What are the effects of driving a car with a misfiring cylinder?
OK. I am a gear head who loves working on cars and has done so since the 1960’s.If a cylinder is misfiring because of an ignition problem you will, in the short term, just experience a loss of power increase your fuel consumption. In the longer term, continuing to drive it that way could destroy a coil and cost you more money.If, however, the misfire is caused by an injector problem, you could seriously damage your engine. Running that cylinder too lean will cause it to overheat and potentially damage the valve or the piston. If it is running excessively rich the unburned fuel could be washing the lubrication off of the cylinder walls leading to severe wear. In either case, repairing the damage will be expensive.NEVER drive a car that has a problem. NEVER drive a car in which the Check Engine light is on. If the Check Engine light begins to flash, SHUT OFF THE ENGINE, NOW! A problem that to you seems small, if not repaired, can cause a lot of damage that will be very expensive to fix.Read your car’s manual. Do exactly what it recommends. Find a mechanic you trust. Doing preventive maintenance will cost you a lot less than repairing the damage caused by neglecting to keep your car serviced.
Chevy truck bucking/mis-firing?
I own a shop, build engines, and own a race car & truck. I have found this one real simple. I'll try not get too technical here, but your spark plugs are breaking down. Replace them, and the problem will go away. Guy's, the real "clue" here is; It breaks down under a load. A bad temprature sensor can make the computer think the engine is still cold, and stay in closed loop, thus cause this. A cracked insulator on one of the spark plugs is quite often the cause. My race car will run fine until I slam it to the floor, and if the spark plugs are bad, it will pop, crack, and just not go at all. If it has a lot of miles on it, check to see if the cam is worn out. A vacuum test can find many problems, so I would advise you have this done too. Glad to help out, Good luck!!!
What causes a cylinder 1 misfire on chevy pickup V6 vortec 4.3?
My sister had the same issue with the 4.3 in her blazer. And I did exactly the same thing you did, replace everything. The problem turned out to be the fuel pressure regulator. Borrow a fuel pressure test kit from auto-zone, advance, oreilly's, etc... and do a fuel pressure test. You should see 55+psi and it should hold. If it does not get 55+ then your pump is the problem. If it goes up and drops very rapidly when you turn the key off, the regulator is leaking. If it turns out to be the regulator, it is inside the upper intake manifold cover at the back of the motor, so you'll need to remove the fuel lines and plastic upper. When I did my sister's, I hooked the fuel lines back up and turned the key and could see fuel just pouring out of the regulator so I could see it was bad. And depending on how long it has been doing this, and what year, you might have a clogged catalytic converter as a result of the unburned fuel. I had to replace that as well, but she was driving with a CEL on for over a year.
Chevy 350 engine bogs when hitting gas, idles low then stalls after 15 mins of driving?? HELP??
71 chevy with 350 engine, edelbrock intake and 600 cfm carb setup, new HEI distributor put installed, 8mm spark plug wires. I got the engine timed to the 6 before TDC GM spec. Car starts on a dime and drives great for about 10 mins just all of a sudden just bogs down and idles really low then finally stalls. Can figure out whats going on. Any suggestions? I have a car show coming up and I cant figure this out!! Car drove fine a month ago. =(
Help were at our wits END! 2000 Chevy Astro Van?
A clogged fuel filter will not cause a check engine light to come on. I would have the fuel injectors and timing checked. Could also be a bad knock sensor. The knock sensor advances/retards the timing based on it's readings. A bad sensor could do weird things but I think that would get it's own code as well. Could also be a bad throttle position sensor or dirty idle air control motor. Too many things could be wrong. Sorry to say, you might have to take it to a professional. Good luck.
99 chevy tahoe has hard time starting. cranks for a long time before turning over?
you can tell if it,s the fuel pump or the inability to hold pressure...when you turn the ignition key to the run position you should be able to hear the fuel pump run & then stop when correct pressure is obtained. ...the first thing I,d like to ask is if you have any trouble code,s or warning lamp,s lit?...it sound,s to me like a slight vacuum leak...but there are many sensor,s to check...such as ..throttle position , manifold air pressure , mass air flow , etc....but the easiest to check is vacuum leak,s...check all vacuum hose,s for leak,s...then try to lightly feather the throttle pedal while attempting to start....if this work,s then you have either a vacuum leak or a faulty sensor....p.s....being a 10 year old vehicle...check the throttle plate for wear...this is common on older engine,s....good luck!......& by the way....a lean condition or vacuum leak can trick the oxygen sensor giving you a richer mixture....making it difficult to start...a dirty E.G.R. valve can do this also...once again...good luck!
How can I make my 97 suburban’s acceleration faster?
