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Car problems - Idling leads to engine chugging
Henroid
Mexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
Mexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed a problem with my car that seems to be getting worse with time. Whenever I have the car stopped the engine chugs. Usually when I'm at a stop, it idles at just under 1k RPMs. And it does for the most part, but then it clicks and the RPMs drop to about 500 RPMs, bouncing barely over and barely under, for a few seconds. Then it clicks again and I'm back to idling normally. The problem doesn't really happen if I'm set to park, it's really subdued in that case. Otherwise, when I'm driving it's totally fine. So does anyone know what could possibly be causing this? I don't run the car low on gas, by the way. Earlier this year, we had the fuel injection and the distributor replaced by the dealer. That's the only work done on the car in any recent time.
Also I'm making a thread of this instead of going to a mechanic or whatever because I'm specifically trying to avoid paying 1) for a diagnosis and 2) a bullshit diagnosis and 3) a bullshit diagnosis and someone going ahead and starting work.
Also I'm making a thread of this instead of going to a mechanic or whatever because I'm specifically trying to avoid paying 1) for a diagnosis and 2) a bullshit diagnosis and 3) a bullshit diagnosis and someone going ahead and starting work.
Henroid on
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spending $400 now to get it in bang smack condition is better than needing to buy a new car and sending this one off for $90 at a scrap yard.
If you got the injector changed over it probably needed to be run in, and upkept in good tune.
Well, order of least costly to most costly.
Air Filter
Spark Plugs
Spark Plug Wires
Fuel Filter
Timing (you had your distrubutor replaced, so if your timing was retarded or advanced it could wonk your idle on occasion)
Engine Wiring Harness (very very unlikely)
Idle Control Valve
Mass Airflow Sensor
What I would do is start by changing the air filter, then checking the wires to make sure they are completely snug from distributor to engine. When was the last time you changed your wires/plugs? Air filter doesn't do it, time to change the wires/plugs if it's been a while. Chances are it wont be the fuel filter, it's uncommon to mess with your idle unless it is clogged, but you're not stalling. Timing is an unlikely candidate but possible; you'll need to go to a shop to have it checked.
If your wiring harness isn't making contact 100% of the time to your ECU it can mess with various things, but this is only common in engine swaps and custom ecu jobs.
ICV could be slightly loose, depending on your car you may be able to tighten the valve with a hex wrench consult youtube.
MAF sensor is the sensor normally connected to your throttle body, it's the one that is not the throttle position sensor (they are normally the same type of sensor wired to different parts of the ECU, consult your manual or the internet to find out which one is which).
Thats a good place to start, any other behavior? Do you have enough water in your radiator reservoir? Your ICV is controlled by engine temp read by fluid from the radiator, so if the fluid is too hot because the reservoir is low this could also create a problem.
If you do, you should just take it to Autozone and get them to do a free diagnostic scan on your car.
Edit - And no, there's no check engine light coming on.
I get a check engine light now, over the last week and a half. I just got back from the dealership (it's my first real chance to get the car over to them; I'm not the owner of the car, so I can't make decisions on how to fix the fuckin' thing without consulting that shit (long story)).
The guys at the dealer said that the intake manifold gasket is leaking, and what's causing the car to start to want to die any time I'm stopped. They also identified a separate unrelated issue that's not as critical (the valve cover gasket is leaking too, said that oil leaks a bit because of this).
Here's the thing - To fix it all, cost of parts is like $50 to $60. But that doesn't include labor. To fix the intake gasket it'll be like $760, and the valve cover gasket would be $290. I've been instructed to start calling mechanics in the area to see what they would charge to fix that shit, which has me nervous as shit that they're going to fuck something else up.
You mean like this?
Honestly, while I don't know shit about cars I am pretty mechanically-minded, and the idea that this is nearly $800 in labor is goddamn insanity. I'm in the wrong career field.
Edit: I guess some anecdotal evidence is when I first started getting in to car repair I changed the intake manifold gasket on my Honda in ~2 hours. A breaker bar is going to make things substantially easier for getting the manifold off, just take a bit of pipe ~3 feet long and attach it to your ratchet (or preferably a proper breaker bar just in case... I've broken a few ratchets with a "cheater bar")
Henroid, if you have a 4-cyl engine, it will be easy as hell. Everything should be pretty easy to access.
If you have a V-6, it will be so much harder, as half of the engine is going to be hard to reach because the bolts in the back are going to be really hard to reach.
V-8's aren't too bad, but the last couple of bolts in the back are a pain, but I doubt you have any more than 6 cylinders.
I meant to say that the back cylinders of V6's are usually tucked behind and underneath the cowl (where the vents are up top, with your windshield wipers). They are hard because it's almost always a very tight fit to get your hands back there, let alone a wrench with an extension.
But 4 bangers are awesome.
My friend at work told her husband about it and he's gonna drop by to help me out with it since he's done this before. I think this is case closed here. Thanks for all the input you guys.