car cuts out when warmed up and driven for a while

[acdrew]

Recently purchased this car its a 93gsx it acts funny when its warmed up all the way and driven a little bit or hot outside. The car will start to smell like sulfer and a mix of rotten egg then it will cut out slowly and progress to so much stuttering that from a dead stop its almost impossible to get up to speed it almost feels like a misfire but im pretty sure its more than that. At night I can atleast drive it down the road but during the day when its hot out it stutters so bad i cant,itll also start idling bad the rpms will drop to like 500 and fluctuate to 800 like it wants to cut off,before anyone says wires or plugs or battery its already been replaced and I doubt a coil would make a sulfure smell.

 

[Anubis_4_99]

rotten egg/sulfur smell normally points to a clogged catalytic converter.

 

[acdrew]

The car has a full 3inch exaust no catalytic converter.

 

[luv2rallye]

Rotten egg smell is also what you get with leaking caps in the ECU (although usually you have to open it up to smell it). You might want to take a look inside it.

 

[mitsu-luver]

Blown caps smell like peanut butter

Sent from my DROIDX

 

[luv2rallye]

Ya I've heard many different smell stories: rotten eggs, rotten seafood, surfur, burnt toast, etc. The point is it will not smell normal (like a good pc board or no smell at all).

 

[acdrew]

ok ill take it out and take a look at it and get back to you guys .

ok pulled top off ecu and looked in it ecu wasnt even bolted in ,just laying on carpet the computer looks fairly new. I think who ever had it before me made a attempt to fix whatever is wrong with it ,replaced the computer than sold it. Does anyone else have any suggestions.

 

[luv2rallye]

May not be your problem but the ECU case should be grounded. Bolted to body framework is best.

 

[red92tsi]

Not bolted down wouldnt be your problem, my ecu is just sitting on the carpet behind the radio not bolted down.

 

[bertrenolds]

Could be the ecu or possibly the O2 sensor, are you getting a check engine light?

 

[acdrew]

A new 02 sensor is going on next and fuelpump.Its official I bought a lemon pulled the front suspension off car today to put coilovers on and one brake rotor had a crack in it.The dirt guard behind the rotors on the front where rusted so bad the were like paper literally to the point to where one had caved in and the sensor was making contact with the metal band that the sensor sets above on both sides.the left axle was snapped no wonder the front was shaking bad the left wheel hub was completely shot.The ball joints are so bad they arent even sitting in the frame anymore there just dangling there. On a positive note there are stainless steel brake lines on it and replaced rotors just have to wait till axle and hubs come in.Im afraid to take the rear wheels off for anything of what i might find. I cant fix one problem for finding another to fix this car is really getting on my nerves, didnt even have time to replace the rear suspension

 

[Boostinsideways]

It just sounds like you have a good bit of maint to take care of. I would probably do the timing belt asap.

Did you figure out the stall issue? I hope you got the car pretty cheap though, I deffinently would have gotten under to look at it if it was shaking that bad. Never seen a CV axel actually snapped.

 

[acdrew]

The guy I bought it from was asking 4,000 I talked him down to 3,000 it wasnt completely snapped it would just shake violently when in boost like the wheel was gonna fall off.Taking the suspension out with the balljoints sticking out let the hub have so much room to move that it finished the axle off. I never fixed the stall issue it will rev to about 3k for about the first few minutes its crunk up. I think its got to do something with throttle body like a gasket or sensor or maybe a intake manifold leak on the gasket, just havent gotten around to fix because im fixing so many other problems. Thinkin im just gonna go ahead and put a sheetmetal intake on it and a bigger throttlebody and if that doesnt fix it well I know it wasnt that since I planned on purchasing those anyways and I wont have to deal with a adjustment screw or taking the old throttle body apart to replace gaskets .I pulled the timing belt cover off and looked at it , it looks fairly new.

 

[acdrew]

When driving now, I noticed the heat guage goes up,when it does this it has a sweet kind of smell of sulfur like. I also noticed when I stop driving it cools off. When It starts doing this it starts running like crap and misfiring. This leads me to believe that its the headgasket, is there a way I can check without having to take the head off not forsure knowing if its the problem? This also leads me to believe its a clogged radiator or water pump, maybe even the belt on the water pump but I dont think it would cause the car to have a misfire maybe I am wrong. I went to put a new fuel pump in and cant get the sending unit off because the bolts are stripped. They are rusted so bad they practically fall apart when you hit them with a socket. But I think that is the least of my problems as of right now.

