HELP!! 1998 max major issues going on (detailed info))
05-30-2011, 02:05 PM
#1
HELP!! 1998 max major issues going on (detailed info))
so i just recently bought this 1998 max se from a member here on the org. on Monday May 23rd, 2011.
Little info on the car it was supercharged, was originally auto but had a i30 lsd 5mt swap, besides that basically stock. Car was stolen in 2010 and was recovered a few months later. In-dash stereo, supercharger, headlights, and some more stuff was stripped from the car. The owner later fixed it up lil by lil than decided to sell it. told me the engine had a bad ring so it will need to be replaced soon. So i bought it with intentions to do a 3.5 swap.
Well the first few days everything was running good. Thursday May 26th, 2011 around 11am i was on the freeway heading to a friends house and noticed my instrument cluster blacked out/shut off, so now my digital odo., speedo, rpm, and temp gauges are not working, but my gas gauge is. and the cluster lights up when i turn on my headlights. Well later that day around 9pm i went to get some food, im sitting in the drive thru and when i pull out the car just shuts off so i thought i stalled since it has a light weight flywheel i was told i had to rev a lil higher so i try to start it up again and i get nothing, no crank, no nothing i figure my battery is dead or alternator. call AAA and they come test everything and its my alternator and battery. so i had the battery replaced. started up and got home.
Friday May 27th, 2011 Manny (Kid Grave)and I head to doughboy's (VQ'rInWLA) member's here on org and we were gonna change the alternator. I get there and we chilled for a minute tryna get Manny's RSTB on. Later we decided to get my car pulled into the driveway so we can change the alternator. well my car started and 20 sec later shut off. tried it again and same results but this time more like 10sec. so we were gonna push it in the drive way but couldn't cuz doughboys's drive way is somewhat steep and im somewhat slammed. so i had my car towed to a friends shop and just had him change it out.
Later I get to the shop and he starts working on it. He tells me my alternator only had one bolt holding it and it was missing a bracket. So now im stumped like wtf. so he ask me was it supercharged before and i said yes. he than tells me he can install the new alternator the same way but it will void the warranty or he can fab up a bracket. so i left the car there and let him fab up a bracket.
Next day Saturday May 28th, 2011 i go to pick it up. Starts up fine but gauges still don't work. So i pull out the driveway and head towards the freeway, and boom the car stutters, and loses power as soon as i get into 2nd gear. i start it up again and it starts so i continue to drive once again when i get into 2nd the car wants to lose all power and not stay on, so i rev up the engine to keep it from dying but now it sounds like someone gargling so i take it back and they say its something with my electrical so i leave it there.
Now i have done alot of researching here on the org in the past few days on Instrument Clusters, Stereo Systems, Fuses and locations of them, speed sensors, etc and i get mixed reviews and answers. Note i dont have a radio right now, its empty but has wires taped up. It does have a Viper alarm.
any ideas? car only has 84K, with a 88k LSD 5MT swap, as far as electrical it had a supercharger and in-dash double din radio both was stripped when car was stolen last year.
Little info on the car it was supercharged, was originally auto but had a i30 lsd 5mt swap, besides that basically stock. Car was stolen in 2010 and was recovered a few months later. In-dash stereo, supercharger, headlights, and some more stuff was stripped from the car. The owner later fixed it up lil by lil than decided to sell it. told me the engine had a bad ring so it will need to be replaced soon. So i bought it with intentions to do a 3.5 swap.
Well the first few days everything was running good. Thursday May 26th, 2011 around 11am i was on the freeway heading to a friends house and noticed my instrument cluster blacked out/shut off, so now my digital odo., speedo, rpm, and temp gauges are not working, but my gas gauge is. and the cluster lights up when i turn on my headlights. Well later that day around 9pm i went to get some food, im sitting in the drive thru and when i pull out the car just shuts off so i thought i stalled since it has a light weight flywheel i was told i had to rev a lil higher so i try to start it up again and i get nothing, no crank, no nothing i figure my battery is dead or alternator. call AAA and they come test everything and its my alternator and battery. so i had the battery replaced. started up and got home.
Friday May 27th, 2011 Manny (Kid Grave)and I head to doughboy's (VQ'rInWLA) member's here on org and we were gonna change the alternator. I get there and we chilled for a minute tryna get Manny's RSTB on. Later we decided to get my car pulled into the driveway so we can change the alternator. well my car started and 20 sec later shut off. tried it again and same results but this time more like 10sec. so we were gonna push it in the drive way but couldn't cuz doughboys's drive way is somewhat steep and im somewhat slammed. so i had my car towed to a friends shop and just had him change it out.
Later I get to the shop and he starts working on it. He tells me my alternator only had one bolt holding it and it was missing a bracket. So now im stumped like wtf. so he ask me was it supercharged before and i said yes. he than tells me he can install the new alternator the same way but it will void the warranty or he can fab up a bracket. so i left the car there and let him fab up a bracket.
