Myriad of problems, not just one specific one....

[TheWanderer]

Here goes...

lately I have been having problems with the 92 GS... I've noticed first off that when I pull up to a stop sign/red light, etc. that my dash lights go dim and so do my head lights. My idle also drops a bit, but nothing major (as of last week)...

I also have the oil pressure problem that I have previously posted, but I've narrowed that down to either the pump or the journal bearings...going to replace both when I do the timing belt, etc. seeing as I will be eliminating the balance shaft. Relatively cheap (bearing set - $45, pump - 150ish) and also convenient, since I need an oil change and the timing belt done anyway.

Now, heres the kicker... As of this evening around 5 pm EST, I started my car... Idled at 1k RPM, as if everything were normal. I let it warm up for about 5 minutes while I talked to my coworker... Drove it 2 miles to the dealership so I could get my production date via VIN number... I was in there for about 10 minutes, then came back out. Started the car, it went up to 1200 RPM right after the initial fuel that was injected combusted, then wouldn't idle and stalled... All of this in about 3 seconds. Didn't even have enough time to put it in gear before it stalled out. Finally came down to having to put it in reverse, start it up with one foot feathering the brake and the other on the gas so that I could keep it running.

Now, a lot of this happens when I engage the clutch. First it acts like a faulty ISC (idles drops to 500, idles rough. etc). Then the oil pressure drops to nothing. Next the dash lights/head lights dim. Finally, the service lights start flashing (radiator, oil, etc). This is the rundown as of today....


Any Ideas guys? Starting to get a bit with this car. It only has 102425 on the motor... I have to wonder if I'm just beating a dead horse here... I'm ready to set it on fire and sell it for scrap...

Any of you local gurus that could come out and take a listen, maybe help me, It would be greatly appreciated... I'm at the end of my rope here... I've a trunk full of new parts and no results to show for it.

 

[spoonman]

Myriad nice vocabulary.

The power dropping every time you come to a stop could be that you alternator is going bad and the rpms get low and it struggles. You may also want to do a voltmeter check on the battery and see if it stays at 12.45 ish when the car has been sitting for a while and then see if when the car is idling it is above 13.5, if it is lower while idleing like at 12.4 then your alt. could be bad. I assume that your isc is going bad, to check it take of the plug and place a voltmeter set on ohms and test the 1 and 2 terminal then the 2 and 3. Do the bottom half the same way. The ohms should come out between 28-32 any lower or higher and the isc is bad.

 

[talonalex92]

Alternator and battery issues. Im willing to bet you toasted the battery. Get your charging system checked if you cant do it yourself. If you have the tools, take a DVOM to the battery terminals and check the voltage when the cars off and then if you can get it started. Should be 11.8-12.5 when off and from about 13.5-14.4 volts while running. If either are low, thats the issue at hand.

 

[TheWanderer]

I don't see how it could be the battery. I just replaced it in November, about 2 weeks after I bought the car. The previous owner left the car sit for about 9 months with the previous battery still connected...

I figured the alternator was probably going bad, and was going to pick up one anyway to put on with the timing... The ISC is fine, its new.

Question is though, would a bad alternator cause stumbling/stalling while idling?

I did fail to mention in my previous post that I am also running rich as all %@&# and have been since buying the car in October. Not sure as to why just yet, possibly a bad FPR or it could be the fact that the previous owner was a moron and put a 3" catback on a N/T, leaving no back pressure.

 

[spoonman]

The cat back is probably not the problem but the running rich could cause the idle to be bad. A bad alt. would not disrupt idle unless the power levels were very low and the ignition was cutting out, but if it was then the higher rpms would be very slow and not want to rise past 5 grand.

 

[knochgoon24]

I'm thinking that altenator is going bad. Take it and get it checked. But first, clean your battery terminals and connectors and see if that helps.

 

[talonalex92]

I don't see how it could be the battery. I just replaced it in November, about 2 weeks after I bought the car. The previous owner left the car sit for about 9 months with the previous battery still connected...

