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Intermittent CEL - Ideas Needed

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    Intermittent CEL - Ideas Needed

    Situation: when cruising in 4th or 5th gear and holding the throttle steady for at least 5-10 seconds, the CEL will flash on. If I lift and/or hit the gas, it immediately goes off. This doesn't happen constantly, just every one in a while. On a 2 hour cross state highway drive it probably happened 15-20 times. When I pull the codes, I either get "emissions (lambda) control" or "air flow meter", but I have not had both at once. If I reset it, it usually takes a day or two to return (doesn't come back right away).

    The car has been running fine. The only thing I could possibly mention is that it seems to take maybe an extra second to fire up when you start it, and when it's cold, it stumbles a bit at low RPM for about 30 seconds until it warms up a little. Other than that it runs fine, pulls hard, doesn't have any trouble.

    Car: 2.8L M20 with Bosch 19# injectors, stock compression, Miller Gen 2 MAF, Sssquid stroker tune, IE shorty headers and catless downpipe. I recently did just about everything I could do in the engine bay including new O2 sensor, air filter, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, cooling system, timing belt, oil change, intake boot, cleaned ICV, cleaned MAF, etc.

    I smoked tested the car a few weeks ago and didn't see anything. Doing some searching I came across a slew of ideas, many suggesting things I've replaced already. Some suggested a fuel filter and fuel pump, neither of which I have done. I have the fuel filter, just haven't installed it yet. Maybe I should clean the MAF again as well? A friend suggested maybe the SI batteries but he was just guessing. I have no idea if the SI batts are connected to the CEL in any way.

    Any other ideas of what to look for would be greatly appreciated.

    RISING EDGE

    Let's drive fast and have fun.

    #2
    How about your FPR (pressure too low?) and fuel return line (clogged?). Also, the line from your brake booster may have crank that leads to vacuum leak too.
    The final thought would be check your coil (make sure you have enough spark), TPS and crank sensor....
    Current:
    '88 325ic Silver 5sp
    '17 Subaru Outback 3.6R

    Past:
    '14 Rav4 EV (with tons of torque!)
    '06 325i Black 5sp
    '02 S4 Avant Black 6sp
    '00 Boxster Silver 5sp
    '98 New Bettle Yellow 5sp

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by mazzo View Post
      How about your FPR (pressure too low?) and fuel return line (clogged?). Also, the line from your brake booster may have crank that leads to vacuum leak too.
      The final thought would be check your coil (make sure you have enough spark), TPS and crank sensor....
      Thanks for the input mazzo. I am going to do the fuel filter for now and then might look into the FPR/pump. The cap/rotor/wire/plugs are brand new, as well as the brake booster vacuum line.

      I did some more research and it actually seems like phantom CELs are kind of typical of the Miller MAF. Someone suggested getting an air straightener, so I am going to try that on the MAF.

      RISING EDGE

      Let's drive fast and have fun.

      Comment


        #4
        Good luck and keep us posted. I did the M30 AFM route so I can't help much with MAF issue. Sorry!
        Current:
        '88 325ic Silver 5sp
        '17 Subaru Outback 3.6R

        Past:
        '14 Rav4 EV (with tons of torque!)
        '06 325i Black 5sp
        '02 S4 Avant Black 6sp
        '00 Boxster Silver 5sp
        '98 New Bettle Yellow 5sp

        Comment


          #5
          I'll update in a week or two when I get the air straightener installed. Car is in the body shop right now.

          RISING EDGE

          Let's drive fast and have fun.

          Comment

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