Need Help!!

[96_Fbird]

Well heres the problem i went o go start my car after school and it just soudned bad. thought it was just my exhuast some as s stepped on it and it was cold but when i went to check cus my whole car was shakin everything comeing out of my exhaust was coming in like a on,off,on,off like putting. the minute i put it in drive it stopped but the service engine light was still on. i dropped my friend off who live about a minute away from the school and started it up there again and it started but not very good tried it at my house agian and it started just fien (the car had been runnin for bout 3minutes by then) and it makes a high pitch noise like it does when im low on gas (i only know this cus it happened at the dealership when i was test drivin) ne ideas whats wrong sometin wit timing??

[strange_trp]

ignition timing is not adjustable and is probably not the problem.
check alternator output, my first thought is that you don't have enough electrical energy to power the ig sys. was the high-pitched noise coming from the engine compartment or elsewhere?
at idle you should get about 13-14.4 volts across the batt terminals. you'll need to get it tested somewhere for max amp output but voltage output may tip you off to a bad alt.
just my 1st guess based on the info

[Ian]

holy crap, did you friggin read what you wrote? :eek:

[96_Fbird]

it sounded like it was coming from the rear not sure tho and my battery has been pretty crazy at idle lately if fluxuates alot o and believe it or not my iq is 128 just one bad typer

[strange_trp]

i'd say have batt and alt tested.
bad voltage input (low or unstable) = poor pcm calcultations and poor input for ign coils.
i can think of many times a customer asked me to replace an o2 sensor when he really just needed a battery.
ck this first. then report back.

[96_Fbird]

i pretty sure my alternator is good and think the batt. is good 2 how do i check it to make sure ? it hasnt acted up at all lately and the car ran fine all tonight. i know sometimes the engine light can turn on and u gota do sometin to turn it off but i dunno im gonna get it checked out this weekend or monday

[strange_trp]

az or advance will check both for free. sears also tests for a small fee, but their guys have a little more training than the az or adv guys.
load test the batt to see how it reacts
load test the alt to check max output amps, voltage regulator, and voltage output waveform (diode rectifier)
a quick way to see if this is becoming a problem is get a voltmeter, put the red on the batt pos, the black on the batt neg and check your reading. 12.4-12.8 is okay generally. (12.4 is a little on the low side. a fully charged battery should read 12.6) then start the car. voltage should go up to somewhere around 13.5 to 14.5. nothing under 13.0 and nothing over 15.
this is just a backyard way to check.
the pros have equipment to load the components down for a proper test.

[96_Fbird]

alright thanks alot but yesterday i was drving and i looked down and the engine serive light was off ?? who knows

[strange_trp]

you probably still have an intermittent problem and history codes are probably still stored in pcm. i'd have it checked so you aren't left stranded sometime...