Next day Saturday May 28th, 2011 i go to pick it up. Starts up fine but gauges still don't work. So i pull out the driveway and head towards the freeway, and boom the car stutters, and loses power as soon as i get into 2nd gear. i start it up again and it starts so i continue to drive once again when i get into 2nd the car wants to lose all power and not stay on, so i rev up the engine to keep it from dying but now it sounds like someone gargling so i take it back and they say its something with my electrical so i leave it there.
Now i have done alot of researching here on the org in the past few days on Instrument Clusters, Stereo Systems, Fuses and locations of them, speed sensors, etc and i get mixed reviews and answers. Note i dont have a radio right now, its empty but has wires taped up. It does have a Viper alarm.
any ideas? car only has 84K, with a 88k LSD 5MT swap, as far as electrical it had a supercharger and in-dash double din radio both was stripped when car was stolen last year.
05-31-2011, 11:46 AM
#3
First get a volt meter and make sure your battery is being charged by the alternator. If the circuit is open, you car will die.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
Last edited by 99greddymax; 05-31-2011 at 11:52 AM.
05-31-2011, 02:35 PM
#4
First get a volt meter and make sure your battery is being charged by the alternator. If the circuit is open, you car will die.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
thanks its currently still at the shop who changed the alternator, so their looking it over and told me there were a few wires just hanging freely
05-31-2011, 04:06 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 469
First get a volt meter and make sure your battery is being charged by the alternator. If the circuit is open, you car will die.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
Also i would check all the wiring for the alarm. Make sure it's all good, not hacked or exposed. Same deal with the car stereo wires. Make sure everthing is accounted for.
05-31-2011, 06:54 PM
#13
you mentioned the alternator was hanging by one bolt. I never noticed this but it is possible because IIRC the supercharger plate shares a bolt with the alternator and perhaps when they took off the supercharger, they left the alternator hanging by one bolt. and as a result of the tension in the belt along with missing bolts, the alternator bearings could have gone bad resulting in a dead alternator and a battery....... you should'nt need a battery swap because the battery i gave you was new. as far as your mechanic saying the alternator needs a bracket, its unheard of.....
there is absolutly nothing wrong with the alarm, by no means should you mess with it. i paid $300 in parts and labors to rewire it and it is in flawless working condition. the car had no electrical issues or ANY other types of issues when i sold it to you, other than a bad motor in need of replacement. you witnessed this yourself when you test drove it two weeks prior and also when you drove it home for 60 miles. few others test drove the car and there were no issues.
I don't know what has happened to the car since you took posession of it because I wasn't there. but all these issues arising out of no where all of a sudden is very, very strange. If you raced the motor or drove it hard then maybe the extra abuse was too harsh on an already bad motor....
I put about 100 miles on this car for the past year after i brought it back to driveable condition and there were no issues.
all I can think of is that the motor is done. you can do a compression check to further verify this. IMO you should stop spending money on an already blown motor, swap in a fresh DEK and take it from there. feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
one more thing, take out the spark plugs and see if they are soaked with oil. if so then the rings are even worse now and oil has leaked onto the spark plugs, causing them not to fire and in turn you notice the "garglin sound"/lower power/shut off.
there is absolutly nothing wrong with the alarm, by no means should you mess with it. i paid $300 in parts and labors to rewire it and it is in flawless working condition. the car had no electrical issues or ANY other types of issues when i sold it to you, other than a bad motor in need of replacement. you witnessed this yourself when you test drove it two weeks prior and also when you drove it home for 60 miles. few others test drove the car and there were no issues.
I don't know what has happened to the car since you took posession of it because I wasn't there. but all these issues arising out of no where all of a sudden is very, very strange. If you raced the motor or drove it hard then maybe the extra abuse was too harsh on an already bad motor....
I put about 100 miles on this car for the past year after i brought it back to driveable condition and there were no issues.
all I can think of is that the motor is done. you can do a compression check to further verify this. IMO you should stop spending money on an already blown motor, swap in a fresh DEK and take it from there. feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
one more thing, take out the spark plugs and see if they are soaked with oil. if so then the rings are even worse now and oil has leaked onto the spark plugs, causing them not to fire and in turn you notice the "garglin sound"/lower power/shut off.
Last edited by QT1 5MT AE; 05-31-2011 at 10:39 PM.
05-31-2011, 09:18 PM
#14
bump for the homie to get his car running!! an could it be possible that when it was stolen there was more damage done an it didnt show up til more miles were put on the car? i did have a vehicle stolen from me an it ran great the first week an then it started bein a pile, no problems til then
05-31-2011, 10:36 PM
#15
Josh something else came to my mind. it burns oil because of the bad rings and im guessing within the ~100 or so miles you put on it, the oil level dropped to low/dry.... check the level and pour a few quarts in. see if that will help
Last edited by QT1 5MT AE; 05-31-2011 at 10:39 PM.
06-01-2011, 11:28 AM
#19
when it stalls does it choke till it shuts off or does it suddenly die? if it chokes, you have to rev it up a little because it idles like crap due to the rings.....
first two places id look are oil level and spark plugs !
first two places id look are oil level and spark plugs !