I figured the alternator was probably going bad, and was going to pick up one anyway to put on with the timing... The ISC is fine, its new.

Question is though, would a bad alternator cause stumbling/stalling while idling?

I did fail to mention in my previous post that I am also running rich as all %@&# and have been since buying the car in October. Not sure as to why just yet, possibly a bad FPR or it could be the fact that the previous owner was a moron and put a 3" catback on a N/T, leaving no back pressure.

So you know, if you toasted your alternator and keep driving around your batterys going to be toast too. The exhaust isnt going to have anything to do with it, loss of power at most since its 3''. If the alt is going bad though and your battery is not charging of course the cars going to want to die. If your really lazy hook jumper cables up to your car and someone elses and see if yours runs better with them connected. If so, your alternators out or going. If you dont want to do that, take it to advanced auto or any shop and have them check your battery and charging system. It shouldnt take more than 15 minutes and they shouldnt charge you either. If they try to, argue and if that doesnt work find somewhere else. Good luck homie.

 

[TheWanderer]

meh, i'm just going to replace the alternator and put the battery on the charger, just to be on the safe side.

Although if the battery was toast, the car wouldn't start, hence the reason I don't think its the battery...

 

[talonalex92]

meh, i'm just going to replace the alternator and put the battery on the charger, just to be on the safe side.

Although if the battery was toast, the car wouldn't start, hence the reason I don't think its the battery...

If cells in the battery are gone the batterys not going to charge. I think youll be best off replacing both. If its a new batt, it should be warrantied. Just dont tell them what happened and why it went bad.

 

[TheWanderer]

Just an update...

Got the battery load tested, everything was fine, 12.6 VDC across the board with the car off... replaced the alternator with one from a 90 GS in the yard... When my mechanic pulled the old one, he found a wire that had broken running to the bottom left of the alternator from the harness against the front fender.... Not sure what it was for, but my guess is a ground wire...

Still having the problems with the lights dimming when I stop at red lights, and still have the stumbling/idle problem... Would a bad FPR cause the stumbling issue? Or could it be the fuel pump? Just replaced my FPR and fired the car up, it no longer burns rich as hell, and the idle seems to be smoother. Haven't test driven it yet to see if the idle drops when I stop, but doing that soon...

 

[talonalex92]

If your lights are dimming when your not driving its your alternator.

 

[TheWanderer]

Its not the alternator though. I just replaced it. Right after I pulled it from the yard, I took it to Advance and had it load tested on the machine they have. It worked fine, and was within spec. The belts are in good shape, and tight also....I also put new battery post terminals in...

Just for the heck of it, I took the old alternator to advance and had them test it tonight. It was on its way out, wouldn't go past 9-10v under load.

I'm wondering if the battery may be underpowered. Its a cheap 550 CCA, 650 max CCA from Auto Zone (Valucraft I believe). I have my system wired up to it and my wiper nozzles with LED lights in them, but that shouldn't be using that much power... Think I am going to try and get my hands on a red top and drop that in to see what happens. 750 CCA Optima. From what I have read and the people I have talked to, Optima Red Tops are great in our cars. This shouldn't be the problem though, seeing as OE batteries are only 450 CCA...

 

[talonalex92]

Just an update...

Got the battery load tested, everything was fine, 12.6 VDC across the board with the car off... replaced the alternator with one from a 90 GS in the yard... When my mechanic pulled the old one, he found a wire that had broken running to the bottom left of the alternator from the harness against the front fender.... Not sure what it was for, but my guess is a ground wire...

Still having the problems with the lights dimming when I stop at red lights, and still have the stumbling/idle problem... Would a bad FPR cause the stumbling issue? Or could it be the fuel pump? Just replaced my FPR and fired the car up, it no longer burns rich as hell, and the idle seems to be smoother. Haven't test driven it yet to see if the idle drops when I stop, but doing that soon...

No where does it say you tested your alternator. Last time I checked you cant really test it out of the car. It needs tested in the car, to decide if diodes are bad. That battery is fine, and an optima's a great battery but a waste if you dont need one. 550cca is plenty. I say you fix your broken wire, wherever it may go and drive your car somewhere, where they can check your charging system.

