new opti in.. now i have idle problems
03-26-2005, 06:32 PM
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new opti in.. now i have idle problems i finished putting the new opti in today and turned the car on and the 7 cylinder starting problem has now stopped so thats good, but the car idles rough and everyonce in a while the idle will jump up rpms a little and jump down to where it almost stalls out.. when i was driving it like this, it accelerates and decelerates in a jumpy manner as well... what could have gone wrong? could i have installed the opti wrong?? it only goes in one way so i dunno how that coulda happened... maybe it could the the IAC?? please help
03-27-2005, 12:09 PM
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I'm going through a similar situation. I'm still working on the fix. I changed the opti spark but it did not help. I pulled the plugs and noticed that all the plugs on the passenger side have very heavy carbon deposits. So heavy the white porcelain was black. The driver side plugs still looked good. Then I took a data log of the computer while idling and found that the passenger side o2 sensor was indicating a lean condition on the passenger side. Since the plugs on that side indicated that the engine was running rich, I figure my o2 sensor on that side needs replacing. I also looked at the o2 post cat data on the passenger side and it indicates that it is running richer than the driver side so that confirms the bad pre cat o2 sensor. I will be replacing both pre cat o2 sensors next weekend so hopefully it will be the end of my problems. So check your o2's.
03-30-2005, 12:18 AM
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opti finally done, now i have low rpm studder and some starting troubles well after putting 2 optis in (one was defective, pita because i had to take it all apart and do it again) it finally ran right! well sorta... she fired up and at first i saw the idle jumping a tiny bit... then at low rpms under slight to full acceleration, it studders SOMETIMES but then roasts the tires like no other. the only other problem i see is sometimes it wont start right up... it will turn over (kinda like when your cap and rotor go and it turns but never fires) but it wont start up til like the 2nd or 3rd try..
my guess is IAC or ICM... any input?
my guess is IAC or ICM... any input?
03-30-2005, 03:36 PM
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car runs just a few problems left with volts, studdering, and fuel pressure the opti is in and it runs and pulls hard from about 3000 rpms to 6200 rpms. the problems im haveing ar as follows:
first of all, the volt gauge still reads right at the beginning of the yellow line below 13. it just bothers me.. i haev a brand new battery, brand new alternator, put my stock pulleys back on, brand new blaster coil and still low volts!!
second problem is the car studders at low rpms... it isnt so bad in 1st gear but 2nd and 3rd suck.. it only does it bad when the car is cold but even after it warms up it does it.. this might have something to do with the fact that i didnt put my thermostat back in??
last problem is low fuel pressure! the gauge i have reads 30psi at idle and 40psi at full throttle... it used to be higher! i wonder what this is? im thinking this could be related to not having the thermostat as well...
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
first of all, the volt gauge still reads right at the beginning of the yellow line below 13. it just bothers me.. i haev a brand new battery, brand new alternator, put my stock pulleys back on, brand new blaster coil and still low volts!!
second problem is the car studders at low rpms... it isnt so bad in 1st gear but 2nd and 3rd suck.. it only does it bad when the car is cold but even after it warms up it does it.. this might have something to do with the fact that i didnt put my thermostat back in??
last problem is low fuel pressure! the gauge i have reads 30psi at idle and 40psi at full throttle... it used to be higher! i wonder what this is? im thinking this could be related to not having the thermostat as well...
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
03-31-2005, 12:33 PM
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strange electrical problem when i turn the key to ACCY none of the ACCY stuff comes on.. i have to actually turn it all the way to on and then i will hear the fuel pump and stuff.. the only thing that does anything on accy is my shiftlight will blink.. this is weird because normally my waterpump, fans and fuel pump all turn on (fuel pump cycles).. the ground came disconnected from the coil last nite at the track and ever since ive been having the problem.. i reconnected the ground and sitll have the trouble.. the car doesnt even run.. sometimes it will just keep turning but not firing over. then othertimes it will fire over and then immediatly after everything will go dark and it will shut off... sometimes if it fires when im giving it gas it will shoot up to high rpms and then shut off before the tach needle even has time to go back down and it will be stuck til i turn the key off... anyone had similar problmes? im thinking maybe icm??... before all this i was having low voltage problems and sometimes would start on only 7 cylinders for about 30 seconds then the 8th would fire.. i think that was cuz the fuel pump is going bad... maybe the fuelpump completely took a ****? any help would be greatly appreciated!!
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03-31-2005, 05:37 PM
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could be, but more than likely your studdering is due to a FPR or fuel pump going out. Possibly a clogged fuel filter would cause this problem.