06-01-2011, 11:37 AM
#21
that popped out under boost one time and i put a new one in used permatex sealant to stick in tight. surprized it popped out again...
i got jury duty all week next week in burnak, if the car is at your place, I might be able to stop by and take a look.
i got jury duty all week next week in burnak, if the car is at your place, I might be able to stop by and take a look.
06-01-2011, 12:14 PM
#23
have you messed with your engine grounds recently? Check to make sure the ground that goes to the front left corner of your engine is still there. I have seen problems similar to yours because of grounding issues.
06-01-2011, 01:38 PM
#24
i have read that that gauge cluster on our cars completes the charging circuit seems like since ur cluster went out u have been having the dyin battery problem.
i would say get the cluster working and it will solve your charging issue your other 2 alts prolly werent dead just not completing the charge circuit
i would say get the cluster working and it will solve your charging issue your other 2 alts prolly werent dead just not completing the charge circuit
06-01-2011, 01:54 PM
#25
i have read that that gauge cluster on our cars completes the charging circuit seems like since ur cluster went out u have been having the dyin battery problem.
i would say get the cluster working and it will solve your charging issue your other 2 alts prolly werent dead just not completing the charge circuit
i would say get the cluster working and it will solve your charging issue your other 2 alts prolly werent dead just not completing the charge circuit
thanks for replies guys ill forward this info to the shop that has my car and see if they can pinpoint something
06-01-2011, 02:03 PM
#26
well car is in El Monte, CA i called and Kevin told me their still stuck lol he said there is so many wires just hanging they dont know whats what and also their were a few blown fuses so they replaced them.
He told me if i want i can keep it there and they will still try and find the problem or i can take it to someone else who worked on it before who would know the car
06-01-2011, 02:17 PM
#27
turned right up like a charm...I guarantee you because of the bad rings you've burned lots of oil within the ~100 miles or so you put on it.. and its dry now. call the shop and tell em to pour two quarts in and see if that will let it turn over.
06-01-2011, 02:24 PM
#28
I might be able to swing by in el monte to take a look next week after jury duty but so far this shop is claiming strange scenarios. such as bracket fab required for alternator, and "wires hanging".
Last edited by QT1 5MT AE; 06-01-2011 at 02:28 PM.
06-08-2011, 12:45 PM
#34
get a multi-meter and check the voltage when it's running and when not, that's for electrical stuff. what the previous owner is saying could also be right. even with a dead alt (but a good batt), the car should be able to start and run for a bit, def. more than 10-20 secs. though.
06-08-2011, 12:58 PM
#35
ditto. I'd like to know this as well because no offense but so far this shop sounds like they have no clue what they're talking about.
Were the things i suggested performed? (add oil, check spark plugs, do compression test) ?
Were the things i suggested performed? (add oil, check spark plugs, do compression test) ?
06-08-2011, 01:36 PM
#36
when you said you've added 2 quarts, have you checked that it was actually low? not that it would matter now, but still.
06-08-2011, 01:42 PM
#37
yep it was super low because they removed the tiny bolts that go all around the timing cover that held the supercharger plate in place and left it like that. the cover seperated enough for oil to gradually leak out. I replaced those bolts and added fresh oil
06-09-2011, 01:04 PM
#38
i had it towed from the 1st shop to a friends shop. this friend is a member here on the org and has been since 2000-2001 he is/was gonna do my 3.5 swap but now WE dont know since he cant pinpoint the problem. He did a FULL diagnostic, compression check, every freaking thing and i paid $100 for it since it is a public business not his own. he even swapped out ecu's and stuff. he thinks its something with the wiring harness but who knows. But he did get my Instrument Cluster to work again. Idk tho since i was planning on this 3.5 swap to cure everything looks like that won't be happening.
im thinking of getting rid of it if no one can solve this problem or find another car and swap everything over.
im thinking of getting rid of it if no one can solve this problem or find another car and swap everything over.
06-09-2011, 02:20 PM
#39
if he thinks its the wiring harness, then he needs to check the sensors that are needed to start the car, and keep it running. So i suggest he checks, the crank sensors, cam sensor, and grounds.
06-09-2011, 03:12 PM
#40
i had it towed from the 1st shop to a friends shop. this friend is a member here on the org and has been since 2000-2001 he is/was gonna do my 3.5 swap but now WE dont know since he cant pinpoint the problem. He did a FULL diagnostic, compression check, every freaking thing and i paid $100 for it since it is a public business not his own. he even swapped out ecu's and stuff. he thinks its something with the wiring harness but who knows. But he did get my Instrument Cluster to work again. Idk tho since i was planning on this 3.5 swap to cure everything looks like that won't be happening.
im thinking of getting rid of it if no one can solve this problem or find another car and swap everything over.
im thinking of getting rid of it if no one can solve this problem or find another car and swap everything over.
Where is the car located now? I'd like to take a look at it and help you out with this situation but to me it sounds like someone unintentionally messed with this car after i sold it to you and caused these problems.
Last edited by QT1 5MT AE; 06-09-2011 at 03:17 PM.