Idling Issue

[4drlvr]

Hi Guys

I currently have a idling problem with the car. To give you a bit of history of when the issue started. The car overheated and turned off due to a crack in the radiator top tank. I did have starting problem but that seems to have fixed itself but the car idles at around 700-800 rpm and i remember it used to be smooth as, but now its vibrating the whole car and its not constant on the amount of vibration, sometimes not as much as other times. Secondly ive noticed the car is giving me 400 on a full tank of city driving. The car used to push atleast 480kms on a full tank.

She still runs the same i do feel that it is losing power. I ve checked the spark plugs (They all look identical) the coil pack is fine, have checked the wires on the CAS and they are fine, checked the coolent sensor and its good as well

The car does have an auto transmission and i know that could be the reason why its loosing power, if it is that it is very coincedential that all this started happening after the car overheated. Any ideas

Shes not the same car when shes idling and id like your opinion on what i should try

HELP!!!

Edited April 21, 2006 by 4drlvr

[ISC-Performance]

small vacuum leak or afm playing up??

[blind_elk]

You may well have damaged the head gasket.

Get a compression test and a leak-down test done on the engine.

[LatinR33]

Maybe the car is fine. could be just thinking the car is running bad. maybe alittle paranoid.

[4drlvr]

Hmmmm. Had a mechanic check for Vacuum leaks and he said there was none. Will try and get a afm from a mates car and then try it to see if that the issue or not.

Will get the compression test done.

Hmmmmm im not sure about the paranoid part (LOL) but you never know. But either way il keep you's posted. Let me know if there anything else i need to look at

[J_Red33]

Hey I think I may have a similar problem with my car. I found 1 Vacuum lead from my boost sensor line, but since then I've noticed I've still got a problem. Though not as bad now.

I also have trouble with mine starting from dead cold but not all the time. It stutters when it first fires up, before reving right up as normal, but then it's also easy to stall if you don't give it a few revs on takeoff. My boost pressure also seems to be a bit variable too. I've got more than a sneaking suspician that I have an intermittent vacuum leak.

I had it happen 1 day I was looking at the boost gauge & the vacuum level dropped but suddenly but the car almost stalled. I proded the throttle momentarily & then it came good again.

When this is happening the AFM is not reading as much airflow as it should & so the ECU then cuts back fuel, hence the bugger nearly stalls.

Very frustrating, there is so many things that hang off that intake plenum it's not going to be easy to find what's causing it.

[4drlvr]

HI Electro

Ive done a compression test on the car and yes im losing compression. Im running about 80 in the first 2 cylinders and 110 in the next 3 and 150 in the last one. Not good and to make things a bit more interesting its starting to miss so i checkd the coil back and noticed cracks on ALLL of em!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not sure on wheather to do the fix as per the DIY article of buy spitfires.....

Mine also seems to have a starting problem on very cold mornings(thats everyday in melb since its winter). It cranks as normal and usually starts on the 2nd-3rd turn but if i dnt step on the accelerator it wont start and will keep turning and turning.

Mechanic wants about $2500 for a swap over engine, is that a fair price...........anyone care to comment

Is there also anyone who is good with coil pack. Is it worth buying new coil pack / patch the original pack up / go for spitfires.

Thoughts!!!!!

[J_Red33]

Damn that's no good mate. Well I seriously doubt that's my problem thankfully as my car hasn't overheated . I'm looking at the intake instead.

Try the fix first, you've got nothing to loose apart from a few hours having a go at it. It will be a band-aid though to getting them actually replaced, but at least you'll know if it is your problem.

[4drlvr]

Hi Electro

I did the fix but it didnt help, seems like the coil pack is really rooted....

Cleaned the AAC idle control valve as per the DIY and it made the car a lot smoother. It doesnt hunt idle, it runs like a normal car with a bit lesser power which misses

Saving up for some spitfires and we'll see how we go

[foznice]

compare the price of the engine swap, to how much it would cost to rebuild the engine. It may be better off paying a little more to rebuild it, as you probably won't know the detailed historty of the engine you might be replacing it with?

Maybe try the DIY coilpack fix for now, see how that goes for you, it dosn't cost much if I remember correctly, save your money for the engine. And if then they're still playing up, go for the split fires.. maybe even consider buying second hand ones... You can get a whole set of six on ebay for only $120... although you don't know how long they're gonna last till they crack and die too..

[SIKLINE]

Damn that's no good mate. Well I seriously doubt that's my problem thankfully as my car hasn't overheated . I'm looking at the intake instead.

Try the fix first, you've got nothing to loose apart from a few hours having a go at it. It will be a band-aid though to getting them actually replaced, but at least you'll know if it is your problem.

hey, I bought a 33 bout a month a go and have had this rough idling issue. the car is 100% stock. It only seems to do it once it has reached normal running temperature. I have also noticed a ticking noise (also at idle) should I worry or is it normal coming up to 100k (on 90k at the moment)?

[J_Red33]

hey, I bought a 33 bout a month a go and have had this rough idling issue. the car is 100% stock. It only seems to do it once it has reached normal running temperature. I have also noticed a ticking noise (also at idle) should I worry or is it normal coming up to 100k (on 90k at the moment)?

