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Car stalling, need suggestions please

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Old Mar 30, 2009 | 02:26 PM
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Default Car stalling, need suggestions please

Normally on a cold start, when I shift into D or R the car will be fine, but anytime it is warm it will freak out and fall on it's face. Also, on warm restarts it tries to die while idling in park. Does anyone have any clues? I've taken it to a different tuner, and he can't even get it to keep from dying.

So far I have replaced the fuel filter, no changes.

This is on a standard cam/stall car by the way.
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Old Mar 30, 2009 | 08:17 PM
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Are there any trouble codes in? SEL? May be a timing problem.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 06:21 AM
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More details on the car...
Whats idle set at?
Is your throttle body ported?
Is the throttle body epoxied?
Codes?
Have you ever cleaned the MAF?
The tuners you have taken it to, are they real tuners or friends with a laptop? You can accomplish a lot with the tune.

The issue does sound like it's related to closed loop, so do check for codes, bad o2 maybe.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 08:52 AM
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I don't think my car even uses the 02 sensors, the last guy who tuned it did it without them I think. And it's a stock throttle body. No codes at all.

Last edited by paulc87; Mar 31, 2009 at 09:27 AM.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
I don't think my car even uses the 02 sensors, the last guy who tuned it did it without them I think. And it's a stock throttle body. No codes at all.
So it's a speed Density Tune? Still have a functional MAF?

Are you sure you're not just talking about removing the rear o2's?
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by DannoWS6
So it's a speed Density Tune? Still have a functional MAF?

Are you sure you're not just talking about removing the rear o2's?
I think he did remove them, the wires for my 02's were getting wet and making the car run terrible. And should I try cleaning the MAF? Also, I remember my mechanic telling me that he wasn't able to change the idle/RPM of my car with his computer. I'm not sure if that helps or not.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 10:50 AM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
I think he did remove them, the wires for my 02's were getting wet and making the car run terrible. And should I try cleaning the MAF? Also, I remember my mechanic telling me that he wasn't able to change the idle/RPM of my car with his computer. I'm not sure if that helps or not.
Rear 02's do nothing regarding idle or performance.
You need the front 02's. You could try cleaning the maf, be very carefull, I used electronics cleaner and a small paint brush or q-tip ever so lightly on the wires.

Otherwise you are looking at a faulty IAC in the throttle body possibly or a Vacume leak somewhere.

If you're tuner cannot change the idle then you need to find a new tuner. Somebody proficient with EFILive or HPTuners... A cammed/stalled car needs a lot of love to get the idle chracteristics just right.

make 100% sure your throttle body is stock. Any drilling done to the butterfly plate? and make sure your set screw is right. I ask this because I had a ported/epoxied TB and the epoxy blocked off too much of the IAC inlet and caused a real shitty idle, that almost no amount of tuning could fix.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by DannoWS6
Rear 02's do nothing regarding idle or performance.
You need the front 02's. You could try cleaning the maf, be very carefull, I used electronics cleaner and a small paint brush or q-tip ever so lightly on the wires.

Otherwise you are looking at a faulty IAC in the throttle body possibly or a Vacume leak somewhere.

If you're tuner cannot change the idle then you need to find a new tuner. Somebody proficient with EFILive or HPTuners... A cammed/stalled car needs a lot of love to get the idle chracteristics just right.
My tuner has quite a name for himself and does good work for a lot of people, I had a mechanic check for vacuum leaks and he recommended changing the IAC for the idle problem but I'm not sure I want to drop $70 on one if it won't fix the problem.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
My tuner has quite a name for himself and does good work for a lot of people, I had a mechanic check for vacuum leaks and he recommended changing the IAC for the idle problem but I'm not sure I want to drop $70 on one if it won't fix the problem.

Could also be a bad, MAF, I've seen em' go in other cars without a throwing a code. You got any friends that will let you borrow a part for a bit?


Far as tuning goes, I've never heard of a tuner that could not set an idle.

One question. When the car starts to die does it matter if the brake is depressed? Does it smooth out when you hit the bakes right away?
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by DannoWS6
Could also be a bad, MAF, I've seen em' go in other cars without a throwing a code. You got any friends that will let you borrow a part for a bit?


Far as tuning goes, I've never heard of a tuner that could not set an idle.

One question. When the car starts to die does it matter if the brake is depressed? Does it smooth out when you hit the bakes right away?
No I do not think so, I know that when it's warm and finally idling correctly I can make it surge again by hitting the brakes and turning the steering wheel. It seems like the car can't catch itself at the idle speed. For example, when letting off of the gas and the trans shifting up into 2nd, the RPM drops and catches itself around 500rpm

BTW, I can post a video of the problem later if you want
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 01:25 PM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
No I do not think so, I know that when it's warm and finally idling correctly I can make it surge again by hitting the brakes and turning the steering wheel. It seems like the car can't catch itself at the idle speed. For example, when letting off of the gas and the trans shifting up into 2nd, the RPM drops and catches itself around 500rpm

BTW, I can post a video of the problem later if you want
Yeah I was wondering if the converter wasn't unlocking soon enough. I'm sure a video might help. I'm not sure what else it could be without hooking a laptop up to the thing. Ther has to be somebody around the area that can tune your idle settings.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 03:14 PM
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Unplug the MAF to send it into open loop and see what it does.
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Old Mar 31, 2009 | 03:51 PM
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I forgot to mention that my tuner said my converter was bad, I will have a replacement trans and stall later this month. Also I will try unplugging the MAF this evening
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Old Apr 1, 2009 | 06:22 AM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
I forgot to mention that my tuner said my converter was bad, I will have a replacement trans and stall later this month. Also I will try unplugging the MAF this evening
Did he say why it was bad? Your replacing the whole trans too?
hmmm...I'm curious why he thinks you need a new converter? This is the same guy who can't tune your idle correct?
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Old Apr 1, 2009 | 10:34 AM
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I unplugged the MAF yesterday and the car runs MUCH better. Doesn't stall when changing gears, etc.

He said it was bad because it would never lock up, anyway I ran the car with the P1870 (TCC Slip) code for so long I ended up losing 2nd and 4th gear.
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Old Apr 1, 2009 | 10:47 AM
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Originally Posted by paulc87
I unplugged the MAF yesterday and the car runs MUCH better. Doesn't stall when changing gears, etc.

He said it was bad because it would never lock up, anyway I ran the car with the P1870 (TCC Slip) code for so long I ended up losing 2nd and 4th gear.
So first try cleaning the MAF. Or swap with a buddy to see.


He might be saying the converter is bad when it's something else. Do a search on the code, could be lots of things, valve body related, selenoid, lockup, pwm, converter clutch, etc...

The car will go into limp mode and the tranny won't shift into high gear. Its' common if you put in a higher stall and you don't remove the shift selenoid codes, car thinks the tranny is slipping.

You said you are replacing both the tranny and converter anyways. I suggest after that you get the car fully retuned.
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