OK, heres a way off topic for the "Off Topic".
My stepsons car is driving me nuts. Its a 1999 Chevy Malibu LS V6. It has 120k miles and is in excellent condition but has a rather peculiar problem. Sometimes the car starts and sometimes it does not. When it starts, it runs perfectly without any problems. When it does not start (you have to hold your foot down on the gas or else it dies) and finally does, it runs like crap. You have to two foot drive to keep the rpms up otherwise it will die. His father took it to a shop for the same problem and thy told him it was a bad fuel pump, charged him $500.00 and replaced it and the fuel filter. It worked for about 6mos now its doing it again.
I have an OBD code reader and the codes that show up are for throttle position sensor (which I replaced) and idle speed out of range. O2 sensors check out within spec. It has also been getting horrible gas mileage...like 15mpg (hes not a lead foot - I have him convinced that there is a GPS device in the car ;D )
My last ditch shot in the dark theory was the charging system. When it runs like crap, everything goes dim. It has the juice to crank but it seems like not enough to keep it running. I tried an interesting thing tonight when I had to go to his school to pick it up because it wan't running. I tried starting it but it would not. I could not get it to the point where the idle was high enough to keep it running so I let it die. Tried several more times to get it started but nothing. Heres what I tried. I got my jumper cables, hooked them up to it and shazam, it started right up. I let it run for a few minutes before disconnecting the cables and when I did, the idle dropped back down and the lights dimmed a little. I was able to get it home but it was running like crap. It also has a pretty bad ozone.crappy fuel smell when it runs bad - kind of like a car whos timing is off. I checked the plugs too and they look ok.
Darned if it wasn't a Vision Id say "bad stator" but what gives? Does it sound like an electrical problem? Battery? Alternator? Contaigous Vision Gremlins that have mutated to infect GM cars?
Thanks for any help. ;D
David
What's the voltage when it is running poorly? Should be up to 14.5 or so, like a Vision. If it's low then loose belt, bad connection, faulty alternator, etc.
Sounds just like symptoms I had with a bad alternator.
Mutt
I just got out of surgery a little while ago, and they have me on heavy drugs, so I'm having trouble getting my thoughts to come through my hands and onto the computer, but bear with me here if this doesn't make sense, when I sober up a bit I'll correct this if it ends up sounding retarded:
Check for a bad ground connection. Jumping it or running it a higher rpms would increase the 'juice' and push power through or around the bad connection. The intermitant nature of the problem sugests a loose ground somewhere, poor spark strength would cause hard starting and poor fuel milage. The circut that lost it's ground source will 'pull' a ground from another source and if the broken circut is a big boy and the ground it pulls is a little guy, it'll burn stuff up, hence that ozone smell. (took me 25mins to type that! darn morphine)
Check the Battery. My 2001 Blazer did the same thing. The side post connector was almost gone.
Good luck.
Don ;)
my 89 jimmy did the same thing. except it was all the time. i ended up replacing every sensor, vacume hose, and even the throttle body. i finally gave up and took it to a shop where they told me it was the fuel pump. it wasent pumping enough fuel. so i took it home and changed it myself (lot less $$$) a couple months later it was doing the same thing so i droped the tank again figureing it was the fuel pump again and found that the wires going to the pump were corroided. it ran great after that (other than 5 alternators in 2 months.)
they dont make things like they used to. parts are cheap, (price and quality) the fuel pump may be going out again. id say drop the tank and check the wires. if they are good then change the fuel pump again, it should still be under warranty still. i think mine is lifetime
I agree with Rex. Check your ground. on the frame and the engine.
grounds, battery, alt, and some valvoline syntech fuel system/injector cleaner just in case
I'm headed overthere in a few with a load tester & test light...
While I was waiting for lucky to get here I checked over some stuff on the battery. With battery cables connected the voltage would go between 5.7 and 12.5 volts and never settle down (with car off). I disconnected the battery terminals and they were full of copper sulfate - more than I have ever seen on a battery. On this GM, there is a cavity between two of the positive leads that come off the positive terminal inside the cap. It was full - Im talking a several tablespoons full of corrosion and the terminal lug nut was quite rusted. Negative terminal was OK. When I tested the battery while it was disconnected from the car, I got a solid and steady 12.57 volts.
