Question1996 Sebring Convertible 2.5l vin H
Severe sag, hesititation and occasion stall after I paid a mechanic to do plugs and wires.
Champion Plugs put in a few days before the stuff below, was advised that only these plugs should be used. They replaced the ones that the mechanic shop installed. They installed Bosch platinum.
Noticed that there was oil all over the bosch plugs, so to be sure the new Champions wouldnt foul out, I did the valve cover seals and gaskets. While I was in there and everything was torn apart, I decided to replace the EGR valve, cap and rotor. The EGR valve, cap and rotor are all mopar. Champions also came from Mopar.
well the car is doing the same thing ... I needed to all of this anyway, but my work did not correct the issue.
The car runs ok for about five minutes.
Gradually, hesitation increases. As it increases idle becomes irradic.
Eventually (probably after 7 or 10 minutes), when stopping at a light or stop sign, intermittently rpms will drop very low, the Oil light comes as the car stalls or it comes back up to about 7 or 8 hundred rpms. If it stalls, its hard starting it again, but it does go over after a few tries. If it doesnt stall, and I step on the gas to pull away, I get a "dead spot" ... hit gas but going no where. spitting sputtering ...
The check engine light is NOT illuminated .... but put a OBD II on just to be sure cel is working.
No codes.
Now, I should also mention that the fuel lines are severely rusted and I cant be sure when the fuel filter was changed last. Car came from the north, although I live in the south.
I believe Im getting spark else she would turn over, right ?
One other thing to note is that while I was putting one of the rearmost valve covers back on, I leaned on the source hose connected to the fuel rail and snapped the plastic end of the hose off. Now this was really no big thing as I had a new replacement, but the fuel didnt squirt out as to be under pressure at all. It just trickled and dripped out.
Not sure what else to look at, although I have the car on jacks so that I can replace the fuel lines (have OEM set from a wreck I bought) and the fuel filter. These lines need to be replaced anyway, so I MAY be able to at least rule fuel line and filter out.
Any ideas, am I going in the wrong direction ? What should I be looking at ... and I hope you dont say the distributor (although I have one of those from the wreck also)
AnswerHi Chris,
Thank you for the detailed history. While you evidentally had an OBD-II readout done for codes, correct?, I believe that you can in a '96 continue to get OBD-I codes using the ignition key:"on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less. Then watch the check engine light to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. If you only get two sets of flashes, with 5 in each, that corroborates there are no current codes (code 55 means end of readout). But keep checking that from time to time to see if any other results come up. You can get a translator at www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html
It could be you have an issue that just hasn't reached the threshold of detectability by the controller.
Because you say that the engine runs ok for 5 minutes and then goes into stalling/hesitiation/etc. I wonder if this problem might not be your coolant temp sensor is not changing resistance as it is warmed up which would cause a too rich condition at that time (maybe the "wet" plugs was fuel not oil?). Use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance across its terminal when the plug is removed. It should read 7,000 to 13,000 ohms when cold (70F) and drop gradually as the engine reaches operating temperature to 700 to 1,000 ohms at 200F. It is located next to the thermostat housing and has a two-wire plug (black/light blue and tan/black).
The only other thing you might try is to remove the air intake hose at the throttle body and clean the throat, butterfly (both surfaces) and the idle air passageway with solvent using a soft cloth or q-tip. If the crud around there it can cause poor idling and getaway.
It doesn't sound like you have a problem with the fuel pump if it hadn't been running recently when the hose cracked.
It sounds to me like a mixture issue, rather than spark, so that is why I am suggesting going in that direction.
Please let me know what you learn.
Roland