Cal DeBouvre has hit the nail on the head.With only $500 on hand there’s not much you’re gonna do to turn your Suburban into a rocket sled. Like the others have mentioned the Suburban is a big, heavy vehicle designed to haul lots of folks, stuff and tow. It’s aerodynamic profile makes a brick look like the SST. With only 175K, unless you’ve abused the old girl, you shouldn’t need a rebuild on the motor.You would be *amazed* at what some very minor “tune up” work can produce. Doing the sensor thing doesn’t sound like much but realize, even back in ’97, the engine was controlled by a computer. And like any computer; garbage in, garbage out. The O2 sensors are like spark plugs; they have a normal service life and about 75K or so is about it. They’re expensive even doing it yourself. The OEM GM sensors are made by Denso and I would try to get OEM replacements. Also make sure you get sensors with the factory connector ...don’t get “universal” O2 sensors for which you have to splice on the old connector (off the old O2 sensor).While you’re at it replace the fuel filter.The rest of the tune up consists of replacing the plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor. I’d use OEM AC plugs. Get a distributor cap and rotor with *copper* contact points and sweep arm. Buy a custom fit set of wires of good quality. Spiral core wires allow maximum voltage while taking care of RF interference.The only way you’re going to effectively increase acceleration performance is with a lower final drive …at the huge expense of fuel mileage. You think it’s a pig now, drop a lower final drive and fuel mileage will drop like a stone. The 7.4 engine is designed as a truck engine which means it’s designed to put out a big, flat torque curve that starts right off idle. Engines designed under these parameters typically sacrifice ultimate HP for maximum torque; in short they are not speed demons and to transform them into “hot rod” motors requires, at a minimum, some different heads and a more aggressive cam. But you run the risk of killing off a lot of that earth moving torque the 7.4 puts out.I would avoid wasting money on “performance” chips, Cold Air Intake systems and CatBack exhaust systems.
2002 Chevy Blazer System Too Rich Banks 1 and 2, coolant leak from lower intake manifold?
I've got a 2002 Chevy Blazer, and I've had the P0172, and P0175 codes coming on and off for the last year or so and lately I've been replacing different parts because my truck's performance had been going down. So far I've replaced th O2 sensors, the ABS sensors, the fuel pump, the fuel filter, the distributor cap and rotor, the spark plugs and wires, the ignition coil, and the spider injector. I also checked the lines from the injectors to the vapor canister and fuel tank, and they're all clear so as far as I can tell by the replaced parts and inspection there is nothing or shouldnt be anything wrong with the fuel system now. With the replaced ignition coil, plugs, wires, cap, and rotor I don't think there's any kind of electrical problem but I can't rule it out completely. Anyways more to the point I had it diagnosed again today and they told me that my lower intake manifold is leaking coolant. I was wondering if anybody knew for sure whether this could be the root cause of my truck running in a rich condition? It makes a little sense to me because as much as I can remember I've been getting the P0172 and P0175 codes as long as my coolant has been low and I've had to refill it occasionally, which out of my own ignorance I thought was normal. Haha, I thought coolant just emptied out little by little, but my father told me today that it shouldn't. So I was thinking if my intake manifold is leaking coolant it could be causing the rich condition since I've read cooling system issues can cause the rich condition but what I read didn't specifically say anything about coolant leaks and only spoke of thermostat or sensor issues so I'd like some confirmation from someone please.
How do I fix a misfire on cylinder 2?
First make sure you determine the location of #2 cylinder.A misfire just means that the ECM has determined that that particular cylinder is slacking off, so to speak. It is not contributing. So your code would be a PO3O2.Next thing you should do is determine if you have spark to that cylinder and how strong the spark is in kV. You should have anywhere from 30 t0 50kV spitting from the coil.If you have spark, then you have to determine if it is going into the combustion chamber through the electrode of the spark plug. The spark plug could be "bleeding" the spark away due to a cracked insulator or moisture between the boot and the ceramic portion of the plug.If spark is not the issue then we get into the realm of more in depth diagnostics.Is your injector "spritzing"? Is it injecting too little or too much? Do you have a scan tool that can tell you when the misfire occurred and under what conditions, called a "freeze frame" parameter ? Very useful.Is the misfire occurring at idle or under load? What is the static compression like in that cylinder compared to the other ones. What is the running compression? Can you do a "leak down " test to determine the sealing of that cylinder ? Are you sure that intake runner to that cylinder does not have a vacuum leak?. Does your car have individual EGR passages for each cylinder? Are they blocked ? V6 Honda's have small channels for EGR and when they soot up it can send the diagnosis barking up the wrong tree.Most commonly misfires are caused by the lack of /or weak spark. But not always.