D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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By SLOW92CX
#218391 this car has been a pain n my :x .
first it was over heating and blew a head gasket. i got that problem fixed, but now im having a new problem.

when the car warms up wile im driving, it starts to sputter and seams like it wants to die whenever i accelerate. when the car is cold, it drives just fine. it seams like the car idles fine at all temperatures. any ideas.

i took a video of it idling. its very hard to hear in the video, but right when i press the gas, it seams like it almost dies for a sec. then the engine has to speed up to get back to idle. like its getting choked or something when i press the gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw-_jRf6tfo

also, on a side note... the vacume hose on my intake manifold that goes down to the... ummm... im so frustrated i cant remember what its called.... the hose that goes down to the sensor that is on the intake manifold between the #2 and #3 tubes of the manifold. idk. well when the car is running, that tube gets really sucked up (you can see it in the video. grey tube). i pulled this hose off for a sec when the car was running and it reved up. could this hose be causing some problems? my pos cx dosnt have a rpm gauge, so i dont know what its idling at.

any help would be great. :thumb:
User avatar
By Eg6H2D
#218407 That hose yor mentioning goes to the air chamber under yout manifld. your PCV valve connects to it. The hose getting skinny when you give it gas means yor PCV is done and needs to get replaced.. chnge that and see if it fixes the idle issue.. :thumb:
and for the record this is what the PCV valve does..

(Positive Crankcase Ventilation) is a system that was developed to remove
harmful vapors from the engine and to prevent those vapors from being expelled into the atmosphere. The PCV system does this by using manifold vacuum to draw vapors from the crankcase into the intake manifold. Vapor is then carried with the fuel/air mixture into the combustion chambers where it is burned. The flow or circulation within the system is controlled by the PCV Valve. The PCV Valve is effective as both a crankcase ventilation system and as a pollution control device.
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By Eg6H2D
User avatar
By SLOW92CX
#218423 YES!! thats what its called, PCV. i could not think of the name at all. i have been messing around with this car all day.

so the hose sucking up like that means the PCV valve died?
i guess i will see about getting a new PCV valve tomorrow and see if that changes anything. have any idea what a PCV valve usualy runs for?

thanks for all the info by the way. :thumb:
User avatar
By Eg6H2D
#218447
SLOW92CX wrote:YES!! thats what its called, PCV. i could not think of the name at all. i have been messing around with this car all day.

so the hose sucking up like that means the PCV valve died?
i guess i will see about getting a new PCV valve tomorrow and see if that changes anything. have any idea what a PCV valve usualy runs for?

thanks for all the info by the way. :thumb:


It should ba around 4-7 bucks..
User avatar
By SLOW92CX
#218480 well i changed out the pcv and it didnt fix my problem.

but the old one REALLY needed to be replaced. i did the shake test on it and it didnt make a sound haha. and it was completely full of thick black stuff. so i tried cleaning it out and it still didnt make a sound. went to kregan and got a new one ($4.50) and put it in. does that black box that the pcv goes into ever need to be cleaned out? judging by the way the old pcv looked, its probably really bad in there. i dont think the pcv has ever been replaced on this car haha.

but like i said, it didnt fix my problem. it still feels like its getting choked or clogged when i press on the gas, and it just shakes and sputters when i try to accelerate. all this only happens when its warmed up. when its cold it drives just fine.

Grrrrrrr :x
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By Eg6H2D
#218483 Hmmmmmmmmmmm that black box i dont think needs to be changed ever just the pcv.. do you have a tach in your car? where is the idle when it's warm. by the sound of the video it seems your idle is where it's supposed to be..

Are your plugs new?.
Are the wires placed in the correct place. are they connected to the dizzy cap firmly?

when you drive warm, does it kind of sould like a Subaru STI? like that Subaru Boxer engine sound?.


In the video it's sucking in air.. So air is not the problem.

Seems to me like a ground wire or spark or something..

Im going to do a lil research and see what i find..
User avatar
By SLOW92CX
#218485 No I don't have a tach on my car. So I have no idea where its idling at. It seams to be idling fine though.

Yeah when it is warmed up wile I'm driving, it kind of has a subaru sound when its sputtering.

I have checked the sprak wires and made sure they were firmly attached. I was also kind of thinking the spark plugs might be bad. At least 1 of them. I had a blown head gasket on this car. It probably drive about 10 miles on the blown head gasket. So I was thinking maybe the spark plug in that cylinder went bad. Because it sounds like its getting fluded when I push the gas. So maybe its not igniting very well. Just seams weird that it would run great when its cold, but like shit when its warm.

I guess I should just get some new spark plugs and see what happens. I should probably do a pressure test too wile I'm at it. I have an extra autometer A/F gause laying around. Maybe I will hook that up and see what it reads.
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By SLOW92CX
#218803 well i got some new NGK spark plugs and put them in. the old spark plugs that were in there were some crappy autolite plugs.

changing out the plugs helped a bit. it idles a lot smoother now and i didnt get the sputtering when it warmed up. but there is still a hesitation when i press the gas. i push the gas and it bogs down for a second before it starts accelerating. im at a loss here.

i also tried hooking up my A/F gauge. when i connected the signal wire to my O2 sensor, the car wouldnt start. but when i started the car and then connected the signal wire to the O2 sensor, it stayed completely to the right side (rich). i dont know if i am running really rich or not because i dont know if the gauge is giving me an actual reading. A/F gauges are worthless anyways lol.

so my quest continues to figure out what is wrong with this car. funny thing is that i bought this car to be my commuter car for work hahaha.
User avatar
By RPGonzos_EJ
#218823 Double check timing, and dizzy position.

Sounds like either the timing or ignition is retarded.

The easier fix of course is the ignition, check first.
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By 2fast4u
#218828 if its bogging down when u step on the gas, you should check fuel related parts. fuel filter, fuel pump, injectors. my buddies supra was having the same problem and we replaced his fuel filter and bang, problem solved :thumb: try it out
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By SLOW92CX
#218899 so far this whole car has been retarded. :lol:

the fuel system is where i was headed next. my fuel pump may have a problem. my fuel gauge is all screwy, when im driving the needle goes up and down about a quarter. so a new fuel pump should fix that issue at the least. but i was thinking it may be the injectors. they looked pretty bad when i had to take them out for changing the head gasket.

ugh, more money being spent on maintinance, less money being spent on goodies. :cry:
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By Eg6H2D
#219011
SLOW92CX wrote:so far this whole car has been retarded. :lol:

the fuel system is where i was headed next. my fuel pump may have a problem. my fuel gauge is all screwy, when im driving the needle goes up and down about a quarter. so a new fuel pump should fix that issue at the least. but i was thinking it may be the injectors. they looked pretty bad when i had to take them out for changing the head gasket.

ugh, more money being spent on maintinance, less money being spent on goodies. :cry:


Rather ride smooth then just gett goodies and have the car sit.. =]..
User avatar
By Lowkei
#219014 I am tackling the same thing right now, mine is tossing up a cel though.... says I have intermitant o2 failure. I have replaced the o2 but I still have the same issue.

I would recommend changing out ecu with someone that you know has a good one. Hope that helps....

I did change mine ecu with a friends for a couple of days & it fixed the issue, but usually its not the ecu so... Good luck