Boo

Welcome From Arizona !... got home yesterday... I was running out of things to check to find the problem with my Suby and when i got 2.5k rpm's out of the engine [about 50 mph] before it would crap out and start jerkin, missin and back firing... i decided to make a run [maybe a trot]for home. [having more time than money]. I cant say what caused the improvement, the only changes i made was to replace a bad distributor cap... which i put on just before the problem. I think they gave me the wrong one cause when i checked it the center contact was broke and the spring and contact were missing.[found it, not in the distributor], and the distributor was full of white plastic dust or shavings ground off the contacts inside by the rotor tip. The new cap produced no immediate results. I put my original fuel pump back on cause the new one did not help [got a refund]... I also broke off the wire to the O2 sensor in the process of checking it out, so that was out. I think the the fine shavings in the distributor may have 'blinded' the optical reader 'eye' in the distributor. Well... anyway. I put in a can of fuel injector cleaner. filled up... left the gas cap a little loose... and the O2 wire off, and left for Arizona... at 2,5 K rpms... after about an hour, it started improving... and smothing out to 3k rpm... highway speed... and i kept a rollin... by the time i hit Az... it was running relitively great up to 4krpm plus... and the turbo was kickin in like it used to. hell, I was passin people. In my mind i was thinking this was like a weird dream it broke down for no apparent reason... nothing i did seemed to help, and it fixed itself on the same strech of road it broke down on... and here i was home and the car was runnin OK... Thats the truth...I couldnt make this ************ up. Thank you every body... i learned an aweful lot about my Suby... and whats not wrong with it... and about the good spirit of people all over... bless you all... and thank you again. Boo... Home in Arizona.

Thanks for that tip... is that true of the other sensors... disconnect them and go to default values... but it will run ... any others? like MAF [ahh airflow] Boo

OK... I got it and that makes sence... the book says says to 'back probe the connector [on the TPS] to ground to read the voltage... guess I'll use a pin into the wire to read it... hooked up, connected... and ignition on... to see what kind of curve and voltage its puttin out. Boo Just did it... it puts out a smoth voltage curve from 1v+- to 5v when the throtle opens up... it works. I get no voltage out of the O2 sensor just sittin there cold... storms comin in so I'll try it hot tomorrow... but.. theres only 1 wire, from the O2 sensor, how can there be a loop if it only puts voltage out?

Thanks round eye, royboy, cougar, press lab and the rest... Still stuck in Colorado and baffled... like whats MAF-TPS... I've checked out most all the mechanical problems... and they are not at fault. This engine should run like a top but on the road i cant get more that 2k rpm in all gears. I'm startin to think its electrical too... some controller. I'm tryin to check the throtle sensor but I'm having trouble getting the connector off... dont want to force it and have more problems but I'll keep tryin. I'm thinkin by running a hot wire from the battery to the + coil lead to make sure it had voltage to the coil and spark may have done something... but would it run to 2k then? [by the way i checked the coil... put a new one in... its OK] I'll also check the O2 sensor for voltage. Could be a long slow trip back to AZ.... OK... got it off, the squar one, throtle sensor connector... theres 5v reference signal fron the harness, the throtle sensor knows idle from go [on off voltage], now i will check the sensor with a voltage checker by , with the ingition off. applying voltage to one pin and seeing if one of the other 3 goes up and down like a dimer switch would when i work the throtle.

Hello Oregon... and thanks rebuilders thanks everyone for a lot of common sence advice and your right old timer [i'm 59 but i never grew up in my mind] it doesn't cost anymore to be nice and if it takes any extra effort thats how we build the world we live in. OK there were some questions and I'l try to address them... when i changed [and double - triple checked] the belts... I changed the water pump, rotor, cap, wires. plugs... the plentum isn't leaking, it quits at a certin rpm [just over 2k since i changed the fuel filter 1.5 before] hot or cold almost like it had a govoner on it. It worked at first, i thiught it was fine... started up [the problem] intermitenly and then all the time. I just checked the down pipe CAT [ by droping it and running the engine] ... did not help... replaced the fuel pump and made sure the lines were clean and free flowing... still the same;. Today is a nice day in Craig Co. [its been wet, rainy, muddy. cold all week] and I'm puttin all the things i checked yesterday back togather... to make it ahhh drivable again then I'll check some more things out. Boo Oh Yea I tryed running it without the gas cap too

Got Ya they are not on just when i turn it on, like normal Boo

Yea Calebz... All the idiot lights work and is has recharged the Battery... when it cuts out... it will do it at a very precice rpm, like 2.3k now or 1.5k at first... runs good and smooth and pulls [like up hill or ramps] to that point, go over that an it almost dies. A couple times be in developing it would run normaly which makes me think not belt cause they never get better... but i'm running out of machanical things to check. I pray it not in the computer-controller modules- whats the ignighter i read that could be damaged by grounding the coil leads. Boo

Hey Ya'll Thanks for all the good ideas... the things i could check so far... nothin helps... turbo spins no side play.... not that... downpipe cat... droped the pipe, ran it... not that... fuel flowin freely... through new fuel pump... not that...ummm I'm back to the belts bein off again... I'll check that tomorrow... Could i have damaged the electronics by runnig a wire from the battery to the +coil lead and turning it over, trying to get it to start?... I tryed to hot wire it when the belt went out and it wouldn't start so i put a hot wire to the coil to be sure it was gettin spark. Well more tomorrow Boo Boo Who

Ok... I think your on to something.... I just took the downpipe off... thats not it... still cuts outjust above 2k with no pipe... the turbo spins freely with no excrsive play... I am now putting a new fuel pump on [junk yard] ... but that won't fix it if its pluged in the tank... is there anyway i can check that in my wagon [gl] can i blow on the line or is access behind the back seat, through the floor, above the tank. This happened to me once be fore... in a chevy van... I replaced everything fuel from the front back and it was the last thing... a plugged screen in the tank... which i tore off and threw away... it fixed that problem. Thanks back to work Boo PS... just went out and blew on the gas line to the tank [fuel pump off] and it seems real clear... i can hear it bubblingin the tank and when i stop gas comes spurtin out... think ITs clear .. now I'll make sure the pump intake is clear.

Thanks Calebz and Aussi downunder too... Today I'll get to the second... ahhh i mean first cat on the down pipe... i bet thats it, the problem. Hey Aussi howed you fix yours... its gonna be hard to pound a stake through it because of the bends in the pipe. well , thats next. Boo PS hope you get your Drive axle knocking figured out Aussi

I think I see said the blind man... is that large round thing on the down pipe off the turbo... with the heat sheilds around it... also a catalytic converter... as well as the one that unbolts with the tail pipe. I just unbolted the tail pipe in front of that cat and cleaned it out ... I didn't take off the down pipe... The Haynes manual doesn't identify that as anything but i see its only on the turbo models.... is that a second cat... just off the turbo and on the down pipe? Lookin to see Boo PS thanks Cougar... Sideways... Bandit and the rest of you i cant remember now for your input...

Thanks everyone for the input... I've got some things to check tomorrow... the dealer didn't give me a detailed report but said he checked the error codes and he checked the fuel presure... but at idle or with the key on... he never drove it. I'll get back after some more tests but i dont have any gauges... just a box of wrenches and sockets.

Dear Do It... Thanks... no i didnt drive it that way, I put it on ramps an just droped the pipe to see if that would help by removing a restriction... i did get 500 more RPMs but it didnt fix the problem. I didnt think to check the down pipe... Umm gotta do that. Boo

Hey Spanky... thanks for the input... Did yours still run with the turbo out... whats the story with that. Boo

Critical Mass... I cant get 3000 rpms... but, by once in a while, i mean like usual... when i get on it, pulling in a higher gear but below 2000rpm, as i cant get it to rev. I did that just to see if the turbo light still came on... hoping that ment it was still working... and it does. I hate to start just replacing things to see what happens... especialy the turbo unit [$$$] if it could run with it out to get me home i could live with that for awhile. Anyone out there have there turbo go out... whats it like? Thanks... Boo PS it has 210.000 miles on it. been well taken care of, and i'e been replacing the wornout stuff to get it right... like hoses, drive axles, belts, water pump... but the engine seems good, dont burn oil or smoke, and everything worked... ran like a dream to Colorado... till the belt broke... then this.

It Pulls fine... in all gear from the start... till the point where it falls on its face... even up hill it pulls and just starts missing at a certin rpm [2000 since i changed the fuel filter] That makes me think its getting a low volume of fuel... enough fuel and pressure at low rpm... but when the suply cant keep up with the rpm's the pressure drops and it vertuily runs out of fuel and pressure... which would make it run hot [lean] too. Does that make sence too. By the way, the turbo light comes on once in a while... does that mean its working? Boo

Oh Yea... I didn't mention that the exhaust pipe coming out of the turbo looked cherry red [it was night] I was thinkin turbo problem too... but the dealer said no, it would still run and get up to speed anyway, just not as fast... i was also thinkin fuel volume was poor and it was just getin enough fuel to the point where it craps out.

Hello Suby Lovers... I'm trying to love mine, a 88 MPFI turbo GL wagon. Fell in love with the car right away, started fixin it up... drove to Col. [from AZ] and broke a belt...[idler pully froze] fixed it, [thanks to your forum]... it ran good for a couple days, except once it lost power over 1500 rpm's but returned to normal after a 5 min stop and inspection. Left for home the next day and 15 miles out of town it lost power over 1500 rpm's again... stopped and rested at the next town, and a few hours later it started and accelerated smoothly to 65mph only to crap out after afew highway miles, to only 1200 to 1500 rpm and i limped back 40 some miles that way. The dealer here says he cant tell whats wrong... no erroe codes fuel pressures ok [says he couldnt check volume]... he said he'd go on lookingat $70/hour but I'm away from home... broke and staying with friends... sooo.. I'm gona fix it. I changed a slow fuel filter and got 2000 rpms [before crap out] disconnected the catalytic converter-tail pipe-muffler [thought it might be pluged] and got 2500 rpms before it falls on its face and stops pulling. I'm sure the cam timing belts are right and that wouldn't be an intermitten problem any way. Anyone ever heard of a problem like this... any educated guesses? I'm at a loss. Boo Stuck in Colorado