So I recently discovered that my car has been running in safe mode.
After I had the car steam cleaned it started to have an intermittent problem where it would randomly just start idling like a heavily cammed big block V8. The idle would just get slower and slower until the car died.
Just during initial troubleshooting on the side of the road I found that whether or not I waited for it to die out, tried to fight it with fluttering the gas, or If I turned off the car while this was happening all I had to do was turn the car off and then immediately turn the car back on (or wait however long and turn it back on, could be 1 second or 1 hour) the car would start up and run perfectly fine. I could also fight off this behavior by downshifting and gunning it. It didn't matter if it was ice cold or at operating temp this loping idle would randomly rear its ugly head.
Regardless, I went straight home and basically took apart every single electrical connection under the hood. CPS had gunk at the connector, o2 sensor had corrosion at the connector, and the whatever connector that lives under the TPS with the twist lock mechanism like the o2 sensor also had corrosion. I went to work with contact cleaner and a steel brush, cleaned everything out.
The loping idle problem went away but now I get an intermittent CEL light which throttling/giving gas turns off. I've also had it idle crazy sometimes.
Unplugging the o2 sensor brought back a solid idle and no CEL.
Next step? I took apart the ICV and serviced the throttle body area. Inspected the throttle body tube and all the hoses for vacuum leaks both visually and with carb cleaner.
The idling issue mostly went away (so far. I've only driven to work twice since that work), it still flutters and I want to tackle an AFM rebuild tonight but I still have an intermittent CEL.
Let's do the stomp test!!!
Balls. It doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. Not one thing has gone smoothly or easily with this car. Par for the fucking course.
Will have to confirm that I do indeed have a 173 ECU today after work. TPS cleaning and recalibration is going to happen today as well because I'm too impatient to wait for the new sensor coming in the mail. A new o2 sensor is coming too. Jlevie said on another forum that 9/87 (my car is 9/87) and on or 1988 production years and on come with 173.
This car was originally an automatic! So if you're still reading this herein lies my question - Does stomp test require neutral on an automatic or does stomp test work in park as well?
I know from my Bentley scannings last night that the idle control module has an input from the automatic transmission. I also read online that each selection of the automatic shifter sends a different signal (and that's probably part of the reason behind why my cruise control isn't working by the way).
2mAn tells me that an auto won't start in neutral...which means my car is wired for park, which means the idle control module isn't getting a neutral signal to initiate stomp test.
Please tell me that stomp test works in both park and neutral! lol
Bonus question - Is there a way to screw with the AFM with the o2 sensor still plugged in to see if it's still running in safe/loop mode?
After I had the car steam cleaned it started to have an intermittent problem where it would randomly just start idling like a heavily cammed big block V8. The idle would just get slower and slower until the car died.
Just during initial troubleshooting on the side of the road I found that whether or not I waited for it to die out, tried to fight it with fluttering the gas, or If I turned off the car while this was happening all I had to do was turn the car off and then immediately turn the car back on (or wait however long and turn it back on, could be 1 second or 1 hour) the car would start up and run perfectly fine. I could also fight off this behavior by downshifting and gunning it. It didn't matter if it was ice cold or at operating temp this loping idle would randomly rear its ugly head.
Regardless, I went straight home and basically took apart every single electrical connection under the hood. CPS had gunk at the connector, o2 sensor had corrosion at the connector, and the whatever connector that lives under the TPS with the twist lock mechanism like the o2 sensor also had corrosion. I went to work with contact cleaner and a steel brush, cleaned everything out.
The loping idle problem went away but now I get an intermittent CEL light which throttling/giving gas turns off. I've also had it idle crazy sometimes.
Unplugging the o2 sensor brought back a solid idle and no CEL.
Next step? I took apart the ICV and serviced the throttle body area. Inspected the throttle body tube and all the hoses for vacuum leaks both visually and with carb cleaner.
The idling issue mostly went away (so far. I've only driven to work twice since that work), it still flutters and I want to tackle an AFM rebuild tonight but I still have an intermittent CEL.
Let's do the stomp test!!!
Balls. It doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. Not one thing has gone smoothly or easily with this car. Par for the fucking course.
Will have to confirm that I do indeed have a 173 ECU today after work. TPS cleaning and recalibration is going to happen today as well because I'm too impatient to wait for the new sensor coming in the mail. A new o2 sensor is coming too. Jlevie said on another forum that 9/87 (my car is 9/87) and on or 1988 production years and on come with 173.
This car was originally an automatic! So if you're still reading this herein lies my question - Does stomp test require neutral on an automatic or does stomp test work in park as well?
I know from my Bentley scannings last night that the idle control module has an input from the automatic transmission. I also read online that each selection of the automatic shifter sends a different signal (and that's probably part of the reason behind why my cruise control isn't working by the way).
2mAn tells me that an auto won't start in neutral...which means my car is wired for park, which means the idle control module isn't getting a neutral signal to initiate stomp test.
Please tell me that stomp test works in both park and neutral! lol
Bonus question - Is there a way to screw with the AFM with the o2 sensor still plugged in to see if it's still running in safe/loop mode?
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