Now we'll see what else I can find out when Lucky gets here.
Thanks everyone for all the tips and help...keep em coming. I'll close this thread when we figure out whats going on.
Thanks!
David
if you don't have any anti corrosives, dump some coke on it, let it soak for a second then scrub it off, both on the battery and on the leads for it in the car. get those cleaned up and try again
UPDATE?
Quote from: zore on October 31, 2006, 11:02:11 AM
UPDATE?
Battery OK.
Charging System OK.
Battery Terminals CRAPPY. Corroded and stripped.
I used battery terminal cleaner to clean up all the corrosion as there was quite a bit of it. The car started good a few times but the problem is internittent so I'll let y'all know what happpens over the next few days.
I'll have to replace the battery cables and possibly the battery because the lugs are stripped and I can't tigthen down the terminals tight enough. Also the lug hole on the battery is striped too.
Thanks,
David
I have a 2000 Malibu and I had a similar problem ...or so I thought at first...
I ended up having to replace the lower manifold gasket....was losing compression and would die. Does he have to continually add antifreeze? Hopefully you don't have the same prob.
Quote from: kwells on November 01, 2006, 01:51:18 AM
I have a 2000 Malibu and I had a similar problem ...or so I thought at first...
I ended up having to replace the lower manifold gasket....was losing compression and would die. Does he have to continually add antifreeze? Hopefully you don't have the same prob.
Uh Oh! Now theres something interesting. When Lucky and I were looking at it he noticed a pool of brownis liquid on the left side of the engine below the throttle body. He gave it the sniff, rub and taste test and said it was antifreeze. The light just started coming on a couple days ago and would only stay on for a couple seconds. I added some more Dexcool yesterday so I'll geep track of the level and look for any leaks.
Thanks for that input.
David
>:( Notorius problem that G.M. are aware of... :-[ But didn't issue a recall notice... :o They where using a "plastic" gasket... ::) which they eventually switched to a "regular type"... ???
getting back to an electrical problem possiblity.......
Just out of curiosity... does the car have an aftermarket stereo installed? recently?
The reason I ask is that I've heard that the ignition system on GM products runs through the stereo? ???
of course this may only be a scare tactic by installers to get you to pay them to install your new stereo
You may want to google 'Dexcool'. I've heard nothing but bad about it.
Quote from: Night Vision on November 01, 2006, 07:28:07 AM
getting back to an electrical problem possiblity.......
Just out of curiosity... does the car have an aftermarket stereo installed? recently?
The reason I ask is that I've heard that the ignition system on GM products runs through the stereo? ???
of course this may only be a scare tactic by installers to get you to pay them to install your new stereo
Nope, It has the OEM "Premium" CD/Radio Cassette combo
David
Quote from: Paul_Jungnitsch on November 01, 2006, 02:17:59 PM
You may want to google 'Dexcool'. I've heard nothing but bad about it.
Yeah I did too but from what I understand, thats all I can put in it.? ;D
David
My mechanic/friend said that dexcool is bad also. I had him flush my 2000 Bonneville and put in
Peak Global.
Update:
Since cleaning the battery terminals and cables a couple days ago the car has run fine and started without any difficulty at all. (did I just majorly jinx myself?).
Thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions!! ;D
David
at least it wasnt what happened to me...
Quote from: Paul_Jungnitsch on November 01, 2006, 02:17:59 PM
You may want to google 'Dexcool'. I've heard nothing but bad about it.
I have heard numerous bad things about it
but
all of my familys car have used it since its inception, my moms car has over 100k on it with no issues from it at all.........
One week update: It appears that the problem was electircal related. Since cleaning the baby blue gunk out between the two pos terminal wires and all around the terminal connector the car has been running good 'cept for a few little hiccups every now and then. ;D
Thanks for all the help and advice!!
David
hey DAve--- cars do start and run better without the fuzz on the nattery, and no,,, it didnt come stock! lol
dex-cool is known for its tendency to eat intake manifolds....one of the first things i did on the burb was drain all the dex-cool out and swap it for the "green" stuff.
even though that had nothing to do with the problem i just wanted to vent my dislike for dex-cool ;D