thermo spacer WTF

[Spydie]

It's been several days since I installed my IM thermo spacers and ever since it's been hell. My idle has been brutal and I've been running super rich and blowing smoke. Here's what I know so far:
1: ECU has been reset several times
2: no vacuum leaks
3: o2 sensors check out
4: no codes
5: when I disconnect water thermo sensor idle shoots to 1500 rpm is smooth, and leaned out. Engine light comes on. as soon as I plug it back it back in rpm bogs to near stall and smoke bellows from exhaust. engine light goes off. Diagnosis shows no codes. I've done my tps a few times and finally took it to my mechanic and he is stumped also. All in all engine checks out what else can I do????

[Spydie]

Update: it took a conversation with a friend to jog my memory of the events of my spacer installation to recall this. (thanks Tyler)
While I had my IM off I accidently spilled some coolant around the intake valve ports and obviously some ran in. I was doing the coolant bypass at the time. So I now have an explanation for the white smoke and sputter. Thankfully it's not the head gasket I feared at first. So.....do I need to worry too much about this? Am I doing any significant dammage if I let it go for awhile before changing the oil to get rid of it?

[Hy300]

First of all you shouldn't block off your coolant lines to the TB if you live in a cold area, I notice you're in Canada.<p>If you block off the coolant to the TB and it gets really cold you can have a fluctuating idle on cold days. If you look it up I'm sure a couple of people will tell you about it. If you have a thermal spacer for your TB then don't worry about blocking off your coolant. If you don't, then it still shouldn't be a problem because the heat your IM absorbs is mostly from the heads.<p>You really shouldn't be unplugging and plugging back together sensors while the engine is running. ECU doesn't like it and you might ruin a sensor (would you unplug your computer while everything was on and you were downloading something). When you unplug your IAC sensor the ECU will think that your engine is drawing in freezing cold air, which is denser than 90* air. To compensate it will dump in more fuel which will cause your idle to rise.<p>You should let your engine run for a while occassionally and keep warm Eventually it should burn the coolant that spilled into the cylinders. If you're still having problems then reconnect your coolant lines to the TB and see if it changes anything. Let us know how it goes.<p>[ May 23, 2003: Message edited by: Hy300 ]</p>

[Spydie]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Hy300:
First of all you shouldn't block off your coolant lines to the TB if you live in a cold area, I notice you're in Canada.<p>Do any other Canadians besides me find this statement really funny?<p>Anyway the TB coolant lines have since been reconnected because of the unpredictable idle, not because of my 'climate'. My car is stored from late Nov. to April so the cold is not an issue for me.<p>Perhaps I was a bit vague about plugging and unplugging sensors. It does turn out that the water thermo sensor was cooked. As a test (I don't have an ohmeter) I removed the thermosensor from my other engine and swapped it over. Like magic it's running great. I need to bump up my idle a bit as it hovers right at the brink of stalling. No more gas smell as now it realizes that it is warm but I am still seeing white smoke. If you're saying that it will safely burn off in due time then I am relieved by that.....although I will likely just drain the oil and get rid of it before too long. It's kind of embarrassing.<p>[ May 23, 2003: Message edited by: Hy300 ]<hr></blockquote>

[Hy300]

Like I said, I was just being a typical backwoods American and stereotype everything.<p>Your engine should be fine though, change the oil and filter and run some synthetic or maybe a mix of Real/Synth.

[Spydie]

Awsome that's the answer I was hoping I'd hear.
Thanks

[lakersfan1]

How do you perform this coolant bypass??? Is there a step-by-step pictoral anywhere?

[aaronthehic]

I just put an on/off valve in the tb preheat line
on runs good /off runs bad , but fast<p>hey! what type of snows you go'n with this year buddy, hear it's going to be a bad one.