buddyepa

Pacman Anything new to report?

Personally, I think a cracked head is a good possibility. We found one locally for $150. On advice, we will likely wait until we clear up one error code, pull the head, check it for warp and then decide what to do.

Interestingly, the car has decided it will start now. We now need to locate a used head for the passenger side. It seems that both cylinders on that side are sending exhaust gas into the cooling system. Even with that situation, the engine runs very smoothly. I would have expected a very roughly running engine. Anyone have a suggestion about where to find a head? :-\

epec Thanks for the suggestions. We only get to mess with it when stepson is off work(weekends) and I am not working on my '65 Vette. These Soobs are different beasts.

Thanks for the input. I will see that we check that. I am open to all and any other suggestions.

Legacy777 Thanks, we will do that. I agree that we need to take the heads off and see what that reveals.

John in KY It did run, but from the git go there was white smoke. But, for $250, it seemed worth the chance. I think you are right and we will take the heads off and see what that reveals. Perhaps MAF terminology came in after '93 when they stuffed the codes in? Thanks for the kind offer, but the MAF "looked" clean and it's symptoms seem to point away from those codes. The changing temperature is probly just what you suggest and bleeding the air should fix that.

Now we have 2 codes. 1. #24- air control valve 2. #35- Purge contro; solenoid valve It is again producing white smoke with the smell of anti-freeze. On restart it skips and sputters. The is an exhaust small in the radiator and the coolant level is down. Even thought the temp gauge seems to go up, then down the IR temp sensor(hand held) does not seem to indicate coolant overheating. What and where is the air control valve? Is that the MAF sensor? On the intake side, I see the air filter, the MAF sensor and then the throtle body. Is there more? A purge control solenoid valve sounds like something to do with emissions control and not likely to cause the engine to not run? I am really searching for a clue to the ailments of this little beast. I am unfortunately concluding that it is either a cracked block(really expensive wihout a parts car) or a blown head gasket/warped head.

Stepson did find the other black connector. After almost a week of the car not starting, it started with no trouble today. However, white smoke has returned and smells of antifreeze. Connecting the black connectors with engine off did not retreive a code. On restart and letting it run, the check engine light did come on. It still pushes coolant past the pressue cap into the reservoir when the engine is wound up and then back to idle. Hopefully, he will retreive a code. Using an IR temp device, he reports that one head is at about 200*F and the other is much cooler, about 170*F. Seems odd. The hotest one is the one the meth head supposedly replaced the head gasket. I have no idea why there is such a difference in temp while running. :confused:

My stepson reports that he did not see a second black connector, so hopefully, he will cut some zip ties and see what falls out. I suspect the 2nd one is bundled and hidden in the maze somewhere. The presurrizing of the radiator while only spinning the engine still bothers me. One conclusion from that is a cracked block (assuming the good compression check indicates no blown head gasket).

I see the recent posts now. Thanks, guys. However, since it will not strt, it's hard to drive it around. Next step, we will connect the two black connectors and see what happens. :confused:

John in KY So on yours, you connected the two greens together? When I did that, the fans came on. I guess we need to pull the ECU and see if we can find the little LED. John in Winder,GA :headbang:

Lagacy777 Thanks for the reply. What is the TCU? Also, in your instructions, it says to connect the black connector. Connect it to what? "One is black and connects one wire to one wire,...." I am not the brightet bulb in the curcuit, but do you say to connect the two black connectors to each other? Since the engine will not run at present and the battery gets disconnected to charge it, is there anything we can get regarding stored codes after cranking it for a while? :-\ :-\

Thanks for the very clear pic!! I assume putting the two green connectors together is supposed to allow the error codes(if any) to be read via the "Check Engine" light on the dash?? As I mentioned earlier, when we did that, all that happened was that the two cooling fans on the radiator came on and the speed of them "surged". Seems odd. :confused:

John in KY Thanks. We will dig around and find the ECU. I think it is on the passenger side somewhere(?). We didn't get to mess with it this past weekend for a number of reasons. Hopefully, stepson has read thru the repair manual from Advance Auto. maybe it has shed some light.

John in Ky I came over here with the questions based on your suggestion. Good to hear from you. The compression check showed it had good compression with not too much variation between the four, something like 120 to 145 psi if I remember correctly. I downloaded the Error Message stuff and frankly am a tad confused. Under the drivers side dash we found the following: 1-yellow, medium size with 7 wires/loose,ie, not plugged to anything 1-rather large brown plug, 2-wires, T-shaped 3-black, big, one from/on brake switch, one w/a single wire, loose, the 3rd is fixed down 2-green, T-sahaped. Only these greens were suitable to plug together. None of the others seemed to be suitable to connect together. When the two greens were plugged together, the fans started to run and woukld surge in speed. The Check Engine light did nothing. The downloaded instructions indicated that there was an LED under there somewhere. None was found. My stepson is supposed to purchase a repair manual tonight. Maybe it will shed some light on getting the codes. On attempting to start it, it did try to fire like on one cylinder. It never did fully fire and run. The last time an attempt was made to start it was last Thursday. 3-days ago. Even though the guy who replaced the head gasket was described to us a meth head, the compression check argues that compression blow by does not seem to be the problem. That said, I do notice that even when the thing does not run, the radiator becomes pressurized and can push by a new 13 psi radiator cap. Is that normal? If the cap is off, obviously coolant shots straight up. :confused:

Here is the tale: 1. Bought the car for very little, a 1993 Legacey, one owner with 175K miles 2. Previous owner had the blown driver's side head gasket replaced 3. We drove it onto a trailer with copious amounts of white smoke being emitted 4. It ran smoothly 5. 45 minutes later it would not start to get off the trailer. It would sort of try, but would not start and stay running. 6. Finally started and sputtered and eventually ran smoothly. Let it run until most of the white smoke abated (water from the blown head gasket, right?) 7. Next day, same drill,ie, hard to start, but then eventually ran OK. 8. If restrted soon, all OK 9. Now, several days later, it will not start. 10. At some point, Check engine light came on. 11. I have the definition of the codes. Today, we will try to retreive the OBDE1 code(s). 12. I assume until that is done, there is little we can do except check all the wire and vacuum connections? Sorry for the long post. :confused: