6th Gen ('00-'05): bucking, 10mpg, no codes no leaks
#1
03-18-2014, 08:47 AM
bucking, 10mpg, no codes no leaks
so after the swap of the" new" 3.4 engine i drove it about 50 miles and noticed that my fuel intake was horrible. it sucked down WAAAAY too much gas, but i thought maybe the ecm needed to relearn yet. she seemed to run fine except for just an ever so slight hesitation when it first start to go (and this i blew off because i was driving the Ram for a month and thought i needed to just get used to the montes acceleration again). THEN i took her on a longer road trip. my tank was full and 3/4 of the trip was highway. i drove around 40 miles, driving time was about and hour and 15 minutes one way. i noticed slight bucking about 30 miles into the trip and while we were in the city. it got a little bit worse. we reached our destination, car cooled for a couple hours while we were there. on the way home we fought thru some red lights and normal traffic to get to the highway again (about 20 minutes worth) and the issue got presumably worse. no check engine light on yet so i thought maybe the fuel was dirty or bad and it needed to work its way out. while on the highway she lost some major power like she wasnt getting enough gas and then my check engine light blinked for about 10x (freaking me out
) then it just stopped and went away and the car went back to normal and it felt like it did the first time i drove it after the engine swap. it bucked a few times more on the way home. there is absolutely no fuel smell, rotten smells, or any of the above. i used a 3/4 tank of gas to go a lousy 125 miles total. My uncle told me to change the throttle over from my old engine (has 161k) so we did that. the old throttle ( old throttle being the one that came with the engine with only 65k on it)was all black inside. we started the car let her run up to temp and its still slightly bucking when i give it gas, but i have not driven it since. should i
A)change the fuel rail over from my old engine?
B)drive it another 50-100 miles to see if it gets any worse of better?
C) say screw all of that and have someone use a $3000 scanner to pinpoint the issue?
and can someone tell me why it was black inside the throttle? (this engine was in a collision and with only 65k on it i would think it should be way cleaner than that)
) then it just stopped and went away and the car went back to normal and it felt like it did the first time i drove it after the engine swap. it bucked a few times more on the way home. there is absolutely no fuel smell, rotten smells, or any of the above. i used a 3/4 tank of gas to go a lousy 125 miles total. My uncle told me to change the throttle over from my old engine (has 161k) so we did that. the old throttle ( old throttle being the one that came with the engine with only 65k on it)was all black inside. we started the car let her run up to temp and its still slightly bucking when i give it gas, but i have not driven it since. should i A)change the fuel rail over from my old engine?
B)drive it another 50-100 miles to see if it gets any worse of better?
C) say screw all of that and have someone use a $3000 scanner to pinpoint the issue?
and can someone tell me why it was black inside the throttle? (this engine was in a collision and with only 65k on it i would think it should be way cleaner than that)
#2
03-18-2014, 08:53 AM
The blinking wngine light was a misfire. Have a standard AutoZone (or any one2) scanner pinpoint which cylinder is misfiring. Id bet your issue is spark plugs or coil packs. Could be the cat converter as well. But first things first, check thoes plugs, especially if they were the ones in the "new" engine cause who knows how long they were sitting.
#3
03-19-2014, 07:31 AM
all my spark plugs and wires are brand new. even ignition module, and air filter. im wondering if my fuel regulator is either bad......or not the right one for my car. i know its the same engine, but it came out of an impala. the pcm could maybe be reading the sensors differently?? giving me more fuel than i need?
the engine only sat for a few months. it was wrecked in December of 2013 and i bought it in February. but that doesn't matter anyhow. we changed a lot over and/or bought new stuff. the spark plugs are autolite platinum. i know some people are peculiar about plug brands lol
the scanners (unless they are the dealer type scanners) will not read a misfire unless the engine light is on. we have an obII reader and it says there is nothing to read. my mechanic is on vacation right now so i only have my uncle who has access to a good scanner, and its only available on weekends. if it was dumping too much fuel into a cyl or 2 then that cyl will misfire with the over abundance of fuel, which makes sense of the blinking. my husband went ahead and changed over the fuel rail anyways. we know that mine was good regardless. but now i cant drive it till i get the cooling issue under wrap.
it was still "misfiring" after we changed just the throttle body, but i didnt take it for a drive, it was just sitting in the driveway. it may need to work out the bad gas from the old throttle? cuz man was it ever dirty. and i seen an oil like substance coming out of the old throttle before when we were putting the engine back together. it didnt smell like oil tho. nor fuel. i cleaned it every time i seen it, next day there it was again.
the engine only sat for a few months. it was wrecked in December of 2013 and i bought it in February. but that doesn't matter anyhow. we changed a lot over and/or bought new stuff. the spark plugs are autolite platinum. i know some people are peculiar about plug brands lol
the scanners (unless they are the dealer type scanners) will not read a misfire unless the engine light is on. we have an obII reader and it says there is nothing to read. my mechanic is on vacation right now so i only have my uncle who has access to a good scanner, and its only available on weekends. if it was dumping too much fuel into a cyl or 2 then that cyl will misfire with the over abundance of fuel, which makes sense of the blinking. my husband went ahead and changed over the fuel rail anyways. we know that mine was good regardless. but now i cant drive it till i get the cooling issue under wrap.
it was still "misfiring" after we changed just the throttle body, but i didnt take it for a drive, it was just sitting in the driveway. it may need to work out the bad gas from the old throttle? cuz man was it ever dirty. and i seen an oil like substance coming out of the old throttle before when we were putting the engine back together. it didnt smell like oil tho. nor fuel. i cleaned it every time i seen it, next day there it was again.
