Car misses bad unitl turbo kicks in????

Stoner · Dec 30, 2003

I have a 95 tsi awd, the car is stock engine wise and has 85k mi. I just purchased it about a month ago and i am trying to get the car running right. You should know that i bought the car wrecked and then i repaired it, it sat for about a year before i bought it.

Basically what is happening is; the car idles kinda rough, low rpm's around 300 and when i accelerate it spits and sputters untill the turbo kicks in and then its fine. My check engine light is on, but i was told that it has a 98 ecu in it and i just assume thats why its on. I will have it checked out, I just dont want to spend the 69.00 just yet.

So far i have done the following;
1. Fuel injector cleaner (2 bottles)
2. Checked air filter (pretty clean)
3. Changed plugs, wires are on the way
4. Changed fuel filter
5. Changed oil, just fyi

Please give some other things that i might try, or any opinion you may have.

Thanks :thumb:

Sephroth57 · Dec 30, 2003

what kind of plugs did you put in? our cars dont seem to like non NGKs sometimes. also what do u mean 69$? you can check engine codes for free with a analog voltometer from radioshack they cost like 5$. theres a writeup on www.vfaq.com under electronics. check it out

Stoner · Dec 30, 2003

Thanks for the tip, and the car did the same thing with the other plugs in it which were splitfire. I heard those were not good for turbo dsm's and i replaced them with stock replacements from good ole auto zone.

HSK · Dec 30, 2003

i am also miss firing, heres how:
miss fires when i only punch my car and wants to spool. after 3800rpm its fine.
if i dont punch my car, doesnt miss fire.
this happens everytime turbo wants to spool i believe, happens on 2nd gear when i punch it.

the miss fire was there before, but yesterday when i got my 3"mandrel bent catback with apex'i dunk, the miss fire is loud and clear, and you can feel it a lot more. i cant drive like this. :cry:

Stoner · Dec 30, 2003

Mine is missing wheather i am in wot or just normal driving in all gears but it stops once the turbo kicks in.

Also i have been reading some posts on fuel filter change and some people say the the bolt at the top that holds the fuel line in, that the holes in the bolt have to be exactly lined up with the hole in the fuel line. Does anyone know if this is necessary for the car to run right because mine is off a little. I couldnt get it turned enought to line up and the fuel line is hollowed out so i just assumed it would be fine. Maybe this is my problem???

BISHILVR · Dec 30, 2003

forget about using a voltmeter or anything else from radio shak to check error codes in a gen 2 dsm, because gen 2 uses obdII and the only way to check codes with this system is with a scan tool of some type unless you have datalogging equipment and know how to use it to check everything out....here's the quick easy thing to do first...go to autozone and have the car scanned for codes for FREE yes FREE...then let us know what codes you have, we'll go from there....laterz!!!

Stoner · Dec 30, 2003

I tried having auto zone check it out but apparently they cant check 95 dsm's. The guy said they required a special plug that they dont have that year.

I had a buddy that works for chrysler bring home thier diagnostics tool and run a check on my car and we got the following;

1. Manifold differential pressure ciruit malfunction code; P1400
2. Also two unknown codes;
P0446, P1104

He is supposed to call me in the morning with what they mean, i have a hanes manual and none of these are listed in it. But i did find a check i can do on the Mani diff. pressure circuit, and i will do that tommorrow.

Thanks for all the help so far, and keep it comming. :thumb:

Sephroth57 · Dec 31, 2003

to the other guys that are misfiring, is it like a bucking kind of thing? if it is could be a small leak in your intercooler piping.

oh and i didnt know you couldnt use that trick on 2Gs, that sucks i need to get a code out of my car and was planning on doing it that way =( theres no autozones around here either, does pep boys or advance auto have that free scanning thing too?

Stoner · Dec 31, 2003

I guess you could describe it like a sort of bucking. How can i check for a leak in the intercooler piping?

Sephroth57 · Dec 31, 2003

might be a good idea to do this test http://www.vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html

its the only way youll notice those really small leaks which do add up and affect performance, robbing you of boost

Stoner · Mar 29, 2004

Update since last post;

I am still having the trouble and here is what i have done so far.

4 new NGK plugs
Accell Wires
3" Exhaust no cat
TB Replacement and all related
driverside cv shaft
new uicp
new air intake
boost gauge/ a/f guage
New MDP Sensor

Now after the exhaust the miss is more apparent, i dont think that it got any worse just louder and more noticable. Any ideas would be great.

Thanks,
Ben

Siberian · Mar 29, 2004

I had a very similar problem.

Coilpack was failing. Replaced it and it's fine :thumb:

Stoner · Mar 30, 2004

How did you determine that the coilpack was your problem. How much is it and where did you get it, from dealer or aftermarket parts store.

Thanks,

Siberian · Mar 30, 2004

Originally posted by Stoner
How did you determine that the coilpack was your problem. How much is it and where did you get it, from dealer or aftermarket parts store.

I tried the usual plugs, wires, new & higher octane fuel, injector cleaner, etc... then gave up and took it to the dealer:

$202 LABOR (includes diagnosing the problem)
$196 PARTS

That's apparently rather high though, judging by the reaction of people I've told. They determined the "exhaust was rich" and the coilpack was "intermittently shorting to ground," if that helps any.

