2G please tell me its not my ecu

[auker1]

ok so i recently had my motor out for a head gasket, main and rod bearings and a good cleaning. it ran fine when i pulled it but leaked oil like crazy. now i have it back in and its acting up on me. first it is hard to start. it try to start 3-4 times before it actually starts. there is a cel on but it only reads two codes which are temp sensor circuit malfunction and o2 sensor heater malfunction. it had the bad o2 sensor before i tore it apart and probably the other one too but i didn't get it read before disassembly. when i initially got it back together it started right up and ran fine. i took it around the block a few times and it worked great. then it was in the garage at idle and it died for no reason. i started it up and idled, then died again. so i unhooked and rebooked up the ground cable. it drove for about a mile and then died. no ever since i have no vacuum pressure at idle until it has been running for about 5 minutes. then suddenly it has vacuum. also my belts screech like crazy until it warms up then they only screech when i rev it a little. i have heard it could be a power transistor or my edu. i am going to test the ptu and then idk what to do. any incite or ideas would be very helpful.

 

[delta448]

It's not the ECU.

It's probably the head gasket job you did, coupled with no ECT signal and no O2 signal. Got a datalogger?

 

[auker1]

thank God. i just talked to a friend of mine and he said it sounds like an ignition and fuel pressure problem. no i do not have a datalogger. this is my first dsm so i don't have what most people have on their cars.

 

[Kod]

Not cheap for everything either (least imo, unless I've been looking in the wrong areas)

 

[auker1]

what do you mean by not cheap. a datalogger or to fix my problem?

 

[Kod]

datalogger, then again your a 99 so if least if you a CEL you can have it scanned for the code and go from there

 

[delta448]

Not cheap? Maybe not for a laptop, but you can buy a vag-com 409.1 cable on ebay for $10-15 and download Mitsulogger 2.0 for free. Just pay attention to the request IDs in the Mitsulogger software to make sure you're actually logging the value that you're trying to.

 

[zack13277]

it drove for about a mile and then died. no ever since i have no vacuum pressure at idle until it has been running for about 5 minutes. then suddenly it has vacuum.

That seems pretty strange like something's not sealing until its warmed up. Sounds like it could be the head gasket to me. Maybe try a compression test or cylinder leak down if you have the tools. That would tell you if you have a mecanical engine problem.

Also what does ptu stand for?

 

[delta448]

That seems pretty strange like something's not sealing until its warmed up. Sounds like it could be the head gasket to me. Maybe try a compression test or cylinder leak down if you have the tools. That would tell you if you have a mecanical engine problem.

Exactly.
You can't shade tree a headgasket job on a 4g63 and expect it to work out fine.

Also what does ptu stand for?

He means the ignition power transistor.

 

[auker1]

Yeah I just put a new head gasket in it. There is one vacuum line that may be floating around my engine bay not hooked up. I have a greddy bovine and it had the second line hooked up. My buddy helped me pull the engine andidk where that line went. I did a compression test and cylinders 1-3 came out at 185psi but cylinder 4 came out at 160psi.

 

[auker1]

ok so just an update. i made an appointment with a local garage for wednesday next week. this afternoon i did some snooping around in my engine bay and found a few vacuum hoses that weren't tore but could possibly be leaking. i cut the bad part off and put the them back on. i had the battery unhooked for a while so i started it up and it had vacuum instantly and no cel yet. i took it for a drive with the temp sensor unhooked because it won't turn my fans on. i guess ill try to drive it till next week and have them look at it and make sure everything is ok and done right.