Welcome to the FirebirdV6.com/CamaroV6.com forums.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
the same code came up on my car for the maf b4 i replaced it...so it was dirty or its bad...u shoulda tested it longer unplugged to see what all it does...if it stalls out 1 time but u can start it right back up and runs fine then the maf is more then likely the problem cuz my car did the exact same thing mines a 96 btw
I woulda written the codes down but that guy at Pep Boys just plugged it in and was like ..it could be the maf, or the O2 ...or this and you need to take it to a dealer and then he hurridly went back inside. Basically didn't give me a chance to look at it myself or ask questions. Anyways yes it started doing it again. It gave me a smooth ride home last night and this morning but now its back to the same problem only it might be worse. So if I want to disconnect my MAF again to test it some more, I should disconnect the battery first? I would've expermented more but when it stalled I got freaked out bc I wasn't expecting it and I was on a busy road. That said, after I pulled off and reconnected it, the thing started right back up. I'm pretty well convinced that it is the MAF now, just want to be as sure as possible though before I go dropping 150 big ones.
MAF sensor is just one of many things it could be. And that code was definately in there when you had it scanned because you had the MAF unplugged while driving, but never reset the codes by unplugging the battery for 20 mins. With the MAF sensor unplugged it will throw the code for sure and trip SES light but it should run better in limp mode than with a bad sensor installed...I think, at least it was that way on some other cars. Dont forget your problem is intermittant so just a few hours may not be proof of anything.
In your OP you said this started right after you changed a fuel filter, and then you had put some fuel system cleaner in too? May be coincidence, maybe not. Could be a bad new filter. Could be the fuel system cleaner dislodged some crap from the tank and is clogged in the filter. You didn't kink the line somehow?
You were also questioning the spark plugs at first. How old are your plugs & wires?
Coilpacks don't last forever either as 98redcamaroV6 had noted. The posts could also be rusty & corroded too underneath an old wire boot, mine were, probably accelerated by the fact that water can leak on the coilpacks from the cowl design. If they are corroded you could try taking some sandpaper to them one at a time (don't mix up the wires). Use a multimeter in the ohms setting to check the resistance between each or the pairs of posts on the coils.
Your airfilter could be really dirty
The injectors could be dirty. Injector cleaners in the gas tank don't always clean them. Dealers and other places have rigs for cleaning them properly but its more expensive. The tips can get dirty and clog the holes too, and that can be cleaned with carb cleaner on a qtip - I did that when I changed my Fuel Pressure Regulator to cure hard starting, but otherwise removing the fuel rail and injectors is a PITA - so I wouldn't go jumping into this right away! Also I don't think you want to keep dumping cleaners into your gas tank.
I think bad O2 sensors could cause problems too. You might want someone to help you narrow this down before just replacing them because they are kinda expensive and not so easy to get to. If it comes down to this note that I grabbed a pair of front O2's from RockAuto.com when I was getting other stuff, Denso brand was only $40 each there which is like half price and they are heated kind too. (I have yet to install mine)
Well all that stuff can cause your car to run crappy and hesitate, and its all stuff that goes bad over the years. It could be something totally unrelated too. I'm not a mechanic and I don't really want to be diagnosing drivability problems later to end up just replacing stupid maintenance parts in a rush, so I opted to replace all this stuff when I got the car. I wrote about it in the thread I linked to earlier: http://forum.camarov6.com/showthread.php?t=80203
I don't know how many miles are on your 96 3.8 or what the history is but you may want to gather parts and schedule yourself a maintenance day. If you end up taking it to a dealership and they end up just changing plugs and wires for some insane amount of $, well that money could have bought a lot of other parts, a nice socket set and an assortment of extensions, and still have alot of $ left over.
Well I was pretty convinced that it was the MAF, went to advance and had to order one bc they aren't in stock, should get here tomorrow. Today I tried again to unplug the sensor and drive without it, but this time my engine wouldn't start with it unplugged, it would turn over and the quickly die out, even though I was giving it gas.
