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View Full Version : Running odd when cold, sometimes when warm


grandkodiak
02-14-2008, 11:34 AM
Over the summer my 96 trans got flooded out, but there was no engine damage. The opti, cables, plugs and fluids where all changed (along with the brakes), the top end was a total rebuild with le2 heads cam etc etc etc. There was no problem when i first got the car back, but as it got colder out every once in awhile the car would stutter. No other way to describe it... id be cruisin along at 70mph then all of the sudden for a half second the rpm needle would "drop and pop" very quickly down then up say about 1-1.5krpm like it was going to stall, then resume like nothing happened.

It feels like i smacked into a group of potholes or like when traction control comes on but much more fiercely and in a rapid on and off manner. It might do this once in a hour long drive, or for a period of a few minutes ever few seconds then go away. Now that its cold all the time, every morning for less then a 100 yards distance the car stutters like mad then it goes away like nothing happened... and resumes its once out of the blue occurance, maybe 1ce a week... it kinda happens most at steady low rpm but sometimes it will still occur if im flooring it but it seems to have enough umph to get through it sorta speak. back to the morning... when i first start it up, you can hear the car sounds choppy toned, louder, deaper and almsot poppy but no backfire or anything... but def not the normal tone. driving off down the road it feels like only every other cyclinder fires (i dont know if its true just what it feels like is happening) like theres rapidly changing amounts of available power like driving over railroad tracks. then before you know it its gone by the time i get aroudn the block.

the colder out it is, the worse the symtoms in severity. on warm days i can barely feel it but its still there to some degree. theres almost a tapping noise from the engine bay (from where i can tell while sitting in the drivers seat) if you apply alot of throttle as the engine speeds up, but doesnt sound like pinging or knocking, almost like metal tapping at 3x per second roughly.

any ideas? i recorded it in obd2 software but i dont always know what im looking at. theres no knock retard or misfire recorded over all, and the live data sensors dont show anything, but then again it happens so quick it might not even be refreshing fast enough to record the right sensor when its happening. i can post it if anyone wants to take a look... i get no trouble codes, past or present or engine light.

ps only 67k miles on my 96, less then 1k on all the new parts, even less on the opti/plugs

sweetbmxrider
02-14-2008, 05:14 PM
how bad was the flood? change the fuel filter? have you tried to check the plugs/wires for a misfire? it may not throw a code because its so slight. worth a shot. maybe its a bad opti. if you have the old one, or can get another, i'd put it on. its a strange issue though. start with the basics though. maybe the throttle plates are dirty with carbon. carb cleaner would help. bad/dirty fuel injectors? flush the fuel system? could have water in the tank. dry Iso-Dry, its a fuel stabilizer. we have a canister that hooks to the fuel rail for cleaning the top end and injectors. if you could get your hands on one, run straight gas or a little GM top engine cleaner through it, see how it runs like that. did you do the work? if not, bring it back. get a list going and start crossing things off.

double check your short term and long term fuel trim.

V
02-14-2008, 06:45 PM
see if you can watch air inlet temp and coolant temp when these issues occur. im not sure ur car even registers AIT though.

sweetbmxrider
02-14-2008, 09:14 PM
yeah it should measure AIT, just need the software or scan tool to display it. i guess if you had a bad coolant temp sensor, it could run nasty cold. but to do it warm as well, something else must be f'in up.