Yeah the lumpy idle will be most noticeable when it's warm as that's when it idles it's slowest. Mine was dead stock when I got it too & I had the same problem. 1 problem I had was the boost sensor hose was leaking, which was causing it to play up. I've now got some thick reinforced fuel hose on there so there's no chance of it being my problem this time. I have to do a serious check of all the hoses soon.

As for the ticking noise there's a good chance it's your hydralic lifters you can hear. Has the car had the oil & oil filter changed reacently? If not do this as soon as you can first, good chance it'll cure the problem.

[4drlvr]

Hi Guys

SIKLINE if its your coil pack(which was my case) whenever i heard the ticking the car would miss. I parked the car in a dark spot one night and opened the bonet and i could see the spark from the sparkplugs coming out which is how i knew my coil pack was rooted.

For the idle issue you should really try the fix, mine runs like a dream until i hit about 5 grand when it start to splutter and fart and wat not & ofcousrse miss occassionally on idle.

Mechanic quoted me about $4000 for a rebuild which includes forgies, bluprinting, and the bells and whistles compared to $2500 for a swap over. Im still thinkin if i shuold go for rebuild or swap over.

Thing is i depend on the car and i need it to be off the road as little as possible so thats why im leaning towards the swap over but then again the rebuild would be more reliable

[J_Red33]

Yeah that wouldn't be an easy decision.

Look at it this way, if you plan on hotting the car up anyway it's probably better if you get the rebuild done & then you don't have to worry about the car being off the road again in the future for the same thing.

The other option I would have thought would be for him to rebuild another engine & stick that straight in for you. Though if he's got to bring the engine in from somewhere he may be stuck with an engine he doesn't need.

What happens to your engine you have now if he swaps it? Because if he keeps it there's no reason he couldn't do this.

[SIKLINE]

Yeah the lumpy idle will be most noticeable when it's warm as that's when it idles it's slowest. Mine was dead stock when I got it too & I had the same problem. 1 problem I had was the boost sensor hose was leaking, which was causing it to play up. I've now got some thick reinforced fuel hose on there so there's no chance of it being my problem this time. I have to do a serious check of all the hoses soon.

As for the ticking noise there's a good chance it's your hydralic lifters you can hear. Has the car had the oil & oil filter changed reacently? If not do this as soon as you can first, good chance it'll cure the problem.

yeah it has, or should have. i am the first ozzy owner and just assumed that it would have had to have been done for complience. I also sent it for an racv check up and they never mentioned it. its on 90000km so do you think i should wait for the major service or be worth doing sooner?? soz to sound dumb.

[SIKLINE]

Hi Guys

SIKLINE if its your coil pack(which was my case) whenever i heard the ticking the car would miss. I parked the car in a dark spot one night and opened the bonet and i could see the spark from the sparkplugs coming out which is how i knew my coil pack was rooted.

For the idle issue you should really try the fix, mine runs like a dream until i hit about 5 grand when it start to splutter and fart and wat not & ofcousrse miss occassionally on idle.

Mechanic quoted me about $4000 for a rebuild which includes forgies, bluprinting, and the bells and whistles compared to $2500 for a swap over. Im still thinkin if i shuold go for rebuild or swap over.

Thing is i depend on the car and i need it to be off the road as little as possible so thats why im leaning towards the swap over but then again the rebuild would be more reliable

I value your opinion but i don't think that she is that ''sick''. i think that i have actually burnt the remainder of the crap fuel that the dealer chucked in. it doesn't surge at 5000rpm anymore. but yeah the idle is driving me up the wall. the thing is i don't know if the rpm gauge is misreading or if the car is perfect and i am just being a little to sensitive. Last night however i was at some lights and, being melbourne (cold), i turn the climate control on and the car went fine. couldn't even tell if it was on or not. no vibration. WTF.

[J_Red33]

I value your opinion but i don't think that she is that ''sick''. i think that i have actually burnt the remainder of the crap fuel that the dealer chucked in. it doesn't surge at 5000rpm anymore. but yeah the idle is driving me up the wall. the thing is i don't know if the rpm gauge is misreading or if the car is perfect and i am just being a little to sensitive. Last night however i was at some lights and, being melbourne (cold), i turn the climate control on and the car went fine. couldn't even tell if it was on or not. no vibration. WTF.

It could be an intermittent leak like mine is suffering from, seems to be quite variable when it happens for me. As for the climate control I can't see that having any effect as you're using the heater & not the A/C on a cold night.

I'm sure they would have changed the oil when it was complied but maybe not the filter. Mine still had a genuine Nissan oil filter on it when I got mine. I doubt the guys compliancing the thing would have used one of these due to the extra cost, unless it has to be a genuine part under the rules, I'm not sure. I use a Ryco filter myself & I couldn't see them using anything better than that just to get it on the road.

Also DON'T wait another 10,000 kays to change your oil, it should be done every 5,000 if it's a turbo. I do oil & filter every time. I made the mistake of leaving the same filter in for 10,000 kays before & the lifters started making noise on startup due to the oil filter choking the system. Ran ok, but I wouldn't let it go that long again.