How exactly can you tell the difference between a misfire and hesitation? It usually drives fine in 1st, but then the other gears are what gives me problems. It gets really sluggish, the car vibrates. Sometimes if I apply the gas a little harder it'll make a somewhat loud "pop" noise. Is that a misfire?
My car has 175k miles on it. I don't know when the plugs & wires were changed, not since I've owned it and I bought it back in '04 and have since put about 40k on it since owning it. I know the plugs need replaced soon wether or not that is the cause of my problem I'm not sure.
Is there a way to check if something lodged in my filter is causing the problem aside from putting a new one on?
I'm gonna go check my coilpack posts here in a a little while once things cool down a bit. This whole situation is really frustrating me ... and I really don't have that much money to spend repairing all that stuff.
Not sure if any of this is useful but here's some more things I found poking around my car. Air filter is getting dirty, it wouldn't hurt to replace but its not THAT bad, could be much worse.
Coil studs. Here is a pic of the front one. It looked the most corroded, the others looked pretty good. I took the wire brush to all of them and they are now shiny:D .
another question...what exactly is this screen thing right in front of my throttle? I was gonna take a look inside and see if anything needed cleaned out but this screen deal is in the way. wasn't sure if it came off, what exactly it is (i assume some sort of last-resort to keep crap out of my engine). there does look like a little bit of junk lodged in the bottom left of it. didnt want to try removing it incase i forced some of it into my engine by mistake.
and finally here is a video of me revving my car. it sounds pretty healthy to me. but when i actually am driving it is when I get trouble. it sounds somewhat different on the video than in real life. the vid makes it sound more like a sport bike. real life has a deeper sound.
That screen is the MAF screen and its not really for stopping dirt and clutter from getting into your engine. its to straighten out the air flow going into the TB to gain a higher air velocity. oh and it does come off, the silver ring around it pops off and the screen follows. doesnt look that dirty tho.
the screen is a maf screen, some ppl take'em out for performance but im not sure if its good 4 it or not...definatly need to clean the screen...as for the corrosion clean it real good and see how it runs afterwards...wouldnt hurt to get new plugs to since u havnt replaced them since uve had the car
I certainly do plan on replacing the plugs, and maybe even the wires and coils...even if this isn't the main problem at hand.
Has anyone changed the plugs on 96 or similar V6's? I know the newer ones 98-02 have better headers and easier to work around. I can only feel a couple of the plugs but there are heat shields around both manifolds that are getting in the way. Did you guys remove these when changing the plugs out? What about taking the whole manifolds off (looks like a bit too much effort for me)? I might just have a shop do it because I'm not feeling very confident about my ability to reach all the plugs.
Okay so I don't mean to be redunant and keep asking over and over...but in your best estimation how sure are you all that its the MAF? The more I read up on things it seems as my problem could be that or any number of other things. I'm afraid of spending $150 on a part that I don't really need here. I'm starting to think maybe I should get my money back for the MAF tomorrow when I go to pick it up. Do you think I could get away with trying the new MAF but if that dosen't fix it return the part? Its just a lotta money to be playing around with. I might just give up and take it somewhere as this is starting to get above my head.
Okay so I don't mean to be redunant and keep asking over and over...but in your best estimation how sure are you all that its the MAF?
I'd say its pretty low on my sure-o-meter dude. Again let me say I'm not a mechanic. But the fact the car ran worse with it unplugged wouldn't exactly lead me to believe its the problem.
Originally posted by fellowtraveler87
The more I read up on things it seems as my problem could be that or any number of other things. I'm afraid of spending $150 on a part that I don't really need here. I'm starting to think maybe I should get my money back for the MAF tomorrow when I go to pick it up. Do you think I could get away with trying the new MAF but if that dosen't fix it return the part? Its just a lotta money to be playing around with. I might just give up and take it somewhere as this is starting to get above my head.
