armindk

So I was on my way back from school and pulled up to my house. Put the car in reverse and started backing into the drive way and all of the sudden my car stalled. So I put it in neutral and start the car and she fired right up idled really bad (it sounded like an mini explosion every second and half) so I knew it was misfire, after a few seconds she stalled again. After letting the car sit I checked the coolant overflow to make sure there was coolant and there was coolant but it was brown. I don't think the car overheated because I remember the temp was between 195 and 210. So I waited about another 5 minutes or so then I tried starting again and she cranked for about 6 seconds without starting. Then I stopped and tried again and she fired right up again and stilled sounded like gunshot and explosions comming out the tailpipe. I noticed the fans now kicked on when the temp was on 180 (it turn on at about 200 before) and I don't know if this is related to the brown coolant or not. I am planning on checking on the basic stuff like plugs, wires and the coolant once she cools down. I want to fix her before tomorrow since I have school and if you guys know of anything else to check for it would be appreciated.

7inchexhaust

You have brown coolant?

Sounds like headgasket. Maybe timing slipped a few teeth.

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armindk

Is there anything else that is easy to check for because I want to knock the easy one's out first before checking the timing and doing compression and a leak down test. Also there is no sweet smell coming from the pipe or any smoke. I don't know if that makes a difference.

armindk

Also I forgot to mention that when I rev up everything feels normal she revs up nice.

armindk

I checked the coolant in the radiator and it was green and the oil wasn't milky so I think I am good on the gasket. Also I pulled the plugs out and there was white sparkle on the plugs and it was obvious that she was running lean. I checked the gap and it was at .044 and its supposed to be at .050. I am putting new ones in with the right gap but I don't think that the little difference in the gap would cause any problem, and I wanted to know how I can richen the mixture since I can't retard the ignition timing on the 420a. Also as far as timing for the cams goes I am going to check it once it stops raining and get done studying. The way to do it is to take the cam cover off along with a plug in the passenger wheel housing and rotate the crankshaft until the markings on the crankshaft lines up and the markings on the cam pulley line up with each other right? Also the previous owner cut a small opening on the cam cover and I'm guessing water gets in there once it rains. Now I don't think thats good at all but how bad can it be for the cam pulley? Also could the belt slipping be related to it if there is any slipping at all?

G-booS-T

I would say its not a timing issue but rather an air/fuel problem. Check for any vacuum leaks. These leaks cause unmetered air to enter the combustion chamber and cause a lean mixture and lean misfires. Especially at idle when engine vacuum is the highest. Check all hoses and manifold gaskets for leaks. Also your car should be running a little cooler than 210, though those mitsu gauges are terrible.

armindk

Well I do have a cold air intake and I am thinking of cutting it and make it shorter so that the air sucked in a is a little less desnse therefore the mixture would be less lean. As far as vaccum leak I am going to test it this weekend but I doubt I have a leak since the previous owner installed a boost/vaccum gauge and at idle it always stays at 20 hg mm which is what it should stay at during idle. Also the water gauge is a sunpro brand and I've heard they read a little high but it mostly stays at 195 which is when the thermostat is fully open. If it is the timing would there be some kind of sound or noise that would be made before it had slipped, because this happened without any noise. Also there was a previous random misfire cell but I got that fixed by changing the spark plugs wires. Could this be the problem again due to the coil going bad? Thanks in advance

G-booS-T

Firstly, whoever told you that cutting a cold air intake would in any way change your air/fuel mixture is on crack. Don't waste your time with that. But yea 20 inches of vacuum is ideal. But does the gauge fluctuate at idle when it is running rough or does it stay steadily at 20? Coil going bad is a possibility but not likely since your only experiencing this problem at idle and the coil will affect your entire rpm range. EGR could be staying open at idle which it shouldnt, and sending inert exhaust gases into the engine causing it to run rough. This could be a very good possibility. Check for codes.

armindk

Well I'm cutting it short also because of the fact that the filter gets dirty every few weeks and some water gets in there during rain. Today while messing around I noticed the tube that one end of it is connected to the valve cover and the other end to the pcv valve, was wet. I've seen it before and I've always thought it was moister but I found out that it was the oil and gas mixture that was comming out from the valve cover that was supposed to go to the pcv valve. Now I changed both the tube and the pcv valve. Also the tube had a lot of carbon build up and oil in it. I don't know if this is related to the problem. I took the spark plug wires off of the coil along with the 4 bolts that hold the coil down but I cannot get the clipper that connects the wires to the coil (not the spark plug wires) off! The reason why is because its so freaking cold and I can't feel my fingers and I can't figure out if the piece of plastic that is supposed to release it from the coil is supposed to be pushed up or down? I need to get it off so I can test the coil. I'm also going to check the EGR vlave but I did notice that the previous owner made a t connection for the boost gauge in the tube that runs from what seems to be the EGR solenoid or valve ( located on the right side of the engine in front of the cam sensor) to the intake mani. Could this cause any problems as well?

G-booS-T

No the t connection will not affect anything. Doesn't sound like its the coil since its only happening at idle. Do you have any stored or pending codes? I still think its the EGR or possibly the IAC (idle air control valve). Also does your vacuum gauge fluctuate or stay steady at 20 inches of vacuum?

armindk

Well the check engine idiot light is not displaying probably because of the previous owner. I think that there should be a code but I don't have a scanner yet. I'll buy one today. And the vaccum does stay at 20 during idle. Also I had to change the battery and I did that yesterday and during the process the car wasn't conneted to any battery source for a few minutes. I was wondering since the ECU would reset itself because of this, would it cause the maps for the fuel and air mixture to be rewritten therefore solve the problem?

7inchexhaust

Yeah, the ecu will reset, but that doesn't mean its going to fix the problem.

Also, you don't HAVE to buy a scanner. Unless you absolutely want to. I only say that because auto parts stores will scan it for you for free.

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armindk

Well I can't really drive to the auto store without stalling at every stop light. Plus I don't want to risk it because maybe the problem would get worse and I don't want to have to tow the car back. But I could see if they will loan me one. Besides from that I took the throttle body off to check the idle controller and I took a look at inside the intake manni and everywhere ther was a thick layer of carbon and some oily build up. I am pretty sure that all the oil is coming from the nipple that is connected to the PCV valve. Does anyone know why there would be so much of it coming into the intake manifold? Also I checked the terminal posts on the idle controller and the resistense is 48 ohm which means that it should be good since the manual recommends 38 to 52 ohm. I was also able to get the ignition coil off and I checked both primary and secondary resistence. The primay was abouth 120 ohm and the secondry for cylinders 1 and 4 was 11,370 and 11,380 for cylinders 3 and 2. The manual recommend 50 to 80 for the primary one and 11,500 to 13,500! So I guess this could be the problem. I am going to get a new one tomorrow and I wanted to know if anyone recommends the msd one since its only 15 bucks more? Also can moving to colder spark plugs help? Because I am still trying to figure out why there were signs of running hot because I don't think a bad coil can cause the engine to run hot.

7inchexhaust

That PCV is done. Get a new one from the stealership the next time your nearby.


What plugs are in there now? Run the stock plus on the recommended gap.
Stay away from platinum or multi electrode plugs or anything that says bosch on it.

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armindk

Does it matter if I get the PCV valve from autozone or should I get the Mitsubishi brand? I put standard copper NGK R plugs part number BKR6ES-11 and they recommend a .050" gap. These same type of plugs were previously in the car as well. If the gap is smaller than what is recommended, would the car run hotter or colder?