#4
03-19-2014, 07:45 AM
all my spark plugs and wires are brand new. even ignition module, and air filter. im wondering if my fuel regulator is either bad......or not the right one for my car. i know its the same engine, but it came out of an impala. the pcm could maybe be reading the sensors differently?? giving me more fuel than i need?
the engine only sat for a few months. it was wrecked in December of 2013 and i bought it in February. but that doesn't matter anyhow. we changed a lot over and/or bought new stuff. the spark plugs are autolite platinum. i know some people are peculiar about plug brands lol
the scanners (unless they are the dealer type scanners) will not read a misfire unless the engine light is on. we have an obII reader and it says there is nothing to read. my mechanic is on vacation right now so i only have my uncle who has access to a good scanner, and its only available on weekends. if it was dumping too much fuel into a cyl or 2 then that cyl will misfire with the over abundance of fuel, which makes sense of the blinking. my husband went ahead and changed over the fuel rail anyways. we know that mine was good regardless. but now i cant drive it till i get the cooling issue under wrap.
it was still "misfiring" after we changed just the throttle body, but i didnt take it for a drive, it was just sitting in the driveway. it may need to work out the bad gas from the old throttle? cuz man was it ever dirty. and i seen an oil like substance coming out of the old throttle before when we were putting the engine back together. it didnt smell like oil tho. nor fuel. i cleaned it every time i seen it, next day there it was again.
the engine only sat for a few months. it was wrecked in December of 2013 and i bought it in February. but that doesn't matter anyhow. we changed a lot over and/or bought new stuff. the spark plugs are autolite platinum. i know some people are peculiar about plug brands lol
the scanners (unless they are the dealer type scanners) will not read a misfire unless the engine light is on. we have an obII reader and it says there is nothing to read. my mechanic is on vacation right now so i only have my uncle who has access to a good scanner, and its only available on weekends. if it was dumping too much fuel into a cyl or 2 then that cyl will misfire with the over abundance of fuel, which makes sense of the blinking. my husband went ahead and changed over the fuel rail anyways. we know that mine was good regardless. but now i cant drive it till i get the cooling issue under wrap.
it was still "misfiring" after we changed just the throttle body, but i didnt take it for a drive, it was just sitting in the driveway. it may need to work out the bad gas from the old throttle? cuz man was it ever dirty. and i seen an oil like substance coming out of the old throttle before when we were putting the engine back together. it didnt smell like oil tho. nor fuel. i cleaned it every time i seen it, next day there it was again.
#6
03-21-2014, 03:08 PM
No, the FPR is not a sensor. Pull the vacuum line off the FPR and smell it. If it smells like gas, it's bad.
#7
03-23-2014, 12:47 PM
well after changing over the throttle body and the fuel rail from my old engine and taking for a ride to work out the old stuff, it seems to run MUCH better. no more bucking, and i swear i gained gas in my tank haha! i guess i will keep the throttle as a back up, but will have to clean it up real good. good to know it was something simple. we spent so much time working on this car the past month, and still have so much more to do lol.
#9
03-23-2014, 02:59 PM
A good scanner can do a running read. Dave ( dbaldwin), myself and a few other Members have the Bluetooth scanner. Along with the Tech app. turns our phones into a scanner. I have the Full paid app. Overall cost was under $25. I can read my engine while it's running, gives me all the same readings, running or not, as a $1000 Snap -On OBDII scanner. The Members who have it, Love it!
A sporadic miss fire may not cause a Cell code. I had a bad coil. For cylinders 2 and 5. No codes. Found it with a running scan. Even told me how Manny times out of 500 it missed. Since it was. 2 cylinders on the same coil I put a new on in and no more miss fire. Very worth the investment.
A sporadic miss fire may not cause a Cell code. I had a bad coil. For cylinders 2 and 5. No codes. Found it with a running scan. Even told me how Manny times out of 500 it missed. Since it was. 2 cylinders on the same coil I put a new on in and no more miss fire. Very worth the investment.
#10
03-24-2014, 03:47 PM
"You should port the spare tb"---im sorry..port? whats that mean?
@JC Colon' i will have to look into that. we are getting new phones next month and changing providers so i will run it by the hubby. hes more smart phone tech than i am, but im more computer tech than he is lol. i took her out again today and i felt her "miss" once, but my gas gauge is still fine and it was only one tiny buck. barely noticeable (but im one of those types that always notices the teeny tiny detail)
@JC Colon' i will have to look into that. we are getting new phones next month and changing providers so i will run it by the hubby. hes more smart phone tech than i am, but im more computer tech than he is lol. i took her out again today and i felt her "miss" once, but my gas gauge is still fine and it was only one tiny buck. barely noticeable (but im one of those types that always notices the teeny tiny detail)