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Trooper Down!
Topic Started: Dec 1 2013, 05:34 PM (1,485 Views)
zudorf
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Well, I went out this morning, temperature is 33, and she fired up like nothing was wrong. She's sitting out there warming up as I speak. Coolant Temperature Sensor? I'll update later after I've driven her all day.
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Martin
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Sorry to hear that the fickle bitch is giving ya hell. The plugs should tell. I'm guessing u used a spark tester, gapped and got a nice blue spark. I would think that would rule out the ignition. The mass airflow sensor Might also cause hard start problems. although i experienced surging and stalling at idle. The blue smoke would be the big concern. I wonder if that oil might be entering through the top of the cylinder.(valve oil seal) just trying to be an optimist.
Tell us about the plugs. You got this Tim.
Ron
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ewillis
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Check the compression and put a vacuum gauge on it before you throw anything at it or start disassembling. The compression is self explanatory, with the vacuum gauge, look at vacuum # at idle, and Vacuum #'s and what the needle does when engine speed increases. Hook the vac gauge directly to the plenum on one of those vacuum ports. The comp #'s and the vacuum will give a good snapshot of the mechanical health of your engine. You had mentioned blue smoke and that is bothersome.

As far as the coolant sensor, you can just unplug it and see if it does better but I don't see it causing those issues. Have you tried cleaning your air valve?
Edited by ewillis, Dec 2 2013, 09:07 AM.
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EricJette


How weird Tim, it's like it was having a "senior moment" or something.

Since it seems to have "fixed" itself, my instinct would say it's some kind of intermittant short to ground, possibly in the low voltage wiring to the distributor/coil. , loose tips on plugs, ...was it in high humidity conditions when occuring?...condensation on wiring? Every once in awhile after I take mine to the car wash and clean out the engine bay I've had the same kind of symptoms and the "short" then is in my case I found that the connector itself is not exactly water-tight (at the wiring loom's connector to the distrib.), and once dried out it runs fine.





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zudorf
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Well, she's running like crap. Running. But running like crap at idle. Sometimes she'll surge, sometimes she'll die, sometimes she'll idle like a new truck. At cruising speed 35, 45, 55, she's fine and has normal power until you let off the throttle which results in a little bucking like there's a miss. Back in the throttle and she smooths out. And hard starting reminiscent of when I was having fuel delivery problems; but that was combined with loss of power.

So here are the current symptoms:

1. Starts fine when cold. Like first time of the day.
2. Starts hard the rest of the day including some stalling.
4. Runs fine as long as I'm applying pressure to the gas pedal.
12. Stumbles when I let off to negotiate slight variations in the road. Smooths out again when the throttle is engaged.
7. Oil pressure is normal I guess. 55 under load and drops to about 30 cruising.
23. Plugs were black with carbon deposits.
6. Changed plugs and wires with no effect.
10. Filled her up and added a bottle of my blue stuff. No effect. But she's full of gas!

I'll do a vacuum test as soon as the wife gets home to watch the kiddo. Don't have a compression tester on hand. That'll have to wait until I can take my son to O'Reilly's as theirs tends to leak and I need the other set of hands/eyes.
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zudorf
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Going out to change the coolant temperature sensor now.
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zudorf
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I unplugged the coolant temp sensor with little or no result. So, I started messing with the idle screw to keep it running for the vacuum test and the damned thing smoothed out and ran like new. I could hear the difference in the engine. I drove it over to Patrick's house and it felt like it had more power. Idling in Patrick's driveway it started the surging thing so I tweaked the idle screw some more and she smoothed out again. I ran to the store to get cigs and she progressively got worse. Now I can't get the CTS plugged back in. I haven't put the new one in yet. Need to feel around some more to get my bearings on it. Not real secure diving into that one yet. I have no CEL. Can I leave the thing unplugged?
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ewillis
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is yours an automatic or a 5-speed? the answer is yes....you can leave it unplugged with little or no effect with a 5-speed. with an automatic, it will shift into overdrive right off the bat when it's cold. It used to drive me crazy that the Aisin would not shift into overdrive until it warmed up in the mornings.....so I unplugged mine in the Red 89.
Edited by ewillis, Dec 2 2013, 07:33 PM.
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zudorf
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Cool Ernie. Thanks, man! I just went out and started her again after a brief cool-down. Took 2 sessions of cranking and she reluctantly fired. I'm not getting the smoke anymore but idle is rough for a few seconds and she smooths out and seems to idle fine. I cleared the computer codes while I was out there. There were none but it never hurts to reset the computer. Although, I'm not totally convinced it does anything at all. LOL. Anyway, tomorrow's another day. We'll see how she acts then.

I looked back at a thread on the planet that I started back in May when I was having similar issues. Seems I bought an ECT (not CTS) but never installed it. Now that I think about it, I remember taking it back for credit. Duh. I forget how many "issues" I've had with this damned ITEC. I want a carburetor!

Oh, and yes Ernie, it is a 5 speed.
Edited by zudorf, Dec 2 2013, 07:42 PM.
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ewillis
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If it ain't running great tomorrow, run the comp and vacuum test it. (hate to say it but I think you will be) Been there too many times. Good news, it is fixable.
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