very poor idling. It sounds like a weak v8, with screwed up timing or misfire

[DSM_Bossco]

Hello, new to the forums, 97 Spyder GST. Nice to be here.
Heres my problem... car was running fine, drove home from work, 19 miles, pulled into my parking lot and noticed very poor idling. It sounds like a weak v8, with extremely screwed up timing or misfiring. Almost rotary'ish like a bike. If I put it into gear without giving it any gas, it'll die. The car has 71k miles on it, brand new timing belt and water pump. Whats wrong with it? I'm changing the spark plugs and wires, and plan on changing the oil as well this weekend.

While I'm on the subject, whats the cheapest place to purchase sparkies, wires and this 'Amsoil 10-30 Turbo Formulated oil' I hear of, online?

Thanks,
Bossco

 

[wret]

First order of business: boost leak check.

 

[DSM_Bossco]

Im a total newb to turbo'd cars(not to skilled of a mechanic either). How do I go about checking for boost leak? Thanks

 

[wret]

Start here:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15800&highlight=merged

 

[DSM_Bossco]

Awesome, I work as a salesman for an HVAC/Industrial Waterworks wholesale provider, and plumbers regularly make pressure checks on systems. We sale the guage body, 15- up to 1000 psi gauges, test caps and plenty of NH couplings to seal it with. We also have every type of p40/p80 bushing you can think of and nipples galore. I'll get on this right away... Thanks Wret.

 

[DSM_Bossco]

Quick question - I read all this 'turn to TDC or BTDC to close all....' and 'make sure you plug your VAC and PCV and MBC... etc etc' what sis all this, and how do I do it? Sorry, like I said im a total newb with cars, eager to learn though. Anyone wanna walk me through this?

 

[Locke]

TDC = Top Dead Center.
BTDC = Before Top Dead Center
VAC = Vacuum
PCV = Positive Crankcase Ventilation
MBC = Manual Boost Controller

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211093
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140842

 

[DSMopar]

how is a boost leak going to affect idle? These things supposed to be making boost at idle?

 

[wret]

A boost leak turns into a vacuum leak at idle. Either way the motor is not getting the amount of air that the ECU thinks it is and improper combustion results. We tend to lump post-turbo intake leaks into the "boost leak" category. A large percentage of "running rough" complaints can be traced to boost leaks. Not all of them but it's usually the first step in troubleshooting.

 

[DSMopar]

ah, i'm used to refering to before throttle body leaks as boost leasts, and after as vacuum leaks. Different conventions for every site I guess

 

[bjw24]

You could even look around real good and make sure hoses are all connected and such. Last week I had the same problem, my car would stall out as soon as I let off the gas. My crankcase hose popped off my intake pipe and caused a pretty big leak. Which accounted for my horrible idle . Chances are good that your looking at a nice size leak or several leaks.

 

[DSM_Bossco]

Alright, so now I know the meanings, one thing I cant seem to find an answer to though, is how do I get all the valves in the closed position(is it possible?) and if it requires manually cranking the shafts, how do I go about doing it?

Sorry, again.


Thanks

 

[big_d]

my car wouldnt idle after the timing belt change, took the cam cover off and noticed (after i threw a straight edge on it) that i was one tooth off ...fixed it and it purred ....its just something easy to check, and could possibly save you a lot of headaches... big_d

 

[DSM_Bossco]

Ok, I am seriously retarded... so I apologize in advance.
How do I do a boost leak test? I have my tester, but I don't know what to do. Should the vehicle be running? I know what TDC is... but I dont know how to manually crank the cams. Also, where is the pcv valve, and how do I know if it is bad? Lastly, what all do I remove and plug?

I don't have an aftermarket boost gauge yet, but I have 1 built into my tester. I just got the car 2 weeks ago.. its been driving fine, then the other day it started idling terribly. When I drive it, I don't really notice a huge loss, I pull hard and I can hear the turbo spool up and blow off just fine when I shift. But it wants to die at idle... and theres this wierd 'shaking a soda can with a little dirt/pebbles inside' sound coming from near the injectors/IM after the car warms up.

HELP!

 

[DSM_Bossco]

OK.... I just tried something. Was out messing with the car just now, and thought that maybe I had a dead cylinder. Engine is jerking hard when its idling, and there's also a ticking noise, aswell as the dirt ina can sound I described above. So I pulled the spark plug wires one by one to see if the idle would change at all, and they all seemed to be working fine, sparking good. The engine would kick down on every wire pulled.

Just thought I would add this to see if it would help anyone diagnose my problem.