Low on Power (obd1 m52)

[TeXJ]

Got word from the mechanic. The MAF sensor is bad. He replaced it and now it's running great and no more CEL, 1222.

[TeXJ]

That is pretty weird, which octane of fuel are you using?

[jhaurimn]

So back during winter when it was cold and minnesota was using their less efficient winter gas, I was going about 120 miles max off 9 gallons of gas. (13.3 mpg)

Now that summer gas is back, I am back up to 180 miles on 8.5 gallons of gas. (21.1 mpg)

I'm still having power issues down low, so I plan to do vanos seals next. But I find it odd how just having warmer weather and better gas improved my mpg by that much.

[TeXJ]

im waiting for the headers to come in and then do a custom exhaust on it.

[jhaurimn]

i know everyone is sick of seeing this thread popping up....but just throw random shit out there. ill try it at this point. im getting close to bringing it to a shop lol.

Things i havent tried but plan on trying as soon as weather cooperates :

disconnecting o2
replacing vanos seals (i know this would give bad mpg, but cutting mpg in half? seems excessive)
new engine harness (might go obd2 at that point)

[jhaurimn]

Vacuum test completed yesterday, everything seemed correct which would indicate no exhaust restriction, and i believe no vacuum leaks.

car has its good days and bad days.

when I drive with the maf unplugged, does it go into the same open-loop as if I unplugged my o2 sensor?

[jhaurimn]

is this right for the ground on the main relay? ignition is off completely

https://vimeo.com/264161332

[TeXJ]

I was gonna take mine into the shop, but the guy there said I need to get the O2 sensor to where it is reading from all cylinders. Right now the stock exhaust manifolds are being using and the O2 sensor is plugged into the front one. So I dont have the reading of the back 3 exhausts ports.

So need to do that then I can take it to them to see what's up.

[jhaurimn]

Need some new ideas.

Car still is shitty for power. Getting 13 mpg. I hate everything lol

I will be cutting the wiring to my o2 next to see if anything changes since its spliced in. If not....idk what to do next except for a new harness.

[TeXJ]

aww ok

[jhaurimn]

you reset the ecu by holding the negative and positive cables together?

I just took the negative cable off the battery for about 30 seconds.

[TeXJ]

you reset the ecu by holding the negative and positive cables together?

[jhaurimn]

I seemed to have fixed my idle bouncing issue.

I had replaced my icv with a used oem one on ebay to eliminate that as a cause of my power issues. It did not fix my power issues however I believe thats when my idle bouncing issues started.

Heres what I did (in order) that led to my idle issues getting better (at least for now its better)

-I had swapped back to my old icv after realizing nothing was wrong with it
-I took the seal off my oil fill cap, cleaned the gasket, and flipped it upside down to make sure there wasnt a vacuum leak there

After this, I was still having the issues until I reset my ecu and it re-learned idle. Now my idle is lower, and the idle does not bounce anymore coming to a stop.

Still having major power issues tho.

[jhaurimn]

Well, you’re getting there. I’d start with a new o2 just as a precautionary and maintenance item and work from there. Chip should be easy to swap if you know someone who also has a similar setup.... hopefully it’s not the Harness. Is it fully modified or do you have an adapter...

I just had a random idea. Since you’re in MN, if the o2 doesn’t do anything and it appears to be electrical have you considered upgrading to a OBD2 setup with all the BS deleted from it? Better diagnostics should another issue arise

Modified harness. Have definitely considered new harness with adapter and or going obd2.

I have tried a different ecu, both with my trm chip and stock chip.

Going to unplug the o2 and see if there are any changes. I will be doing vanos seals once it gets warmer.

[TeXJ]

"Also, at times, just as I put the clutch in to go to neutral, it will die"

^this

aww ok, yeah that's what mine does