 

[shay4g63]

do a compression test
pressurize the coolant system with the car off
check oil for milky looking oil or for oil in your coolant.

Are you loosing any coolant?

 

[acdrew]

Checked coolant today at radiator and it was low but the overflow is full .I am gonna take it and have a compression test done monday car is running 25lbs of boost with a 16g could be possible the compression raised the head up alittle.

 

[steve]

Check the ECU doe capacitor leakage damage. Check that the ISC coils are good.
Is your CEL on? Does it turn on for 5 seconds when you turn the ignition on?

All sorts of things can work fine when cold but fails when hot. I've had my TPS and an injector both fail that way.

 

[acdrew]

Checked ecu its good.I think the overheating and sputtering is cause by the same problem ,would the belt on the water pump slipping cause the car to sputter when driving?

 

[acdrew]

I drove car yesterday and stoped at mcdonalds.I went in and ate some food and came out and my car wouldnt crank. I took a voltage reader to the battery and it read bad, now I know what the sulfur smell was , it was the battery burning up.The car burnt up a 2 month old battery.It had battery acid burnt on the top of it. I went bought a new battery to fix the car thinkin it was the battery causing the car not to start and put it in still no start. Then I went and bought a starter and put it in still no start.When I turn the car over it makes a clicking noise but doesnt start the seat belts move and lights work, so I know its not the ignition switch. I pushed started the car where I could drive it back home and save money ,so I know its not the fuel system .The car runs fine once its crunk .Is there any ideas as to what it is?

 

[steve]

If the battery is venting acid you need to check for the alternator voltage regulator allowing the system voltage to exceed 14.8v and cooking the battery. That doesn't explain the other problems.

 

[mikestalon90]

i would say the alternater is bad the voltage reg in it prob went. as far as idle prolem maybe tps or injectors dont get discouraged just keep calm and keep on dsm'n

 

[Infamous33]

I would say the alternator could be causing all of your problems. If the diode trio is bad, it will overcharge-causing the sulfur smell. Also, all of the electronics are designed to run on 12-15 volts, yet if the alt. is pushing 17 or 18 volts, it can wreak havoc on everything. Have a true charging system diag. done. Pulling the alt. and bringing it into the store won't give you the real readings. A loose ground wire or corroded battery cable can cause the alternator to overcharge due to not getting correct readings at the voltage regulator. Try to find a shop with a Midtronics type tester, as that will test the battery and starter draw. Then it tests the alt. normally and under a load. GL

 

[acdrew]

I am thinkin its the alternator or something to do with it because the lights brighten when I hit the gas pedal. When I dont hit the gas the lights are not as bright so I know its something to do with wiring or the alternator its self.
Is there a way I can check the starter relay itself. I have it out the car or is it a buy put in and pray type of deal.Im not that good with electronics.

 

[acdrew]

I fixed my starting problem my had to run new wire from the starter to the ignition switch. Took the car out to enjoy the coilovers,drill slotted rotors and the new pads I had just put on, and just the fact that the car would crank and drive.Then about 10 minutes into the drive the heat guage shot to the line before the red on the guage and it started smoking white smoke out of the hood. I let the car sit for a hour and crunk it back up after it cooled off and drove it home to park it.Since ive had the car its been parked more than driven with fixing problems and have considered selling it but I have to much into it now. Im gonna put a small aluminum radiator in it with a cold thermostat and go ahead and replace the water pump and belt while im at it. I got a feeling this will all pay off once I get it running right.

 

[ExpresS]

I fixed my starting problem my had to run new wire from the starter to the ignition switch. Took the car out to enjoy the coilovers,drill slotted rotors and the new pads I had just put on, and just the fact that the car would crank and drive.Then about 10 minutes into the drive the heat guage shot to the line before the red on the guage and it started smoking white smoke out of the hood. I let the car sit for a hour and crunk it back up after it cooled off and drove it home to park it.Since ive had the car its been parked more than driven with fixing problems and have considered selling it but I have to much into it now. Im gonna put a small aluminum radiator in it with a cold thermostat and go ahead and replace the water pump and belt while im at it. I got a feeling this will all pay off once I get it running right.

Keep in touch let us know.