averse Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I'm at the point I am thinking of dropping the $$$ for a new translator to troubleshoot what's going on with this car. I do not have a Scantool or know of anyone who does in this area. If I buy a new translator am I wasting my money if I dont have a Scantool? I don't think it is the translator (I dont see any diagnostic trouble codes), yet swapping it out with a new one seems like a way to make sure. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caliber308 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I'm at the point I am thinking of dropping the $$$ for a new translator to troubleshoot what's going on with this car. I do not have a Scantool or know of anyone who does in this area. If I buy a new translator am I wasting my money if I dont have a Scantool? I don't think it is the translator (I dont see any diagnostic trouble codes), yet swapping it out with a new one seems like a way to make sure. Thoughts? What's it doing that makes you think it's bad ??? CALIBER 308 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averse Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) What's it doing that makes you think it's bad ??? CALIBER 308 I seem to have an intermittant problem that messes with my A/F ratios. Because of the intermittant nature I am thinking something electrical as the source problem and not mechanical. Most of the time I have a "loping" issue and my ratios go from off the gauge lean to off the gauge rich and back about tiwce per second. At one point that stopped and the car would run fine, but if I went Wide Open Throttle (WOT) then I would get detonation. I adjusted the baseline of the translator to 5% leaner and then the car would WOT good yet it would run really rich (off the gauge rich) to the point that the ride was rather jerky. I recently unhooked the neg battery cable and put all of the settings back to baseline (messing with the idle/mid/wot seemed to do nothing for me for fine tuning) and ended up with the loping condition again. The car wont start cold unless I am there to give it throttle until it warms up now, and the loping causes it to die on me at times. Anyway, I cleaned up and replaced many hoses and electrical grounds, and found a decent mechanic who has been helping work/train me on my car some. together, we've done the following: 1. inspected cam shaft, rockers + lobes for condition and they were all good. 2. checked for vacuum leaks in engine compartment area, found one and fixed it. 3. replaced coolant sensor 4. fixed exhaust manifold leak and welded front pipe to exhaust flex (it was clamped). Resealed intermediate pipe to tail pipe. No exhaust leaks left. 5. changed O2 sensor. 6. made the 12v LED diagnostic checker and checked ECU error codes, get the single blink O2 code until car warms up then stays lit. 7. Injector clips looks correct and I dont know of anyone who would have changed them since before the car started having this issue. I'm at the point of considering changing the translator because it seems to be giving me such different results whenever I tweak it even a little bit. The weather here has been up and down alot recently (even daily fluctuations of cold morning/night and warm days), which might affect the car more than the translator (?) I'd kill to have a way to test the translator independently of the car. Hopefully most of this makes sense, as I still am talking "over my head" on this a bit and trying to learn as fast as I can Quick edit: link to vid of my A/F gauge: LINK (6MB) Edited February 8, 2009 by averse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 (edited) That's pretty fast hunting. Doesn't seem like hunting really it's like it trying to climb to fast idle, but hits a cut, drops and starts again. Has this guy gone over the fuel system with you or you with him? What about a different maf instead of the translator first? Edited February 8, 2009 by Edde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwadd85 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 idk whats wrong, but you're not over your head. everytime you get really stuck, just post a question on here, and someone will tell you what to do. i only had my quest (my first car) for a month when i was 16 and i replaced the master and slave cylinder, installed an HKS turbo timer, and installed aftermarker pedals (not that that was hard tho) and replaced all vacuum line. im just sayin, you'll figure it out, just keep postin if you need to. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garychoffmann Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Well, it's hard to say right off the bat, Is ther gas splatter out of the tail pipe? It kinda looks like a bad leaky injector. It goes full rich, then full lean and cycles back and fourth. When the gas doesn't burn it can cause a full lean scenario as the oxygen and gas don't really mix. Check your injectors and go from there. Check your sensors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averse Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) Well, it's hard to say right off the bat, Is ther gas splatter out of the tail pipe? It kinda looks like a bad leaky injector. It goes full rich, then full lean and cycles back and fourth. When the gas doesn't burn it can cause a full lean scenario as the oxygen and gas don't really mix. Check your injectors and go from there. Check your sensors Forgot to update after your question. I did put my hand behind the exhuast and it turned it black, which I didnt remember it doing before. I disconnected the ISC and the loping/hunting/whateveryoucall it slowed down a bit, although it still does it and it's a fairly large-ranged lope. I am going to go with checking the injectors before trying a new maf translator, thanks! Likely not significant, but I have noticed