Hi again
Sorry this Email is so long; but this is what is going on...
The problem is that the other evening; after being parked at a store for a few minutes, the car wouldn’t start back up †all of this was sudden and without warning. The next day; we took the air cleaner off, and while watching the injector operate (as the car was trying to run) †it was spraying erratically, splashing fuel, etc. Thinking the problem was fuel related and since we had already replaced the fuel pump earlier this year †we replaced the one fuel injector and pressure regulator in the throttle body. Now the fuel being sprayed is a lot smoother, straighter, and more controlled †but the car still runs the same †terrible.
Basically, the car will not start unless the gas pedal is pressed. When the car does start it runs extremely ruff and keeps trying to die. Next, we did some checks on the ignition system †which led to the earlier Email
A few days ago; we hooked up a fuel pressure gauge and while the car was trying to run †the fuel pressure held at about 40 psi, but as the car died or was turned off the gauge needle immediately fell to 0 psi. The fuel pressure was the same with and without the fuel filter installed.
I guess the most aggravating thing is that earlier this year we had to do a bit of work on the car. The last thing we done was replace the oil pump. Some who visit this site often, may remember; we posted questions about the oil light coming on after replacing the oil pump - but in the end; when we replaced the oil pressure sending unit the light went off and stayed off; so-far-so-good. But here’s the kicker; the fuel pump was one of the first things we replaced after it went out. And it has worked fine - in fact the car has been running fine for some time now. And like a lot of people on a tight budget, we got the fuel pump from AutoZone.
We also gathered some computer codes by using the key cycle method; the codes are: 12, 13, 15, and 55
After finding out that code 13 was the MAP system and just to see what would happen, I disconnected the old MAP sensor, and then started the car †and believe it or not the idle got better. So like most people we got a new MAP sensor thinking we have fixed the problem. After hooking up the new sensor and starting the car †there’s no change. I even tried disconnecting the new MAP and starting the car †now the idle stays bad, this is crazy, and the computer has set the codes 12, 14, and 55.
After reading in the Haynes book that a code 14 may have something to do with the wiring, and being unable to make much sense out of the wire diagrams in the book; we tore into as much of the wire harness as possible and everything looks ok. We also found that almost every sensor under the hood is (in one way or another) connected to each other and to the computer. There were just a few wires that branched off and went through the firewall.
The car seems to be getting enough gas †as a matter of fact it is hard to keep it from flooding as it tries to start
A few other things we have done are:
1)Cleaning and gapping the sparkplugs.
2)Checking all hoses and their connections - they look ok.
3)The timing belt looks good, it’s tight, and the timing marks line up when you rotate the engine with a wrench.
4)The car is idling so bad that it is hard to tell where the timing marks are when using the timing light. After I get the wires bundled back up †I’ll try the timing light again.
This is just a thought, but could something be wrong with the computer. I have also heard that if the ignition switch or distributor goes bad strange things can happen to a car. I have to admit this problem has us stumped.
I really appreciate the help with this problem; this is the only car we have that was running good
Thanks for everything
Monday, January 2nd, 2012 AT 5:14 AM
