QuestionQUESTION: Hello! Unfortunately I know very little about what's going on with my car, because I like to fix it myself, however I'm stumped here. I had a garage run a diagnostic (instead of telling me the code, they told me what they thought was happening), and they decided that I might need an ignition control module. After running more extensive tests, they now tell me that I may have to replace my catalytic converter. What happened was, I was driving up a highway and very suddenly my engine began knocking and my check engine light came on. It sounded and felt terrible, but not as bad as I coasted my way to the side of the highway. Idling, though, my car sounded like death. By the time the tow truck dropped me off at the garage, my engine began stalling any time it was left to idle for a few seconds without gas. Replacing an ignition coil did not help the problem. As far as previous repairs are concerned, I don't know of any engine repairs or replacements recently, because I bought the car just five months ago as a beater because student loans are rough on the bank account. This repair will be costly, I know, but I don't want to purchase any parts without getting myself informed.
ANSWER: Hello, sorry for the delay in getting back to you, been very busy lately and I thought I replied to all my questions already.
Just a couple of questions:
Is it a 4 cylinder or V6?
Is there oil in the engine
Is there coolant in the radiator?
I realize that the engine is not running real well but while it is does the check engine light stay on?
Is there any noise while it's running now?
Any visible oil or coolant leaks?
Thanks. I'll get back to you as soon as I can after you reply.
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QUESTION: It's a V6 engine, and all fluid levels are good with no visible leaks. The poor car sounds like a golf cart when its running because two cylinders aren't firing at all and every now and then when it starts it will repeatedly stall after seconds of idling. I had the chance to look it over in the days since my question, and the last time I had to move it, it stalled four times making a 40 foot move from the garage to the yard. I'm hoping it's the ignition control module, and not the computer under the dash. I haven't even checked out the catalytic converter yet.
ANSWER: Hello, while the engine is running does the check engine light stay on?
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QUESTION: Sorry, yes. It stayed solid when the engine first started backfiring and such, but once I began trying to problem solve, the light has been blinking while the engine runs.
AnswerThanks, this will simplify it for me a little, if it's driveable enough to get it to an autoparts store like Autozone you can have the computer scanned for diagnostic codes, they do this at no charge, the check engine light is blinking due to the misfire, when you have the code information just reply and let me know the code numbers, ask them to give you the numbers, not what they think is wrong with it.
