'90 Eagle Talon TSI AWD Performance/Stuttering Issues

[Duderlybob]

Hey people, first post here. Looked through the rules of posting and such, but if I make a mistake in posting etiquette/rules, I apologize.

But to the business at hand. Recently, I've inherited a 90' Eagle Talon TSI AWD from my father in-law. It's a great car, but obviously it's old, and it's seen a lot of use. Recently had some work done to replace the clutch, struts, and spark plugs.

However, a couple of days after I got the car back, the Check Engine Light came on and the car's performance tanked. Initially I thought the engine was spluttering, but as I went a little further on it, I realized the car was more acting like it was way too high in gear, stuttering and generally having very little power.

I'll go ahead and say that I'm probably the farthest thing from a "car-guy" you'll meet, but given that this is the first car I've had worth thinking about, I think it's time for me to start caring a bit more. So I've tried to do my homework and get all the information I could to hopefully figure out what the problem was, but so far I haven't had much luck. Here's what I have been able to determine:

1. The problem seems to only happen if the car hasn't been given a very long time to rest. If it's the first time I've driven it that day, it doesn't give me the Check Engine Light, or any symptoms that anything's wrong. When the problem does rear its head, it seems to be a matter of whether or not it's been sitting long enough. So far, I've had the problem strike when it's been as long as 3 hours since I've driven it, and have it seem to clear up when I've given it about 5 hours to sit.

2. I've gotten what I believe to be the "Key-Dance Code," but it doesn't match anything that corresponds to any code that I've been able to find. As such, I'm not sure what the beginning or end of the code is, but the code loops at "S-S-S-S-S L-L-L-L S L S-S-S L-L" and this loops for as long as I try to get the code out of it.

If I'm misidentifying the code, I've gotten it by taking the diagnostic cord near the fuse box, and grounding it to the car via a voltmeter.

Beyond those points and the fact that whatever the problem is acts like I'm trying to drive in a gear to high for the situation, that's all I've been able to determine. If anyone could point me to what the problem may be, or at least another direction to go in for diagnosing this, I'd be extremely appreciative!

 

[steve]

The fault codes always start with some number of long pulses then short ones. There's a long pause between codes and then loops when it's pulsed them all out. Note than no code has a 0 in it.

11 O2 sensor
12 Air flow sensor
13 Intake air temperature sensor
14 Throttle position sensor
15 Idle speed control motor position sensor (1.8L only)
21 Engine coolant temperature sensor
22 Crankshaft position sensor
23 Camshaft position sensor
24 Vehicle speed sensor
25 Barometric pressure sensor
31 Knock sensor (turbo 2.0L only)
36 Ignition timing adjustment signal (1.8L Only)
41 Injector
42 Fuel pump
43 EGR (CA or 94 ECU only)
44 Ignition coil, ignition power transistor unit (2.0L Only)

Continuous .5 sec pulse .5 sec pause - Normal Heartbeat
Continuous On (12v) - Bad ECU
No output - Bad ECU


If you counted correctly that might be codes 41 (Injector), 13 (IAT), and 25 (Baro)

 

[pauleyman]

Check agqin. If the last post is good you have two out of the three sensors on the mass air sensor. This is usually insicative to a problem in that circuit or a bare minimum the car was run with the maf unplugged. The code should also not disapear. You may discover you have all three mas codes.