BTW, for what it's worth, LT1's don't like to run super cold and will act like retards without the thermostat installed to keep them above 140°
BTW, for what it's worth, LT1's don't like to run super cold and will act like retards without the thermostat installed to keep them above 140°
03-31-2005, 06:04 PM
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i meant to say fuel pump instead of waterpump i feel dumb... well i kinda got it narrowed down to a faulty ignition switch... my accy doesnt come on now and the only way i can get my waterpump and stuff to cycle is to put the key in the full on position.. in the accy position nothing happens.. this is gonna be a bitch to install to im guessing
03-31-2005, 07:17 PM
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question about ground wire from coil to chassis what is this ground and what would be the effect of it not being connected? my connection on this ground broke and the wire is turning green... ever since the connection broke my accessory position on the ignition doesnt work and the car wont stay started for more than a second
03-31-2005, 09:23 PM
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well, quite simply that is the grounding strap the grounds the entire engine and every electrical component and circuit on the engine to the chassis.... 
you need to recrimp the wire and get a good ground to the chassis, or the car will never run right...i think your problems will be solved once this is addressed
you need to recrimp the wire and get a good ground to the chassis, or the car will never run right...i think your problems will be solved once this is addressed
03-31-2005, 10:42 PM
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plug wire against header problem is it possible for a sparkplug wire against the header to cause low voltage? i fried a wire and im thinkin this might be what was causing my gauge to show low voltage when the tests on the alternator and battery proved it to be running fine... its either the plug wire or the failing fuel pump... btw what are the symptoms of a failing fuel pump?
03-31-2005, 11:40 PM
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It wouldn't be the plug wire causing low voltage AFAIK, you're just going to lose spark partially or completely in that particular cylinder from the spark arcing to your header.
When my fuel pump went out it became hard to start and then just completely died. The car sat for 3 days while I was waiting on a new pump and started once but failed after I shut it down and tried starting it again.
From what I know our pumps pretty much just fail as opposed to slowly losing the ability to pump before going out.
When my fuel pump went out it became hard to start and then just completely died. The car sat for 3 days while I was waiting on a new pump and started once but failed after I shut it down and tried starting it again.
From what I know our pumps pretty much just fail as opposed to slowly losing the ability to pump before going out.
03-31-2005, 11:54 PM
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well i hav this low voltage problem.. reads fine at alt and battery, but gauge reads low... sometimes the car is hard to start and my fuel pressure used to run about 44psi and has slowly over the last month dropped to 40-41
03-31-2005, 11:58 PM
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Have you added anything recently like an electric WP or have you done anything since this started happening?
There can be toooooo many things that could cause a drop in voltage. Best bet would be to start at the battery and check all the grounds and start to check things off the list.
There can be toooooo many things that could cause a drop in voltage. Best bet would be to start at the battery and check all the grounds and start to check things off the list.
04-01-2005, 12:22 AM
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i blew a headgasket back in december... had the car running in early january with new mods which included electric waterpump and fans both hardwired to come on with accessories... i basically just pulled a fuse out, stuck the wire ends in and left it alone..
04-01-2005, 12:28 AM
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I've had problems with low voltage since installing my CSI....that may be it, I'm going to rewire everything when I put the new motor back in so I'm not doing anything about it right now.
04-01-2005, 05:54 PM
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spark plug not getting enough spark?? i replaced my burnt wire with one of those msd replacement kits.. it didnt have all the right fittings so i just used the opti connection from the bad wire and put it on the new wire.. i think i screwed up installing this because my car still feels like its running on 7 cylinders... under very very light pedal pressure, it revvs and sounds normal. but under any acceleration over very light it starts to drag *** and feel just like if you disconnected a spark plug.. im thinking maybe i messed up on the wire end swap and its getting some spark but not full spark
heres how i troubleshot the problem... i turned the car on with all connections made.. gave it a few revs and noted how it ran. then i took the wire i presumed to be not getting full spark off, turned the car on and gave it a few revvs... both runs had the same problems of running like a dog but with the wire connected it wasnt quite as bad. next im gonna pull a random spark plug off and see what happens any suggestions?
heres how i troubleshot the problem... i turned the car on with all connections made.. gave it a few revs and noted how it ran. then i took the wire i presumed to be not getting full spark off, turned the car on and gave it a few revvs... both runs had the same problems of running like a dog but with the wire connected it wasnt quite as bad. next im gonna pull a random spark plug off and see what happens any suggestions?
04-01-2005, 06:01 PM
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Possible the plug you have in there is gapped to far and the spark is jumping the gap. Or the connection you made with the new terminal you put on is very poor and the spark is jumping from the wire to the metal piece that connects to the plug. Get a good wire and use it.
04-01-2005, 06:15 PM
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well all the sparkplugs are gapped at 35... #6 plug is the wire i replaced.. i pulled #8 wire adn got the same dog acceleration as i do with all of them connected... this is weird.. it ran perfect on wednesday, then my coil ground came disconnected.. i fixed that and ever since nothing works