what the hell is wrong with my car?????

[98Firebird]

Ok, so the last few days, it would randomly bog down and shutter while accelerating at low speeds... but it wouldn't usually last more than 5-10 seconds. I didnt know what to think of this, so i just ignored it.

well, today... the day i have to move out for school, i get in my car and it barely starts. its shaking like crazy, smells funny, then starts throwing a cel for the first time. i let it idle for a few minutes to see if it goes away, and it doesnt. so i drive it over to autozone with isnt too far away. the CEL is on when the car is idle, but flashes at me when i drive... dunno if that means anything but whatever. i get it to autozone, and it gave a random misfire code, and some code about an O2 sensor on the second bank i think. the guy said i had to take care of the misfire code first, and maybe that'd clear the O2 code... but when i told him that my plugs(bosch +4s) are only like a year old, and that my wires (8mm taylor) are probably less than 6 months old, and my coils (msd) are like 2 months old, he said then i just need to take it to a shop. and that maybe its a vacuum leak somewhere... anybody have ANY IDEAS? It just figures that this piece of **** would **** up the day i need it the most... it ALWAYS does.


P.S. i dont think its a bad cat, cause its a 3" carsounds cat thats just over a year old

[FlyBoy9994]

Still sounds like the cat to me... bad smell is a dead giveaway.

[RallyRed 98]

when the SES light flashes that means your emissions are 1.5x the acceptable amount.

i'm going to guess that you are losing a lot of power too.

ever replaced your ICM? if not, here's your chance. buy one from advance/autozone whatever you have out there in texas; don't let the dealership do it because their part is at least twice as expensive and their labor rate isn't worth it.

the icm is just below all your coil packs; should take about an hour to change it out.

[98Firebird]

Thanks for your relpies guys... the icm... is that the tray the coils plug into? also, the smell is almost like a slight burning of some sort coming fromt he engine bay... and yes im losing a LOT of power. also, i just checked my coils... ran through one by one to check the spark, and all of them had a strong blue arc, but one tower didnt seem to spark as hard and wasnt really blue... it was mostly orange. does this mean i should replace the coil? keep the replies coming, i NEED my car back like ive never needed it before!!!


***Edit:
also, even way before all this, my car has always had a slight hesitation problem... like when im cruising and the rpms are around 2k rpms, its not very smooth. and when i accelerate easy, it usually is never smooth, it always gives a slight hesitation/jerking... but its not very strong. dunno if this helps

[Speed Freak]

The rear o2 is a bad cat code .
A random misfire can be caused by back pressure,Like from a collapsed cat. This would also smell bad.
Just drop the exhaust and hollow out the cat with a long drill bit'and buy an o2sim.
The car will run fine without the sim but the rear o2 code will stay up to you get the sim.

[JohnD.]

I'm betting wires or coil. The burning smell could be a wire that's melting.

[98Firebird]

well the thing with the sensor is, i think he said something about it being the one closest to the engine... so i dont think its the cat. anyone have any idea if the orange spark on that one tower indicates a faulty coil? that would sure cause a misfire, and the stuttering is almost exactly like when my coils first went bad.

[Pastor Larry Roques]

Originally posted by 98Firebird:
Ok, so the last few days, it would randomly bog down and shutter while accelerating at low speeds... but it wouldn't usually last more than 5-10 seconds. I didnt know what to think of this, so i just ignored it.

well, today... the day i have to move out for school, i get in my car and it barely starts. its shaking like crazy, smells funny, then starts throwing a cel for the first time. i let it idle for a few minutes to see if it goes away, and it doesnt. so i drive it over to autozone with isnt too far away. the CEL is on when the car is idle, but flashes at me when i drive... dunno if that means anything but whatever. i get it to autozone, and it gave a random misfire code, and some code about an O2 sensor on the second bank i think. the guy said i had to take care of the misfire code first, and maybe that'd clear the O2 code... but when i told him that my plugs(bosch +4s) are only like a year old, and that my wires (8mm taylor) are probably less than 6 months old, and my coils (msd) are like 2 months old, he said then i just need to take it to a shop. and that maybe its a vacuum leak somewhere... anybody have ANY IDEAS? It just figures that this piece of **** would **** up the day i need it the most... it ALWAYS does.


P.S. i dont think its a bad cat, cause its a 3" carsounds cat thats just over a year old

Sounds exactly like what I was battling about six months ago. It was a bad coil pack. I had the smell...the shaking...the sputtering...the flasing SES....the whole nine yards....everything you described. When "it" would happen, I would pull over to the side of the road and rap on the coil packs one by one with the handle of a large screwdriver. When I hit the "bad tooth" it would stop...the smell would leave and it would run normally again....I'd strongly suggest you check out those coil packs. Since it is intermittant...it can play hide and seek with you.
Hope this helps...Blessings! [img]graemlins/wavey.gif[/img]

[Pastor Larry Roques]

Oh yeah...I had that happen one other time and it was a vacuum leak from a small rubber hose near the intake manifold. I used a nylon wire wrap to snug it up and it never acted up again.

[F1GT]

Originally posted by JohnD.:
I'm betting wires or coil. The burning smell could be a wire that's melting.

sounds like it to me too.

[GhostRunner]

I had taylor wires and Bosch +4 plugs on the camaro when I bought it. I had the same random missfire code that you had about two months after I had it, but it only happened after driving long distances..

I put the wires and plugs back to stock and haven't had a problem since.

just my .02 cents.

Oh, and your exhaust is gonna smell horrible just like a cat going out if it's missfiring, all that unburnt fuel is being burned up by the cat instead and making that godawful smell.

[ka50]

plugs/wires/coils

bosch +4 don't work well with our cars.

get ac delco platinums

[speedy-v6-camaro]

Originally posted by F1GT:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by JohnD.:
I'm betting wires or coil. The burning smell could be a wire that's melting.

sounds like it to me too. </font>[/QUOTE][img]graemlins/wavey.gif[/img] I was thinking the same