Engine stalling

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » August 9th, 2006, 8:04 pm

So I'm in a hurry to get to work last night and I'm stuck behind this car. I squeal around him to catch the light. Maybe I imagined it but, it almost felt as if the engine sank or kicked back from the acceleration. I get to a stop sign and the car started idleing hard, almost like how a muscle car or a Harley would sound, like "buh, buh,buh, buh". lol Does that make sense? I kept driving and it went away. On the way home it maybe did it once at a light. I drove it hard for a few blocks maybe to see if it would stall or something and it drove fine. Now, on the way to work today I was taking it easy and as I idle at a stop light it started idleing weird again except this time it actually stalled. I tried starting it up and it was struggling so I pumped the gas and it started only this time I heard a strange knocking or clicking (not the typical HLA ticking) for a few secs and it went away when I accelerated. I got to work ok but not sure how it's going to be when I try to get home tonight. Can anyone help me out on this?

Thanks,
Jay

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » August 9th, 2006, 8:41 pm

did u bother to open the hood?

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » August 9th, 2006, 9:05 pm

I did last night when I got home but, I didn't have time today cause I'm still at work. Didn't know what to look for. Checked to make sure all plugs were secured, fluids ok, no weird smells, engine was somewhat cool to the touch which was odd, I revved the car under the hood and didn't hear or feel anything out of the ordinary. Other than that I don't know what or how to check for anything else.

Si1verBullet · Post by **Si1verBullet** » August 10th, 2006, 4:22 am

I would be checking the accordian section of your intake manifold. Any cracks or leaks will stall the engine and cause lumpy idle.

Then pull the codes from the ECU.

Actually what this forum really needs is a K8/KLZE Troubleshooting flowchart.

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » August 10th, 2006, 12:21 pm

I did check the intake hose. It is only a couple years old. What I have noticed while driving was the feeling of a slight consistant jerking of the car. It isn't bucking hard by any means but it was as if the gas was coming out in pulses. But, if I were to accelerate I would feel a much stronger torque than I ever have and it would kick in at maybe 2500 rpm. It feels great but, I know our VRIS is supposed to come in at a higher range and even when it does it hasn't felt like this before. I still don't know how to pull codes out of a KL36 ECU cause the codes are supposed to be different and I don't know where to find an LCD(?) light to plug into the diag box. I could only guess at anything right now... Fuel pump, fuel regulator (do we even have one in a stock ZE?), timing, disty, plugs. Man, it could be anything at this point can't it?

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » August 11th, 2006, 9:37 pm

Anyone? Maybe suggestions in terms of what I can look for visually underneath, on top or behind the engine...

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » August 11th, 2006, 10:12 pm

Si1verBullet wrote:Actually what this forum really needs is a K8/KLZE Troubleshooting flowchart.

Follow the same procedures for fault finding (more or less) found in the on-line manual for the K8.

Jay72 wrote:I did check the intake hose. It is only a couple years old. What I have noticed while driving was the feeling of a slight consistant jerking of the car. It isn't bucking hard by any means but it was as if the gas was coming out in pulses. But, if I were to accelerate I would feel a much stronger torque than I ever have and it would kick in at maybe 2500 rpm. It feels great but, I know our VRIS is supposed to come in at a higher range and even when it does it hasn't felt like this before. I still don't know how to pull codes out of a KL36 ECU cause the codes are supposed to be different and I don't know where to find an LCD(?) light to plug into the diag box. I could only guess at anything right now... Fuel pump, fuel regulator (do we even have one in a stock ZE?), timing, disty, plugs. Man, it could be anything at this point can't it?

Hi Jay
A lighted test probe (not sure if it had to be LED) place across the FEN and B+ on battery to pull codes. Dirt cheap item at Cdn Tire. Confirmation if oem intake tubing will take a critcal eye to find any cracks. And that's all it takes is a small crack or split. Yes there's a fuel pressure regulator - at the end of the fuel rail. Look up FPR - tons of references and with pics too. It's located in the same spot as the K8 so references in the Online manual will help too. There is a test to confirm the FPR and Fuel pump in the online manual. Pull the plugs to check for irregular burn/deposits. Do the water bottle misting thing at night with the engine running to confirm plug wire integrity. You can always try the butane refill bottle spray trick to check for vaccum leaks. Since there's no real check for the fuel filter, it's best to have that changed on a regular basis. When was the last time you changed yours? Have you run the tank nearly dry on occasion since that fuel filter change? Pull cap off of disty and check the rotor and LIGHTLY clean off carbon deposits with soft emery cloth. Use sharp straight flat edge instrument to clean contacts in the disty cap. Do I have to ask the condition of the air filter?
Jay, these Q's should keep you busy to whittle away at.
Post back your findings when you get a chance, cheers,

