weird prob. CEL, idles rough, hard to start - after a plug change.

[TheClaw]

Saturday I changed a few things. My radiator, put a new thermostadt in, and new spark plugs. To do that I took off my intake pipe/mas, and that was it.

Gapped the plugs, put them in. Got the radiator/thermo in with no hitches.

Then I go to start it, and the car stumbles and dies.. Forgot to plug the MAS back in..

Start it, car still stumbles a bit but starts. 30 seconds in my test drive the CEL comes on. The idle is a bit rough. Also, when decellerating in gear if I just give it a TINY bit of throttle (1-2%) it'll get pretty rough..

To start the car after it's been sitting a while (like this morning) it takes a good 20 seconds of cranking. Then when it starts the R's jump to like 2k, then it dies.. Start it again, same thing happens. I have to stay on the throttle to keep it alive. Once it's been running a min or so, it stays alive but the CEL kicks on again.

Car SEEMS to be running like normal other than what I mentioned above.

I made sure all plugs/wires were tight, the MAS completely plugged in too.. Also disconnected the battery for 10 mins to clear any codes.

I didn't take anything else off.. I can't check the CEL yet because I can't figure out how to display the code on my MMCD pocketlogger either.. Any ideas on that?

Maybe a plug is bad? I'm going to replace all plugs again today to see if that does anything. Could I have ####ed anything up starting the car with the MAS unplugged?

I'm stumped until I can pull that CEL.

Thanks

 

[brute]

Did you unplug the coolant temperature sensor when you did the radiator? If you forgot to plug it in, that might cause this.

 

[TheClaw]

Did you unplug the coolant temperature sensor when you did the radiator? If you forgot to plug it in, that might cause this.

Nope - did that

 

[brute]

You could always pull the CEL with an ohm meter. That's what I do. Mine even has an audible setting so I can hear the long and short tones. Can you do this easily?

Edit: Here's how. Sorry, I got to go to class now. Check that link out and hopefully another person can chime in. Good luck!

 

[TheClaw]

You could always pull the CEL with an ohm meter. That's what I do. Mine even has an audible setting so I can hear the long and short tones. Can you do this easily?

Edit: Here's how. Sorry, I got to go to class now. Check that link out and hopefully another person can chime in. Good luck!

Thanks for the link.. I was looking for that. Last time I had a CEL I used a 12v buzzer to pull it - but I couldn't find the link for the beep codes. If I can't get my palm to work I'll do that.

Thanks..

 

[CanadianTSi]

Put your plug wires back on the corrrect plugs?

 

[TheClaw]

Put your plug wires back on the corrrect plugs?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. I do them one at a time so I don't get mixed up. I'll double check thugh.

 

[wishihadatalon]

this really sounds like a coolant temp sensor problem. I suggest checking it again and getting the code.

 

[cb3016]

make sure all of the spark plugs are fully torqued in, if they arn't all the way in it will cause a random misfire and rough idling, just make sure you have them all the way down, check your spark plug wires and make sure they are in tact. Also if the Cel comes back on head over to an autozone or kraigen, they have code readers and will let you plug it in right there in the parking lot to see what the problem is.

-Chad

 

[silver eclipse]

Im sure you did this, but make sure the hoses (if any) are put back on the intake, you missed the mas you might of accidently missed that (it would explain the 2 grand rpm).

Also check or replace the plugs like you mentioned, because if they were dropped the porslin could be cracked causing an arc to the valve cover and a misfire.

 

[femmeDSM]

+ 1 for the coolant temp sensor. Good job guys
I first noticed the problem with mine when I was adjusting shifter cables. I removed the intake to get a better angle on the cables and I hit the temp sensor wires and they must have been old and corroded, because they completely came apart inside the plug. So while the sensor was technically plugged in, the wires weren't making contact where they should, and thus I had almost exactly the same problem you're describing. Took me a couple of days to figure that out, but basically, I just ran some new wire to the plug and made sure it was solid. No problems since.

FYI, the coolant temp sensor is notorious for throwing a "mystery" CEL. I must have checked for the code 984392840 times, but nothing was coming up. As soon as I re-wired the sensor, the CEL went away.

 

[TheClaw]

You guys got it!

I did the buzzer thing, code 21, coolant sensor..

Checked it out, and only one wire was making contact.. Snipped them, cleaned 'em up, re-attached, and all seems well!!

Didn't test drive it yet but it's idling solid, and after 5 mins of idling no CEL..

Looks good - will go for a spin after dinner and see how it is.
Thanks for the help guys!!

 

[femmeDSM]

Cool, glad we could help Sometimes it's the simplest problems that give us the biggest headaches