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03-15-04, 08:49 PM
I'm having an incredibly frustrating problem with my '96 Fleetwood's LT1. I'm hoping you all can help.
The car will sometimes do this just after having been started, and sometimes while driving. It has happened in the wet, dry, cold engine, hot engine, moving, stopped, etc so it doesn't seem to be affected by any outside situation.
The car will stall out, then when I try and start it one of three things will happen. They all happen every time this probelm presents itself and seems to switch between them with no logic. The three states are:
1) the solenoid on the starter clicks but the starter doesn't crank. (new starter 2 months ago, this occasionally happens other times so I think it may be only vaguely related to the main isue)
2)the car cranks and cranks with no sign it is even trying to start. *Sometimes* flooring or pumping the gas will cause condition three to occur.
3)the car starts but stalls out immediately. It will stay running if you have the gas just about floored, but even then runs poorly and eventually (5-20sec) will cough and die. This is often accompanied by what seems to be backfires out the exahust and into the intake.
Like I said it varies between theses states. Then *sometimes* if you leave it for a bit (anywhere from a few minutes to a hour or two) it will then start and run fine.
When it did this last Friday it caused the following codes(explination are my memories of them not the exact descriptions):
-P0122 (TPS/ignition)
-P1371 (ignition system / random misfire)
-P0430 (catalyic efficiency too low [I think this was just due to the engine running so horribly when it does run])
I have thus far replaced the following parts, none of which have helped:
-spark plugs (a month ago, well before this started happening)
-left bank of spark plug wires ( haven't managed to get the right bank off yet)
-negative battery cable (was the wrong guage)
-TPS sensor
-crank sensor
Other info that may help:
-I hear the fuel pump come on when I turn the key to 'run', and there is a distinct fuel smell when the car is misbehaving so I *think* I'm getting fuel and enough of it)
-I tired disconnecting the EGR and the MAF just now, but the car is (of course) currently behaving and niether of those had any effect on her idle (which is fair but not perfectly smooth) though I didn't drive her.
Any help and/or ideas are greatly appreciated, I am hoping to avoid havingto give up and take it to the dealer, as they said they'd have to do $170 in tests before they could possibly tell me what is wrong and how much it will cost. I'm getting sick of sinking money into this to try and fix this problem, I'd rather spend that money customizing her.
The car will sometimes do this just after having been started, and sometimes while driving. It has happened in the wet, dry, cold engine, hot engine, moving, stopped, etc so it doesn't seem to be affected by any outside situation.
The car will stall out, then when I try and start it one of three things will happen. They all happen every time this probelm presents itself and seems to switch between them with no logic. The three states are:
1) the solenoid on the starter clicks but the starter doesn't crank. (new starter 2 months ago, this occasionally happens other times so I think it may be only vaguely related to the main isue)
2)the car cranks and cranks with no sign it is even trying to start. *Sometimes* flooring or pumping the gas will cause condition three to occur.
3)the car starts but stalls out immediately. It will stay running if you have the gas just about floored, but even then runs poorly and eventually (5-20sec) will cough and die. This is often accompanied by what seems to be backfires out the exahust and into the intake.
Like I said it varies between theses states. Then *sometimes* if you leave it for a bit (anywhere from a few minutes to a hour or two) it will then start and run fine.
When it did this last Friday it caused the following codes(explination are my memories of them not the exact descriptions):
-P0122 (TPS/ignition)
-P1371 (ignition system / random misfire)
-P0430 (catalyic efficiency too low [I think this was just due to the engine running so horribly when it does run])
I have thus far replaced the following parts, none of which have helped:
-spark plugs (a month ago, well before this started happening)
-left bank of spark plug wires ( haven't managed to get the right bank off yet)
-negative battery cable (was the wrong guage)
-TPS sensor
-crank sensor
Other info that may help:
-I hear the fuel pump come on when I turn the key to 'run', and there is a distinct fuel smell when the car is misbehaving so I *think* I'm getting fuel and enough of it)
-I tired disconnecting the EGR and the MAF just now, but the car is (of course) currently behaving and niether of those had any effect on her idle (which is fair but not perfectly smooth) though I didn't drive her.
Any help and/or ideas are greatly appreciated, I am hoping to avoid havingto give up and take it to the dealer, as they said they'd have to do $170 in tests before they could possibly tell me what is wrong and how much it will cost. I'm getting sick of sinking money into this to try and fix this problem, I'd rather spend that money customizing her.