Ok guys, I posted on the Newbies forum about the common sputtering problem with the max. Had an ignition code which has cleared. Found a dead injector which I replaced and now the sputtering has stopped. But every now and then its a pain in the *** to start. Itll crank and catch but then die, and after that you pretty much have to crank it for a couple min before it will start trying to catch again. I literally have to floor it to keep the motor running. Once its started everythings fine. I checked the codes again today and I have a 0304 for the Knock sensor which I ordered from rockauto. I also have a 0103 and a 0908 which show to be the same code for engine coolant temp sensor or circuit fault, which I also ordered from rockauto. I also have a 1005 which everyone knows is an EGR solenoid valve or circuit fault. Checked the EGR Control Solenoid and it is functioning electrically. Checked vacume coming from the TB and im getting vacume. I went ahead and ordered and EGR valve but I cant seem to figure out what else would throw that code? Anyone have any ideas or things to check??

 

i think you should change the knock sensor first and than erase and see wat codes come up, the knowck sensor should be changed no matter what. But the egr solenoid is the green sensor nearest the air intake tube. common on these engines

 

Well the sensors should be here tomorrow. The green sensor is the one I checked for functionality.

 

no...knock sensor should be changed last...it can be triggered by various other codes

 

yo man....replace all of the sensors. keep your electronics up to date

 

Knock sensors arent one time use right? If I put a new one in and "'another problem" was still there its not going to mess it up right? Im really thinking about just ripping every single part of the EGR system out... test it, and clean it, and put it all back together. What would be the pros and cons of deleting it?

 

Ok sooooo... just took everything apart to replace the knock sensor. When I took the intake plenum off I noticed coolant dripping out of one of the intake runners. I looked in the same cylinder of that intake runner that had coolant dripping out of it and there is coolant pooling on top of the valve. I didnt think that if I had blown a head gasket it coolant could come up through the valves. Im really hoping that there is a way the coolant that is running through the plenum is finding a way to leak through and into that cylinder. The only thing that is really starting to worry me is that if it was leaking through the plenum all of the cylinders should be filled with coolant right?? What do yall guys think?????

 

coolant does run through your intake. might not be a blown head gasket. heres a lil test u can do to check.. its not fail safe but it does somewohat work. well this is how i found out which bank was blown on mine..

pull your spark plugs and peer into the hole with a light see which one of your pistons looks/seems a lil lighter of black. if you have a blown head gasket the coolant will pretty much be steam cleaning the piston i then saw what seemed to be a light shade of carbon build up on my back middle piston. i got a long screwdriver and scraped the top of the piston and the carbon came right off.. on the others it did not. after the whole engine was apart it sure enough was that middle piston, i actually went ahead and replaced both of em and got my topend reworked

 

So you can have a blown head gasket and not have coolant in your oil or oil in your coolant? Ill go check that out right now.

 

the etcs will cause starting problems, the ks will not cause any starting issues

 

will it also cause white smoke? If it tests out what other things should I check??

 

Mine would overflow the coolant resivior and not just a lil bit it was like crazy overflowing. But then again my head gasket was really blown. Also tell tale signs are overheating, missing coolant, these are like the first signs most the time. The milky oil is pretty much when bad goes worse. Also if the scrape the cyclinder test didn't work or your still not satisfied, go to napa auto parts and there is a kit you can buy it is 50$ called a engine block tester and it's a lil plastic thing that sits on your raditor top and you put his fluid in it and what it does is if you have exhaust gasses in your coolant they will turn this blue fluid yellow. Which in that case means you have a blown head gasket.

 

Well so far all of the signs point to a blown head gasket. This is exactly what I didnt want to hear but hey, gotta do what you gotta do. So I guess ill be doing that today. Unless of coarse my head is warpped... knock on wood lol. Im just hoping I can find a parts store that has one in stock!! Ill keep yall guys informed on whats goin on.

 

just drop in a diffrent VQ, a blown headgasket is too much of a PITA.... unless you got the time and tools.