Running on 3 cyl WTF? (video inside)

[joosdawg]

Well lastweek i finally got around to installing my MAFT setup in blowthrough by cutting my uicp and using SBR couplers and whatnot. At first it ran really really rich because the base settings are stupid on the translator but it got it worked out with the SAFC and it has been running absolutly great the past 5 days. Ive drivin it for about 200 miles sense the install all have been great miles. Only once ive had a problem and it was that the TB stuck open at 9% once after a wot run. Found out the TB was dirty, i cleaned it and its fine now. Anyway, two days ago i made a video and everything ran fine as shown here just for the heck of it: http://luminaltz.cryptnix.com/RyanJoosdawg/dsmbroken 010.mpg

Later that night i went somwhere to pick up some food and stuff and got home all was well and it was 10pm so i parked it for the night and everything was cool. yesterday i noticed one of the hose clamps starting to break cause there worm clamps and i had it so tight. So i replaced it with another one i had laying around and in the meantime i didnt drive it at all yesterday just put the new clamp on. So after it sat for 24 hours i went to start my car tonight at about 10pm i started it and it felt like absolute crap, felt like it was missing, i pop the hood and the engine is shaking pretty bad like one of the Cylenders wasent firing. The exhaust note was deff messed up and sounded like crap to confirm that one of the cyl was not firing. My first thought was that maybe from running so increadebly rich the first few miles after the MAFT install that maybe one of the plugs fouled out or somthing . So i took all the plugs out and they were caked black, mind you these plugs were just put in about 2-3 weeks ago. So i cleaned them with a paper towel until i saw the regular color again around the electrode and actually used a very fine grit sandpaper on them and regapped at .028 . I put them back in and same thing so im thinking maybe one of my injectors is bad or somthing? i just dont know where to really go from here. I have a video of what the engine does aswell as you can hear the exhaust in the video to see what i mean and that its deff missing. Watch when i first start it to see how bad the engine is shaking. http://luminaltz.cryptnix.com/RyanJoosdawg/dsmbroken 012.mpg

Also remember when i parked the car it was completly fine and i replaced a hose clamp without even taking the ic pipe off and when i started it back up 4 hours later it does this??? Any help from here would be great. I also am getting no CEL's and had my logger hooked up with no bad readings at all everything seemed good on that. Thanks

-Ryan

 

[femmeDSM]

Carbon deposits on the plugs indicate a problem with the fuel. Since you ran rich after the maft install, you could have fouled the plugs during that period. I don't think a bad injector would cause carbon buildup on plugs -- was it all 4 plugs that were fouled?

From the looks/sound of your video, I don't think you're running on 3 cyls. -- just sounds a little rough to me, similar to what a car that's running super rich (!!) will sound like. Is it throwing any CELs? Could be a sensor (O2 and coolant temp immediately come to mind as possible causes for the rough idle).

Other people that are more familiar with your MAF-T setup might be able to give you better advice, but hopefully this will steer you in the right direction

I assume you have a datalogger? Perhaps some logs will help us see what's going on a little better.

 

[joosdawg]

yes all 4 plugs had a ton of carbon build up and i know that was because of running VERY rich furing the first few miles. The thing is whenever i started it before when its cold it ran just fine and felt great, no vibration or engine movment at idle just pure smooth. O2 sensor was replaced about 2 months ago and functions properly according to the logger. Im not sure what could have happened to the coolant temp sensor sense i wasent even driving but during the rough idle right when i started it it read 64.2* and its about 28* outside so i think thats right for starting it completly cold. As for the other readings they all read just as they were when the car was running perfect. All fluids are full and fresh aswell. I think i might get some new plugs tomorrow depending on what others may say about this. I just sealed my tb elbow not to long ago with RTV so i hope i didnt put to much in and have a piece ooze out and get injested or somthing but thats highly unlikely and would have shown up by now.

 

[joosdawg]

Well today i planned on starting it up again and pulling each wire then putting them back in to see if i can narrow it down to a single cyl. If that doesnt work then i think i will try to check for boost leaks or somthing. Any other things i can try anyone?

 

[Booster2k]

Replace those plugs, even if its just some cheapo ones from autozone for troubleshooting. Just cause you clean a plug doesnt mean it should work, a fouled plug is a fouled plug. If that dont work try wires if they are old, no need going in deeper than need be! Hope its that easy for you. I had same thing happen to me a while back but with the obd2 it made it easy, tried plugs no help, did the wires and thats what it was. If I were a betting man would say plugs due to all the carbon, once you get the cylinder firing then its time to figure out the rich problem.

 

[joosdawg]

well i went and ordered some more NGK BPR7ES plugs from advance auto parts sense they dont stock those so they will be in tomorrow. Heres what happened, i started the car thismorning and it was still running like junk. So with the car still on i took each wire off one by one at a time to see which cyl i could narrow it down to. When i took cyl #1's off it almost died instantly and so i put it back on quick and it woke back up. This is the wierdest thing when i plugged #1 back in it was still junk and #2 3 and 4 all for some reason had NO effect on the way the car was running which really was F'ed up. So i plugged #4 back in and continued to #1 for a second round. Well round 2 i pulled to hard on the wire and it flew up and i got a great shock through my finger from the dam thing cause i took my gloves off for round 2 for some reason . Anyway as soon as i put #1 wire back on it smoothed out, quit making its wierd noise and idled smooth as butter again???? so i took it for a drive and it seemed completly fine for about 15 min. So on my way back home my bov started acting stupid and not blowing off til like 1 sec after i let off the gas. So i got home checked for boost leaks and found 1 so got that taken care of and went out again. This time the reaction for the bov is better but i put to small of a line to it and to long its like 6 feet long . Besides that though everything is running perfect again and i went out to fine tune the whole RPM range so that i wont foul out the new plugs like i did these just because of a bad tune. So finally got it running stronger than ever and sounding good and healthy. Im thinking it may be time for new wires i guess but i have no moeny for them, maybe #1 wasent plugged all the way in or somthing and from normal driving or cranking the engine the other night it vibrated loose and lost its connection which caused that cyl not to fire. Either way at least i found the problem and its taken care of .
-Ryan