CEL followed by nonstart next morning

[GSEclipse06]

ok so yeaterday i decided to do something many people do to their cars, remove the stock heat shield. this was done quickly and in the process, the o2 sensor was disconnected from the plug (i figured, easier than taking it out of the header) so the the wire could be removed from the hole in the shield that it goes through. during this process the MAF was also disconnected (different reason). so i leave my tech school where this was done, nad my CEL was on before i left the lot (including a few minutes of idling). i go to get gas and while im there i check under the hood...all the sensors are plugged in, jsut the o2 plug wasnt in its holder. i put it back, start the car...light's gone. drive about a minute, its back. pull over again, check everything again, start it...gone again. i finally figured out that it doesnt come on until its been driving for a minute. i get home, let it idle for five minutes with the hood open...nothing. get out, close the hood, lights on when i get bakc in the car. i'm thinking maybe the plug got a little dirty when it was apart and ill clean it the next day. this morning i go out to start it, cranks but wont turn over. call my friend to jump it thinking its jsut a bit too cold...still nothing. i dont have a ####ing clue what it could be, and i dotn think a dirty o2 sensor plug would cause it to not start. im waiting right now to see if it starts in slightly warmer temps (13 this morning, dunno how cold right now but im assuming warmer.) anyone have any ideas?

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

I would get someone with a datalogger or scantool to find out what the code is. Could be dirty plug but you might have pinched an o2 sensor wire as well or even messed up something else. Also you could be getting your o2 sensor wire to close to the header and heating up the wires but that is a highly unlikely problem. Best bet would be to get it to a garage that can check it with a scantool. Most places will do it for under 20 bucks and then you will know your problem.

 

[Froyd79]

sounds like a coolant temp sensor check the connection to that! If it gets persistent even worse I would check the ECU to make sure the caps are not leaking. Seen this happen then the light came on all the time and the ecu had a nasty leak!

 

[GSEclipse06]

well it did it again this morning. first try, just cranked. next 8 or so tries, chug on second crank then back to cranking, followed by three quick start-n-stalls. finally got it running, rough idle, touch the gas its starts to stall. let it run a few minutes finally good enough that its driveable. used to be a cold start caused an idle at 1500 and slowly downing as it warmed up...now its at like 600 rpm, whole car shakes. im starting to think maybe vac hose is off somewhere?

 

[GSEclipse06]

I would get someone with a datalogger or scantool to find out what the code is. Could be dirty plug but you might have pinched an o2 sensor wire as well or even messed up something else. Also you could be getting your o2 sensor wire to close to the header and heating up the wires but that is a highly unlikely problem. Best bet would be to get it to a garage that can check it with a scantool. Most places will do it for under 20 bucks and then you will know your problem.

i tried to scan it at my tech school yesterday but i got nowhere. maybe its my incompetence with the old scanner but i couldnt fgure it out. i would have found out today but the roads here are so damn bad that im not going. hopefully tomorrow.

 

[GSEclipse06]

ok finally scanned it, code 21 engine coolant circuit. no idea what it could be. also found cracks in the valve cover so i think thats whats causing my starting issues.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Coolant Circuit would mean that your coolant temp. sensor is faulty and the computer can't read the signal comming from it so in the morning it doesn't know how much air to add because it doesn't know the ambient temperature of the air outside. Replace your coolant temp. sensor and that will fix all of your problems.

 

[GSEclipse06]

would help if it started. went out this morning to a stone dead battery. apparently i left some lights on over night. tried for half an hour start it but it wouldnt do more than a few turn overs before dying again.

im really starting to hate my car.