 

[TheWanderer]

Heres what you should do: go to Advance Auto and ask them if they can test an alternator. They DO have a machine that will test it out of the car. It spins the pulley while being wired up to a test plug that runs into a voltmeter. They then put a load on the alternator to simulate it being used. The one that I pulled from the yard was load tested that way, and was fine. It is now in the car, and the broken wire was fixed when it was put in. The old one was tested last night and found to be on its way to the trash.

Just a piece of advice: you should do more research before you post.

I'm thinking it may be a vacuum leak somewhere, going to go over my lines this weekend and see if I can't find where. Also going to check my plugs to see if they are fouled and do a compression test.

 

[talonalex92]

Heres what you should do: go to Advance Auto and ask them if they can test an alternator. They DO have a machine that will test it out of the car. It spins the pulley while being wired up to a test plug that runs into a voltmeter. They then put a load on the alternator to simulate it being used. The one that I pulled from the yard was load tested that way, and was fine. It is now in the car, and the broken wire was fixed when it was put in. The old one was tested last night and found to be on its way to the trash.

Just a piece of advice: you should do more research before you post.

I'm thinking it may be a vacuum leak somewhere, going to go over my lines this weekend and see if I can't find where. Also going to check my plugs to see if they are fouled and do a compression test.

So your answering your own questions, and obviously im the only one trying to help and your being a dick to me? Fair enough. Ill ignore that. Thats fine that you tested it, try unplugging your 'system' and see if that stops your dimming. A vacuum leak wont cause dimming and undercharging, because thats whats happening.

 

[TheWanderer]

I'm not trying to be a dick, just stating the facts. I am a very blunt person. Sometimes this is misconstrued as me "being a dick" as you so put it. My apologies if you took this the wrong way. I do appreciate the suggestions.

And I realize that a vacuum leak won't cause the dimming that I am having, I am referring to the fact that the idle is buggered up and it stumbles every time I let off the gas. But this could be any number of things, like a MAF, an O2 sensor, a vacuum leak, a bad fuel pump, etc... And I am starting to think more and more that its a combination of vacuum loss and a bad fuel pump. When the car is cold, it starts up and idles fine at 1k RPM. After driving it, the idle drops and it stumbles. Also. if I turn the car off and let it sit, then go to turn it back on, it turns over and fires, then stalls immediately after it is warm. I had someone listen for the fuel pump and they didn't hear anything.

As for the dimming, this started before I even installed my new speakers. Its been going on for about 3 weeks now, and I just put the speakers in on Saturday.

 

[TheWanderer]

Problem solved I believe. Aside from the idle surge that I have due to a bad ISC, I fixed a vacuum leak this afternoon and the car runs better... It was the center line on the top of the throttle body that runs into the thermostat housing that was causing it... Thanks for the help though guys, appreciate it very much.

 

[talonalex92]

If you have a vacuum line running to your thermostat housing somethings not right.

 

[spoonman]

My N/T termo. housing has the same line running to the TB.

 

[talonalex92]

My N/T termo. housing has the same line running to the TB.

Do you have any pictures? That sounds really odd to me.

 

[TheWanderer]

Heres a basic idea of the vacuum lines....not exactly the same, as these are from a 90-91, but a good starting point nonetheless... My 92 has 3 of these lines on top the throttle body, and they all run into the bottom of the thermostat housing (I've seen 94's that ran to the top of it)...

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[talonalex92]

I want a picture of the thermo housing if you can.

 

[TheWanderer]

well, I must retract my previous statement about the car running stronger with the idle not dropping. I blew another Thermo Vac line again last night... Replaced it today, and still runs like crap. Also pulled my TB of and cleaned it out with carb cleaner and replaced the gasket... waiting for the RTV to set before I see what happens, but so far it still runs terrible. Along with a major gas fume smell... I am thinking it may be a bad EGR at the moment...Any thoughts guys?