Question on codes

[beezer]

For the last while I have had intermittent problems hard starting, rough idling, stalling and poor fuel economy. The CEL would come on and it would be 24 and 35, the fuel purge solenoid and air control valve.

 

So I'm a bit stubborn, poor and not convinced these are my problems. I read and read and read a bit more. I come to the conclusion it is the water temp. sensor, $35 later no more CEL. I could have wasted close to $500 on not fixing the problem, GRRRRR.

 

Why does this happen?

[frag]

For the last while I have had intermittent problems hard starting, rough idling, stalling and poor fuel economy. The CEL would come on and it would be 24 and 35, the fuel purge solenoid and air control valve.

 

So I'm a bit stubborn, poor and not convinced these are my problems. I read and read and read a bit more. I come to the conclusion it is the water temp. sensor, $35 later no more CEL. I could have wasted close to $500 on not fixing the problem, GRRRRR.

Why does this happen?

 

I don't know, but stay tuned to this board cause we need your troubleshooting ability.

Would you be so kind as to explain by what steps you came to that conclusion?

[Legacy777]

Since replacing the coolant temp sensor.....have you had the other two codes come back?

 

It's possible they could have been erroneous codes caused by the engine running lean/rich.

[beezer]

This is starting to bug me!

 

OK, before usually after the car had sat for awhile the car would act up and would set off the CEL. The CEL wouldn't go off until I reset the computer. Now this afternoon the car acted up, same codes came back. I let it run like crap for a couple of minutes, turned the car off, started it back up, acted fine, no CEL. Only seems to happen if the car sits for awhile.

 

I took the air control valve back off tonight. This time when I cleaned it I took the magnet thingy off and was able to turn the valve more, I found more gunk (will put it on in the morning). Another thing I did notice with my car is that it came with a new battery, but it is too small. Would this cause a problem? I might check the spark plugs in the morning too, they are probably a little gummed up from the car running rich.

[hklaine]

This is starting to bug me!

 

OK, before usually after the car had sat for awhile the car would act up and would set off the CEL. The CEL wouldn't go off until I reset the computer. Now this afternoon the car acted up, same codes came back. I let it run like crap for a couple of minutes, turned the car off, started it back up, acted fine, no CEL. Only seems to happen if the car sits for awhile.

 

I took the air control valve back off tonight. This time when I cleaned it I took the magnet thingy off and was able to turn the valve more, I found more gunk (will put it on in the morning). Another thing I did notice with my car is that it came with a new battery, but it is too small. Would this cause a problem? I might check the spark plugs in the morning too, they are probably a little gummed up from the car running rich.

 

Air Control Valve! I think this is what I am looking for. Which engine/car do you have? I also had some problems at idle and have heard I should clean this valve but don't know where it is. Where is this located on the engine? Your help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

-Heikki

(my apologies for hijacking the thread - hopefully this is also useful to others)

 

Looks like I may have an answer!

[beezer]

Think I am learning a valuable lesson here, don't trust that other people know what they are doing.

 

1st- I am pretty sure the wrong size battery is in my car (brand new, previous owner)

2nd- Previous owner said it had new wires and plugs, yes it did, no the plugs weren't tight. (I guess I am a little naive, and didn't think to check)

 

Would these 2 things contribute to my problem?

 

I think it might explain why it acts up when the engine is cold because everything shrinks somewhat and there is a slight leak in compression around the plugs(maybe?, not a mechanic by any means). There was black soot on the wire boots.

 

I am going to change the plugs and wires, can't get out today though. I am going to let the car sit and see how it is later.

[beezer]

Problem solved, pretty darn sure this time.I guess the one spark plug would occassionally work and not work. I started the car, it did the same thing again, idled rough and the CEL came on. I decided I would start pulling the spark plug wires to see if all the cylinders were firing, nope 1 of them was not. Threw new plugs in, started up just fine.

 

Frag to answer your question earlier. The car would always throw the same 2 codes 24 and 35. I tested the purge solenoid by applying 12V to it, and it ticked, so I guess it is OK. The air controll valve, the tach would bounce around at idle after it was warmed up sometimes, so I figured it just needed cleaning. If it was an electrical problem I guess I assumed it would get worse eventually, but it never did. I also couldn't figure out why the air control valve just wouldn't work when it was cold. I did have problems though sometimes where the car just wouldn't start unless I floored the gas pedal. Amongst a few other things it definately sounded like the typical symptoms of a faulty coolant temp. sensor. I image a great deal of the symptoms are directly related to the one cylinder not firing properly, but I'm still confinced the coolant temp. sensor was faulty at times. I've read that it can go without throwing a code. I can't explain why the CEL would stay on, but after throwing in the new coolant temp sensor the CEL would go out once the car was running properly. Why those 2 codes got thrown because the 1 cylinder wasn't firing I don't know either.

 

I would like to express my appreciation to this forum and all the past advice from members (special thanks to Legacy777), it just saved me a lot of money!(I guess I can stop sitting up at night thinking about my subaru.....for now.)

 

Thanks again, Beezer.