Often special order parts aren't returnable... if you have any chance, it is before you take it home I would guess. Now I don't want to say it isn't the MAF and have you later find out it is, but it is a $150 part on the other hand... you decide
Did you measure the resistance of the coilpacks when you cleaned the posts?
Too bad its so hard to just pull a spark plug to look at it on these cars.
I didn't have an ohmmeter to measure the coils with. How much do those run? Probably will just take it to a shop sometime soon and have them do a tune up and see what happens.
One thing I did forget to mention is my car got pretty close to overheating a couple weeks ago, the temp got pretty high up there. Turned out I had to get a new thermostat. Maybe that effed up my spark plugs? But this didn't start until about week and a half after that fiasco.
In your OP you said this started right after you changed a fuel filter, and then you had put some fuel system cleaner in too? May be coincidence, maybe not. Could be a bad new filter. Could be the fuel system cleaner dislodged some crap from the tank and is clogged in the filter. You didn't kink the line somehow?
The injectors could be dirty. Injector cleaners in the gas tank don't always clean them. Dealers and other places have rigs for cleaning them properly but its more expensive. The tips can get dirty and clog the holes too, and that can be cleaned with carb cleaner on a qtip - I did that when I changed my Fuel Pressure Regulator to cure hard starting, but otherwise removing the fuel rail and injectors is a PITA - so I wouldn't go jumping into this right away! Also I don't think you want to keep dumping cleaners into your gas tank.
.
I work at a quick-lube oil change place...of course all we do is oil and some other routine maitenence services nothing really in depth. But I talked to a guy I work with there who knows A LOT about cars, has had lots of experience. He asked me when I filled up last if there was a tanker truck at the station filling the holding tanks. I was like "wow how did you guess". Yup sure enough there was. He said its a bad idea to refuel when a tanker is unloading gas because when it dumps to the holding tank it can stir up setiment crap from the holding tank and it pumps into your car when you fill up. So...there's yet another plausable theory. the guy said that if it was the MAF it would probably give me trouble during idle, and in all gears (but my car seems to do fine in 1st, when idling, and when revving in nuetral). he advised me to drive my car until I get to about 1/2 a tank and then refuel with 93 octane and put injector clearner in, as well as maybe changing the fuel filter again. Might have to try this as it doesnt cost much. I picked up my MAF today but didn't put it in because if I do I can't return it. I wish I could actually look at the fuel filter and see whats been trapped in it (if anything), like how air filters are. But as you know its sealed off in that canister. His theory might very well work because i started having problems around about the same time i filled up. Who knows. I'll try that. Anyone else think he might be onto something here? If this isnt it...Then probably take it to a shop for a tune up and see what they can do, because my mechanical ability isn't good enough to do much more right now. Thanks all for the advice and helping out.
hmmm never used seafoam. I had no idea about getting gas with a tanker there. Got it at Kroger (grocery store for those who were wondering) and they have a gas station. They have a member program where if you spend so much a month you get 20 cents off a gallon, so thats why I went there.
how does seafoam work...what makes it different from other additives?
Hey everyone! I've been trying to remove my transmission for two days now! I need to replace the clutch. Only thing I've got left holding the transmission...
Hello, so I changed the front bearings on the bird and the ABS inoperative light came on. I made a mistake of not removing negative battery cable. Now...
I usually have to double, triple my headlight switch for them to come up on my 97 Firebird. I cleaned all connections. Could it be the headlight switch...
3 weeks ago
FORUM SPONSORS
Collapse
Working...
X
We process personal data about users of our site, through the use of cookies and other technologies, to deliver our services, personalize advertising, and to analyze site activity. We may share certain information about our users with our advertising and analytics partners. For additional details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
By clicking "I AGREE" below, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our personal data processing and cookie practices as described therein. You also acknowledge that this forum may be hosted outside your country and you consent to the collection, storage, and processing of your data in the country where this forum is hosted.
Tweet
Comment