John

Jay72 · Post by **Jay72** » August 12th, 2006, 1:06 am

John, thanks for replying. Here's what I replaced in Feb. when I swapped the engine: Fuel filter, alternator and timing belts, engine mounts, disty, alternator, waterpump... hmmm... can't think of anything else at the moment. I put in a K&N box filter in in March. Chances are I'm pretty sure I have the original fuel pump still cause I haven't replaced it since purchasing the car. Yes, I have run the tank nearly dry but, only so that I could see how far a tank would get me. lol. Is that something that you should do when putting in a new fuel filter? I hope it's a good thing that I did. lol.

In terms of these "misting and butane tests" I guess I'll have to do some searching on here on how to do these things. I did ,however, do a quick search in the online manual on "stalling" and it noted HLA fix or replacement, head gasket problems, poor valve to seat contact, fuel system prob or a simple oil change. With that in mind and knowing how my car has been performing could I eliminate any one of those "possibilities"? For example, would the car only have a rough idle if I had a blown gasket?

I hate to drag this out like this. Thanks so much John.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » August 12th, 2006, 4:57 am

Simple things first I guess. That one particular time may have been all the was needed to suck up a bunch of crud into the fuel filter. Unless a gas tank has been purged/cleaned in it's lifetime (and ours are getting up there in age) a hefty amount of build up can accumulate in the tank. Most of which will settle to the bottom and unless we find our selves on a steep incline or run the tank nearly dry, we run the chance of drawing in that crud build-up, even in a new filter. If this has happened fairly recently, then that's where I might want to focus on.
Pull each plug oout and inspect for colour. When doing so you'll also check each plastic insulator for any cracks. The new MX I just bought has a cracked insulator in #6 cylinder and will need replacing. It is noticeable but doesn't cause stalling. During this check, inspect each of those plug wires to see any discolourization on the underside to reflect possible arcing to the valve cover. Another trick to checking plug wires is to have the engine running at night and use a water misting bottle and spray lightly over the plug wire areas. Any potential arcing will reveal itself and is easily found/seen when doing this at night.
Vaccum checks using butane refill - Using a butane refill bottle, spray lightly and closely along the course of all vaccum lines while the engine is running. If there is any potential vaccum leak, the vaccum line will suck up that butane and immediately cause the engine to jump up a little in the idle. You can home in on a leak very easily with this method.
A blown head gasket should give a rougher idle but there are degrees as to how "blown" it is.
If you think the time differential between running the gas tank low and the idle issues appearing is very close, it might be worth the chance to get another fuel filter. Do this all by itself without any other adjustment to confirm that in fact it was that. If you don't notice a change to your idle issues, than obviously it wasn' that, and you'll have a spare fuel filter for next years change.
Hope this helps a little.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » August 12th, 2006, 6:14 am

Jay72 wrote: For example, would the car only have a rough idle if I had a blown gasket? .

Sign of a blown head gasket, the oil is milky white, pull the radiator
cap off and should see bubbles in the water and a very watery
ejection from the exhaust, though i hear you get that anyway with
cars and catalytic converter's ...

Blown head gasket tends to affect hp not idle.

mx3autozam · Post by **mx3autozam** » August 12th, 2006, 10:18 am

kiwi_MX3 wrote:
Jay72 wrote: For example, would the car only have a rough idle if I had a blown gasket? .
Sign of a blown head gasket, the oil is milky white, pull the radiator
cap off and should see bubbles in the water and a very watery
ejection from the exhaust, though i hear you get that anyway with
cars and catalytic converter's ...

Blown head gasket tends to affect hp not idle.

depends how bad its blown. If its blown between cylinders causing compression loss you will notice the power loss. If its blown badly the car will run really bad.