twice now that the vacuum hose connected to the top of the EGR valve has come loose (not lose) twice now there is gunk (smells/tastes like oil to me) on top of the EGR. My assumption is that is a result and not a cause of my current issue, but I thought I would mention it just in case it was an important clue for anyone. To take the injectors out the FSM says I have to drain coolant and relieve the fuel pressure by disconnecting the fuel gauge unit connector in the baggage compartment. Is the fuel part a "must do" thing or is the gas spray not enough to be worth the trouble? Edited February 21, 2009 by averse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caliber308 Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) ISC/TPS reset. The procedures are in the Starquest FAQ Forum. It's "hunting" at idle because the ISC and or the Throttle cable are out of adjustment. CALIBER 308 Edited February 21, 2009 by Caliber308 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoopylover Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 if you put the stock MAS back. would the engine run fine? check and see... if so. great. if not. find out whats wrong with the stocker on. then go back to the translator. the translator is a boouytch the first time you mess with it. you must be patient and make adj. slowly. call me with any questions you have (864) 426-1864 its a verizion #, so it you know someone with verizion, its a free call. ill help you any way i can. FRO jeff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averse Posted February 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 ISC/TPS reset. The procedures are in the Starquest FAQ Forum. It's "hunting" at idle because the ISC and or the Throttle cable are out of adjustment. CALIBER 308 Okay. I will try the TPS/ISC reset procedure before I tear the throttle body up I dont have a stock mas to put back in place, Jeff. Thanks for the offer for help. It's support from members at this level that keeps SQs on the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted February 21, 2009 Report Share Posted February 21, 2009 To remove injectors there is no need to drain coolant and the fuel pressure will drop quickly after a brief dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPaus_88TSi Posted February 22, 2009 Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) Damn, you still have this issue? I wouldn't worry about the "black hand" after you put it in front of the exhaust tip. You know how much gas would have to leak for it to make it past the combustion cycle, through the header, turbine and exhaust without being burned up? LOL Your oil would be saturated long before that happened. I've always had black specs come from the exhaust, including the IS300. Condensation builds in the exhaust overnight, and gets blown out when you first start the car up. Not to say that excessive gas from a leaky injector or bad FPR wouldn't contribute to the black exhaust, but I have it without the richness issue. Throw the injectors on a home-brew test: http://starquest.i-x.net/viewtopic.php?t=902 Also check the FPR's vacuum line for residual gas droplets and such. It should be BONE DRY. Edited February 22, 2009 by JustPaus_88TSi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averse Posted February 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2009 (edited) Damn, you still have this issue? Yep. I'm lucky to get a few hours a week to work on the car and all this is pretty new for me so I go rather slow on the TPS reset I got to step 5 With the ISC/MPS in the 0.9 volt position, remove the ignition key. Then unplug the ISC servo motor electrical connector. This locks the ISC at the position the ECU thinks will give a perfect idle speed. Run a jumper wire from harness Yellow+Red wire to ground to simulate a closed Idle Position Switch to the ECU and I am not sure on setting up the jumper wire. I see the YR wire, but for the ground I am not sure what I am supposed to jumper to. The other two wires I see in the bottom side of the ISC connector are YL (yellow-blue) and YB (yellow black). Looking at the schematic in the FSM on page 14-48, it looks like those wires go back to the ECU. What obvious part am I missing here? Edited February 22, 2009 by averse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Yep. I'm lucky to get a few hours a week to work on the car and all this is pretty new for me so I go rather slow on the TPS reset I got to step 5 With the ISC/MPS in the 0.9 volt position, remove the ignition key. Then unplug the ISC servo motor electrical connector. This locks the ISC at the position the ECU thinks will give a perfect idle speed. Run a jumper wire from harness Yellow+Red wire to ground to simulate a closed Idle Position Switch to the ECU and I am not sure on setting up the jumper wire. I see the YR wire, but for the ground I am not sure what I am supposed to jumper to. The other two wires I see in the bottom side of the ISC connector are YL (yellow-blue) and YB (yellow black). Looking at the schematic in the FSM on page 14-48, it looks like those wires go back to the ECU. What obvious part am I missing here? I use about a foot of wire with aligator clips on it. One is forced onto the terminal inside the open connector and the other I just ground to anything I can reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDX87Starion Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Do you have a BOV? I would really try to find a stock MAS or a good 1G MAS if you rewired the plug. Other wise you will go around in circles just messing or replacing the translator or GM MAF when you dont know if they are to blame. When injectors start to leak or malfuction the can do some crazy stuff to your A/F too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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