Here is my saga:

My car, after a fun filled weekend, decided not to start on Monday morning. I had noticed that on Sunday it was running worse then ever, and it was running pretty bad on Saturday. When you opened the hood, all the noises sounded like a concert.

So I finally get it jumped by my roommate and take it to my mechanic. According to him, and I trust him since he is my brother-in-law, I need a few things:

1. Speed sensor (hopefully this will fix the spedo problem)
2. Exhaust mounts/clips (where the y connects to the cat)
3. Some wiring harness (not sure)
4. Exhaust leak fix (up by where the top of the y connects to the engine)
5. O2 sensor
6. some other sensor (can't remember)

I was talking with a friend of mine last night and he suggested while the work is getting done to disconnect the battery so the ECU will reset itself. This way, it can relearn my driving with the new speed sensor in.

Does this make sense to do? Anyone?

 

You really don't need to clear the ECU, it's constantly learning as you normally drive. If you do reset or clear the ECU by disconnecting the battery for an extended period of time, your car may run very rough while it relearns everything. Thats quoted from the shop manual.

Have your mechanic fix everything, clear any error codes which may be stored in the ECU and take it from there.

 

That sucks, but just think how nice she'll drive when you get her back (hopefully).

-James

 

ok honestly to me it sound like this guy just read the codes of the ecm and is fixing everything. There is a problem with some maxima , I believe its 96-99 that have a bad speedo circuit and the computer will throw out a bad speed sensor code, a knock sensor code and a another code (dont remember) that will say it has somethign to do with the way the engine harness is layted over the rear cam cover it has a tendency to crack. The o2 sensor is going crazy because of the exhaust leak unless its not the sensor I am thinking about. Honestly you should give us more in depth situation. what kind of noise, was the engine running smooth at idle , did it have a engine vibration, such stuff might be helpfull.

 

Ok, the noise sounds like a sucking sound (I don't know how else to describe it) coming from the back left (if you were looking at the engine). The noise has not been there before and that is where the mechanic thinks it is the exhaust leak.

The other noise is my CAI...now more then ever it seems to be making the sounds that everyone else has described, kind of like a vaccuum sound. I am going to take it off on Sunday and check everything out to make sure nothing has come loose.

For idling, that has always been fine. Engine vibration? I am riding around on 4 studded snows so I cannot tell if there is a vibration or not.