QuestionQUESTION: whats wrong? ill give you the details of what it is doing i was on my way home and it started jumping or jerking what ever you call it and it would only go if you tapped the gas instead of holding it down then 100 feet later it stopped. when you go to start it. it will grind for 10 seconds and if you floor the gas petal it'll rev up once and die and if you dont floor it all it does is grind my dad checked the coil to see if it was firing and said it was and i have 2 gallons of gas in it and a charged battery do have any idea what is wrong with it
ANSWER: Hi Josh,
My favorite malfunctioning item is the exhaust gas recirculation valve for a problem such as you describe. It is located near the front of the engine, but because you didn't say which engine you have I can't tell you exactly how to find it. On the 2.5L 4 cyl engine it is on the side near the firewall so you would look behind from the passenger side where it is mounted on the exhaust manivold. On the 3.0L it is in a pipe that branches off the exhaust manifold near the radiator and goes across the front of the engine toward the rear. The valve has three parts: the valve proper mounted to the exhaust manifold/pipe, a round black actuator with a vacuum hose attached, and between the two parts there is a flange inside of which you will see a rod with a slot around its circumference which is the valve stem. That valve could be sticking in the ajar position when you try and start the car or take your foot off the gas when driving. When that happens the mixture gets diluted with exhaust gas so it won't idle/start. To test that insert the tip of a screwdriver in the slot of the stem and use it to move the stem back and forth, against internal spring-action in one direction that tries to close it. That closing should come to a dead stop if the movement is not gummed up. If it seems to resist closing to a stop, squirt some WD-40 on the stem where it enters the body of the valve and move it back and forth with the tip of the screwdriver to loosen up the action. Then try and start it and see if that worked.
If not, then use the ignition key to get any fault codes that might be stored in the engine computer. Turn the key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the check engine light which remains 'on' to see it begin the flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to verify the count. Then group the counts in pairs in the order of appearance to form the 2-digit fault code numbers.
Write me back with the numbers or go the www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html for a code translation list. We'll go from there, but tell me which engine you have.
Roland
Roland
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QUESTION: i have the 2.5 engine and neither me or my dad can find the exhaust gas recirculation valve how ever the car does seem to idle if you pour gas into the carborator or spray something flamable in it but then stops as soon as you quit and i cant get the codes cause my car has a bad computer in it which is why i have had to drive for 2 years with no speedometer( luckly never pulled over for speeding) i dont know if it is the fuel pump or the fuel injector or what.
ANSWER: Hi Josh,
From the passenger side, look directly under the air filter/intake housing. You will see the exhaust manifold ('firing order...' engraved on it). The egr valve is bolted to the upper surface of the manifold, just to the rear of the engraving. The top of it is round metal (sorry I said 'black') and then there is the open area between the top and valve body. You will see a vertical rod with an indentation in that open area. Lift the stem with the tip of a screwdriver and feel the spring action trying to pull it back down. It should return to the full down position. Spray some WD-40 on the stem at the indent where it enters the body of the valve and move it some more and then check that it feels like it is fully in the down position. It it won't seat well then you have to unbolt the valve and clean the internal passageway. But before doing that, start the engine and see if it idles better. Notice if you raise the valve slightly the engine will miss due to the leaning out effect of opening the valve. The fact that things improve when you put gas in the throttle body makes me believe that the egr is sticking slightly ajar so the the addition of the fuel is making up for the leaking in of exhaust gas to the intake manifold due to the valve malfunction. This is a common reason for poor idle, dying when slowing down/coming to a stop.
Roland
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QUESTION: ok ill check this out if it aint that do you think it may be the fuel pump i am really low on money and want to make sure that if i can get the problem fixed i dont have to replace have the car to do it
AnswerHi Josh, I can't be sure but it is work a check out. If you had a check engine light you could see what codes might be stored. Other than that, the other mixture-affecting item is the Manifold Absolute pressure sensor (MAP) which does have code. It costs around $50 but it would be better to get a code before spending any money on it. It is mounted on the passenger side inner fender and has a three wire plug and a vacuum line that goes to the throttle body. Check that the vacuum line isn't cracked or detached first before doing anything.
Roland
