Died on the highway!

[cardot33]

Was driving my car home from work the first time and it died suddenly. I was in 5th gear, running at about 10 psi, just kind of cruising and it cut out. Tried kicking the clutch in, but it wouldn't run right or really at all. my oxygen sensor doesn't work right now (unplugged because of a shorted harness wire) and my plugs look ok. any suggestions?

 

[riceburnerboy42]

You should get your 02 sensor back in. Could cause engine to run to rich, bog out, and die. I need more information though to be sure. Did it make and weird sounds and is it still running?

 

[boostedjay32]

i know a bad one will make u run rich but a unplugged one may be worse

 

[cardot33]

it was running really rich until I unplugged it, then it started running a little better. didn't make any weird noises really. I've got spark and I can smell fuel when I take out the plugs, not to mention my fuel pump is running, MPI clicking on, ect. I've got my neighbor coming over and we'll test fuel psi, compression and some other things, so I'll post that stuff up when I get some info. could be as simple as low fuel pressure because it acted kinda like it ran out of gas.

 

[96eclipzGsT]

Sounds like your timing belt broke dude.

 

[riceburnerboy42]

Well it could be 3 things. 1. Fuel filter blockage (may need to replace). 2. 02 sensor could be causing it to run way to rich since its not in. (you can tell if the exhaust is a little strong when you stop or get out of your car also good to replace if its bad because it can lead to worse problems.) 3. Could be your intake manifold.
It would help to check the fuel pressure.
How often does it do this? Does it run still?

 

[rush2252]

If your smelling fuel and seeing spark it sounds like it jumped time. I recently fell victim to a balance shaft belt breaking. It was only idling thank god, but it jumped time and took out the crank sensor on my 2g. Now im in the process of a rebuild

 

[viperlp01]

I would check the ing plug on the top of the intake. If you car all of a sudden stalled and it isn't your timing belt i would bet it is that plug. Mine has done it and i was freaking out. i pulled that plug out and took out that dumb orange seal and plugged it back in and wa la.. started right up.. Just trying to help

 

[cardot33]

well, we figured it out. my belt jumped time. fantastic, the belt wasn't even that old. Here's the interesting part though, we took it apart and started it up for a second to see if there was enough compression to run (bent valve effects compression, of course) and it ran for the second I let it before I turned the key off (can't let it run more than a second, no balancer). So new belts and a tensioner are definitely on my parts list to start. Gotta buy a compression tester so I'll report those #s when I get them.
Aside from that, what's a good way to splice wires when I replace that harness connector for the O2 sensor?
Seems like I got some oil in the timing belt area, any common place check for leaks?

 

[rush2252]

Check CAM seals, also do a leakdown a compression test isnt the most effective way to check for bent valves.

 

[JMiller]

When i had bent valves in my other eclipse, I could see which valves were bad when i pulled the valve cover cause those were the ones that had space between the cam. Some of them i could pull the rocker out.(timing belt ripped then jumped, bent all the intake valves. Worst part, it was a freshly rebuilt head)

 

[420a_turbo]

Been there. Blizzard in march '06 took out my Tensioner, lost tension to the belt and she skipped a couple. Valve in the piston later, I had to build a new motor


Seems like you are taking the right approach though. Good luck

 

[cardot33]

Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it. We already pulled the valve cover off and watched the valves open and close. Me and my neighbor agreed that they were all bouncing back to the full length of their movement.

 

[cardot33]

Ok, so I got a new timing belt after tearing everything apart. Looks like the previous mechanic didn't have the tension set right (never seemed too tight to me) but I put it all back together, it started up and I drove it about 6 miles to see how she ran. Beautiful, now I have a couple things to take care of before its really running in top shape, but things are looking up.

 

[cardot33]

You know what I could really use help with is getting my boost to stop building. It should stop at about 10 psi, but it keeps building, like my bov or wastegate isn't releasing. My wastegate can be opened with my hand, so it's not jammed. Anything I can check for there? For now I just drive easy and watch my throttle.

 

[Silver99GSX]

What kind of BOV are you running. My Greddy Tyep S that if i had it to soft it keep boosting all the way to 17psi, then when i put the spring to hard it would stay at 14psi all day.

 

[cardot33]

it's just a stock 1g bov

 

[JusMX141]

You know what I could really use help with is getting my boost to stop building. It should stop at about 10 psi, but it keeps building, like my bov or wastegate isn't releasing. My wastegate can be opened with my hand, so it's not jammed. Anything I can check for there? For now I just drive easy and watch my throttle.

Sounds like boost creep to me- what does your exhaust system consist of?

 

[rush2252]

something simple you can check the WGA on the 14bs have the nipple with the goofy ass angle my boost line running to it haas kinked and I saw spikes to upwards of 20+!! yikes. I ended up bending the nipple slightly and havent had any problems since.

 

[cardot33]

Well, its not really at all like boost creep. I have a stock exhaust and a fart can on the end (really don't like it). Also, this is a 16g, the wastegate doesn't have a bend on the nipple. Any way to check if my diaphragm is any good?

 

[nyTalonTsi]

16g's tend to boost creep.

 

[cardot33]

found out there were washers stacked on the wastegate actuator. took all but 1 off and now its running around 15 psi. what do you think i can run with the otherwise stock car?

 

[JusMX141]

15psi. No more.

I wouldn't even do that without a logger.

 

[cardot33]

I still had a bit of boost creep so I took out the last washers and i still run pretty high boost. I run into fuel cut around 5k RPM, that really is a brick wall kind of feeling. I've got a few things to do before i will worry about tackling fuel cut and boost creep. I just won't see enough boost every day to worry about it right now.