98 GXS Massive Engine Problem

[Bensont]

*Solved* So to start off I purchased a 1998 GSX Eclipse for about 4k with 97k miles (the body is beat up pretty bad) and shortly after buying the car the check engine light came on. I scanned it and found that it was a random misfire in my cylinder one. Well I have been trying to track down the issue.

Yesterday I went ahead and swapped my cylinder 1 and 2 fuel injectors to see if the code would switch to a cylinder 2 misfire instead of cylinder 1. So I unplugged my fuel pump and let the engine run until it staled. And then I unplugged all of the sensors and wiring in the engine bay that "blocked" easy access to my fuel rail. Then removed my feed and return lines, and unbolted the fuel rail. After swapping the injectors and cleaning a bit of gunk of of the injector tips I put it back.

After reconnecting everything I let the pump run for a bit before starting my car. When I started the car It sounded awful, It reved up to 2.5k and then idled at 800rpm the whole time I could hear my turbo spooling and sure enough it was spooling at 800rpm and at 2k the turbo was at max boost.

I removed the intake tube to see if running my engine with no boost would help me, and the engine ran super rough and burned alot of oil. And while driving it felt like it wanted to stall almost like there was not enough fuel, but i double checked all of the fuel systems and i think they are all working fine.

The shop i took it to has been useless thus far, anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

*one of my fuel injector o-rings was ripped causing a vacuum*

 

[spyderdrifter]

Misfire can be a spark issue as well, and my view is you should have checked spark first since it's a lot easier to do than swapping around the injectors. Check your spark plug conditions and if possible, post some pictures for us to see so we can offer better solutions.

In addition to checking spark, a leak down test, would be another good thing to do. It doesn't help a misfire problem directly, but if you're leaking air from somewhere, it could contribute to showing a false misfire.

 

[Bensont]

I had all of the plugs and wires replaced like a month ago.

I would post pictures but I left the car at the useless auto shop and they are closed till Monday.

 

[Miasma]

Did you also check your coils?

 

[Bensont]

No I didn't, kinda because I did not want that to be the issue

 

[spyderdrifter]

Even if you don't want that to be the issue, it still could be and you won't know til you check.

 

[pauleyman]

What do you mean you removed the intake tube? You cant run tbe car like that. Its a closed system after the maf. Explain.

 

[Bensont]

The big black tube that comes up from the box filter

 

[Mello]

If the other end of this big black tube connects to the turbo you need to put it back on then try again.

 

[Bensont]

I did and when that is connected the turbo puts to much air into my engine and the fuel is super lean

 

[Mello]

Do you have the stock turbo or has it been upgraded? You may have a tuning problem if your car has been modified.

 

[Bensont]

No everything on the car is stock

 

[Dsmkauai]

Sounds like you have a maf problem or its not plugged in all the way. Or could be o2 sensor throwing things off. Do you have a check engine light? How do you know it runs lean when the intake is hooked up correct?

 

[Bensont]

Yes I do but I don't know if it was from my misfire or something new (I never scanned it before I sent it in....)

 

[Dsmkauai]

I would scan it again and go from there. And then if its nothing new make sure it gets cleared.

 

[fastfred]

You cant let unmetered air into the engine. Thats why it ran so bad with the intake tube off. What kind of plugs and wires did you use? And as mentioned already check the coil. Id check into fuel pressure for it running lean and the fuel filter. I guess you could have a vac leak but it would probably have to be big and should be easy to notice

 

[Bensont]

I just left it off for a test it is back on now (unless the shop took it off) and I don't know the guy I bought it from just showed me a receipt for the service not the parts.

 

[fastfred]

I would check them the wires are easy to check with an ohm meter. Still check the coil and id pull those plugs and if there not ngk id get some. And still check the fuel system youd be surprised how many people never change fuel filters

 

[Bensont]

I just think it is odd how just changing my fuel injectors can cause such a huge issue.

 

[turtlebain]

Actually, sounds like you had a problem before you swapped the injectors though. And that's what triggered you to swap am I right??

Running the car without metered air could've fouled up your plugs. It may be worth replacing them with all new since NGK bpr7es are $2 a pop.

As for the in-neutral turbo spool, you could have jumped a tooth in timing. Look up how to verify mechanical timing.

 

[Bensont]

I just had a random misfire code and I wanted to just fix it, it was not causing a huge performance issue it was only happening like once every 25k engine rotations

 

[turtlebain]

Right, so what I'm saying is doing what you did could cause other issues so you might have to replace plugs now.

Misfire codes aren't something you want to neglect. It does sound like either one of the coil packs went or the ignition control module. Why don't you try swapping the packs and see if the code migrates?

And for the neutral spool I'm not sure how how easily a t25 would spool in neutral but I don't think what you described sounds normal. I would definitely check mechanical timing. Good luck.

 

[VtecvrsTurbo]

You know, many DSMs have a random misfire code that happens when the clutch/flywheel is repalced. I went through everything to fix it and it didn't matter. I had to disable it via flashing the ECU. Just run some new plugs, check on them a few times every 100 miles or so and if they look fine, just roll with it.