little bit), so I'll have this checked on with an OBD-II scanner at my friend's house later tonight and report back to this thread.

Regarding #3, it would be best described as a loud hum at higher speeds (maybe speeds over 40mph or so), and I think the hum is once every complete tire rotation, or so it seems. Definitely not a knocking or grinding sound.

I haven't had a tune-up in a while.. I remember changing the spark plugs to NKG platinum's at around 140-150k miles, do you guys think I might need new plugs? What are symptoms of bad spark plugs?

 

rough idle. poor mileage. poor acceleration.

 

Maintenance is key on keeping the max running smooth. Symptoms could be low gas mileage, misfiring of the engine , slight hesitation in accelerating to name a few . Have those coil packs checked out and check those spark plugs. Get your fuel injectors cleaned,throttle body, air and fuel filter replaced. When where they last replaced? Start there as far as getting the engine running good again.

 

I had this on a just bought used I30 and it was because of worn tires. 70K later (now at 180K), still on the original bearings.

And, rear driver-side brake caliper likes to seize on our cars. Also causes loud hum (and poor mileage, acceleration and burnt smell)

 

hey tire knocking, they could be bald in one spot....when u spun around at high speeds, they could of been locked up, and they got "erased" in one area, and that will cause bad noise, and bumpiness.....just look and feel the tire to see if its out of shape