Mine idled OK. It was only *during* spoolup that it would stutter BAD. Once fully spooled (past 3,000 rpm), it was fine.

Stoner · Mar 30, 2004

Thank you for the info, and thats pretty much exactly what mine is doing. Idle is fine, and WOT is fine, just between there is when i get a slight miss or sputter. I also am running a little on the rich side at least i think. My A/F guage begins to read rich before WOT and my best guess is it should only reach rich when at full throttle.

Thanks again :thumb:

ArticNemesis · Mar 30, 2004

P1104 is I believe a MAS ground fault. (I am almost positive that is the code they pulled when I was having problems with my MAS).

Had to replace my MAS and all the wiring to get it to clear the code.. Have any friends with a working MAS? See if that helps out at all replacing it with one you know works.

Defiant · Mar 30, 2004

Originally posted by Stoner
Also i have been reading some posts on fuel filter change and some people say the the bolt at the top that holds the fuel line in, that the holes in the bolt have to be exactly lined up with the hole in the fuel line.

Very doubtful. Banjo connectors don't really work that way. Orientation shouldn't have an effect.

laserspeed16 · Mar 31, 2004

Originally posted by Stoner
I tried having auto zone check it out but apparently they cant check 95 dsm's. The guy said they required a special plug that they dont have that year.

I have the same car as you do and auto zone is foolin' you. Our 95 talons have obd II and I just had mine checked at auto zone. As a matter of fact, I'm having the same type of problems as you. My knock sensor (bank one) is bad, tps, o2 sensor, and my EVAP purge/vent solenoid circuit is bad. Car is acting like yours untill the turbo kicks in. Hope this can help with somethin', but don't pay $69 to get it checked, go to auto zone. Any advice for me would be great. Drivin last night and my gas pedal FROZE up. New throttle cable, properly adjusted, what can this be?

Stoner · Mar 31, 2004

Wow, thats an expensive and time consuming list. Did you get a quote on all of those parts yet? My Local Autozone said that they can get the plug to check my car, but they just didnt spend the extra on it since a 95 was the only one it would work on. I dont know if maybe your autozone has the right plug, or maybe the guy just doesnt know what he is talking about. Can anyone confirm the difference in the plug on a 95 verses a 96-99 car.

As far as any ideas to fix yours, I would say you are going to have to replace all that stuff and see how it runs then. Do you run rich before your turbo begins to build boost? I am thinking that mine has something to do with spark, either not hot enough or non existent on some cylinders. I put new NGK's in and they have about 200 miles on them and I pulled them the other day and they have a lot of carbon build up on them already.

Good luck,
Ben

ArticNemesis · Mar 31, 2004

Originally posted by Stoner
Wow, thats an expensive and time consuming list. Did you get a quote on all of those parts yet? My Local Autozone said that they can get the plug to check my car, but they just didnt spend the extra on it since a 95 was the only one it would work on. I dont know if maybe your autozone has the right plug, or maybe the guy just doesnt know what he is talking about. Can anyone confirm the difference in the plug on a 95 verses a 96-99 car.

Go back to autozone and explain to them at all 95-99 Eclipses and Talons were OBDII compliant and there is no "other" plug... It sounds to me like they are just being lazy.

Driver side, right side, under the dash board. If they still won't, ask him if you can go out with the person and hook the plug up to the OBDII port. It will fit... Pocketlogger doesn't make a separate cord for the 95 dsm but rather a 95-99 dsm... Which means they are the same plug.

Tallen · Mar 31, 2004

I'm not gonna read all this wasted text. But if you have a 98 ECU in a 95 you have to swap plug wires.

When putting a 95 ECU in 98, you have to swap plugs 1 with 2 and 3 with 4....so try that!

Stoner · Mar 31, 2004

I did not know that about the plug wires. I am not sure if that has been done or not. It had the 98 ECU in it when I got it. How can I tell, or if I try it will it hurt anything?

Thanks,

Tallen · Mar 31, 2004

Try it, don't go above idle till you see that it is right or wrong.

nichols · Mar 31, 2004

If you do have a '98 ECU in your car, I would try finding a '95 ECU to put in your car to see if that clears up your problem. Does your ECU have a plastic case or a metal case? If it's plastic, it's the newer one.

If you swap a '95 ECU into a '97-99 car, you have to not only change the plug wires around, but very often invert the cam angle sensor signal (which is easy to do if you have DSMLink). If you don't, then sometimes you get misfiring at lower RPMs and not higher RPMs. I'm sure it's the same thing going from a '97-99 ECU into a '95 car.

Sounds like this might be your problem. It's worth a shot, and it's not too much effort to swap them if you can find someone with a '95 ECU to try in your car.

Keep in mind that if you do this, you'll need to change your plug wires around to get it to run correctly on the '95 ECU if in fact you have a '98 ECU in your car now.

Tallen · Mar 31, 2004

Yea good call. I meant to tell him to do the CAS too.

The Central Hub for DSM Community and Information

Car misses bad unitl turbo kicks in????

Stoner

Sephroth57

Stoner

HSK

Stoner

BISHILVR

Stoner

Sephroth57

Stoner

Sephroth57

Stoner

Siberian

Stoner

Siberian

Stoner

ArticNemesis

Defiant

laserspeed16

Stoner

ArticNemesis

Tallen

Stoner

Tallen

nichols

Tallen

Similar threads

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds