February 6, 200719 yr When I attempt to maintain a constant speed, the car will surge every few seconds... No idea what it could be since I havent done any major work to car. Recently Changed the clutch cable, but it was fine the first few days...
February 6, 200719 yr Check fuel filter. check rotor in disty. somtimes the screw that holds it comes loose. check plug wires basicly check your electical connections and fuel scorces.
February 7, 200719 yr Clean the MAF with the special spray cleaner from CRC. This is a common problem with those cars.
February 7, 200719 yr CRC is a solvent comapny, they were competitors with WD40 for a long time but they make LOTS of aerosol good stuff. The particular cleaner he means is called QD Electronics cleaner, its quick drying stuff.. carb cleaner should also do the trick, or WD-40? I dunno, i know carb cleaner has been recommended before with safety.
February 7, 200719 yr Author oooo lol crc red and black can? Well i was going to check it out today during lunch but this morning when i went to go to work there was some snow. so i start my car up, everything seems normal. I go out to my trunk to get my ice scraper and start scraping. Not even a minute after starting the car, the rpms start to dip and it dies. so im like ok its kinda cold out. i start it up again, same thing. car starts up runs for a lil(less than a minute) and rpms drop and it dies. so i start it up AGAIN. this time i stay in the car and give it some gas to keep the rpms at about 2500-3000 rpm. but the car still cuts out and dies WHILE i give it gas. in the end i got a ride to work from one of my friends and i pulled the mass airflow sensor to check into it. Is there anything i can do to test it out of the car b/c the repair manual says i need to check different voltages while its still hooked up? thanks in advance.:cool:
February 8, 200719 yr Perhaps water in fuel would cause the second problem. They actually do make "Mass Airflow Sensor Cleaner" in a grey can. It may very well be the same stuff as the QD electrical cleaner, which I use on other things, but I'd hate to find that out the hard way by frying a MAF. Basically, you're checking to see if the wires on the MAF are dirty. If it's bad, it will look like there's hair growing on it. Generally, if the MAF is clean and the wires are broken, it will work fine.
February 8, 200719 yr Author is the hair going to be on the wires where it goes into the plug? and "if the MAF is clean and the wires are broken, it will work fine" what will work fine, the MAF? how will if the wires are broken? are you talking about the wires that go to the plug which connects to the MAF?
February 8, 200719 yr is the hair going to be on the wires where it goes into the plug? and "if the MAF is clean and the wires are broken, it will work fine" what will work fine, the MAF? how will if the wires are broken? are you talking about the wires that go to the plug which connects to the MAF? Sorry 'bout the type-o. I meant if the wires aren't broken, the sensor will read correctly. The "hair" will be on the two wires that are suspended in the air stream, which are also the ones that can be broken (from vibration or from getting whacked by not being careful when you take the MAF out of its housing). I don't fully understand how the MAF works, but I do know that at least one of the wires is heated (hence the term "hot wire MAF", as opposed to the earlier "flapper door" style ones), and that seems to cause it to collect all kinds of gunk on there, which impairs its judgement. Just take the sensor out, spray the crap out of it with the cleaner, let it dry, and reinstall it.
February 9, 200719 yr The sensor heats up one of the wires, and reads the air temperature with the other wire. It monitors the voltage of the hot wire, and using that voltage, and the difference between the hotwire's temperature and that incoming air temp, and between the two of them infers the mass of air that is being taken in to the intake. I could get more complex, if you'd like... but thats the short and sweet.
February 9, 200719 yr Author Hey pulled the maf sensor, looks good. didnt check the voltages when its hooked up b/c my friend borrowed my voltmeter. ill check that tomorrow. Someone said it might be my EGR valve, stuck open or closed. I pulled it and it seems to open and close pretty freely so I dont think that is it. Putting that back on tomorrow as well.
February 12, 200719 yr You might want to give the CTS (coolant temp. sensor) a look-see. I had one with a bad connection where the wires go into the sensor and it would intermittently surge.
February 12, 200719 yr Howdy MrDeep, fellow PAian, Here is an off the wall WAG. One instance where this was happening, turned out to be the alternator. How you ask? The output of the alt/power system dropped and the ECU got it's panties in a twist. Like I said - sounds like a WAG, smells like a WAG it probably is a WAG. This was a very common topic but was associated with the turbo models IIRC.
February 12, 200719 yr pardon my ignorance, but what is a WAG? WAG = Wild @ss Guess, followed closely by a SWAG, Scientific wild.... As for a WAG from me... maybe the IAC needs cleaned, as it's not responding as fast as it should?
March 13, 200719 yr Author alright MAF sensor readings=good gave her a tuneup: plugs, plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, pcv valve, air filter, oil filter, fuel filter after all that my car was running better for a week or two, but now its back to crap. Yesterday, I also seafoamed her, dont know if it didnt anything, but lots of smoke! P.S. I was getting an intermittent O2 sensor code from my ecu. It would come on for a bit, go away, come back, go away. I havent seen it for a few days now tho. How do I go about cleaning my IAC?
March 13, 200719 yr I think that your Subie´s Problem can Also be Done by one of This: Bad Grounding, or Loosen Fussible Links... (or Similar Posibilities) I think that is Electrical... Good Luck!
March 13, 200719 yr Author hey you wanna fly up to philadelphia from honduras and work on my car? then after that Ill fly down there with you and we'll party it up? :cool: haha alright electrical huh? how do I see if a fusbile link is good? I remember reading about them on here before and it is difficult to tell.
March 13, 200719 yr hey you wanna fly up to philadelphia from honduras and work on my car? then after that Ill fly down there with you and we'll party it up? :cool: ... Nice Invitation! But now I ran Out of Money... :-\ ...But Thanx! About the Fussible Links: The Black Box attached to the Coolant Reservoir on the Engine´s Bay got ´em. Check for Rusted / Weak Wires \ Contacts. Those was makin´ same problems on my EA82 Subie, so I elliminate the Fussible Links in 1994, welding strong auto electrical wires instead of the Box, and Wrapped in fat Electrical Tape. Also I added More Grounds to the Engine, one more from the Battery to the Engine, and one from the Engine to the Car´s Body. No Problems with that since 1994... Good Luck!
March 13, 200719 yr Could be a ground issue, as said before, or it could be like Skip said and there is A/C current coming from the alternator from bad diodes. When you get your multimeter back, put it on A/C volts and see what you get with the car running.
March 13, 200719 yr i think its a vacuum leak. that being said, my haynes manual says that there are four "probable causes" under " engine surges while holding the accelerator steady" 1) intake air leak 2)fuel pump or pressure regulator 3)carburetor or fuel injection problem 4)emissions control system so it could be that your O2 sensor is bad and or your injectors are clogged also
March 14, 200719 yr check a/c on alternator? The alternator should be putting out direct current. If your multimeter detects alternating current, then the diodes in the alternator are bad and it should be replaced. But check for vacuum leaks and stuff first. The simple stuff.
March 14, 200719 yr Author Ok, I'll do that, probably wont have time till friday tho. But then I can take some pics of my new shift knob!
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now