Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Picked up a 1987 GL Wagon. New timing belt (done at a shop prior me buying it), plugs, wires, rotor, cap, pcv valve, air cleaner I did afterwards. There is no fluctuation in idle and the engine seems strong. When I start to drive, it chugs real bad. It gets alot better and is more responsive after it is at full operating engine temp. However, something is still causing it to chug. The car sat for about six months and I put fresh gas and some techron in about a week ago. I took it for one 15 mile non stop drive at it opened up real well, but still didn't help much. Seems like the engine is not warming up as quickly as it should either. It idles low for about five minutes and then gets up around 1k rpm. Can an EGR valve cause it to choke up? I was going to pull the EGR tomorrow, clean out all the carbon buildup, and see if that helps. Does anybody have any ideas what might help? Fuel filter? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 It might be the Temp sensor for the ECU. Sometimes when it gose bad the ECU will think that the engine is running at normal temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks for the reply. Is there something I could do to know that this is it? I don't want to throw too many parts at the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NV Zeno Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Another possibility: stuck (or missing) thermostat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I was thinking the thermo may be stuck (or sticking) when I watched the needle move so slow. How would this cause the symtoms listed above? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLCraig Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Originally posted by slcpunk Thanks for the reply. Is there something I could do to know that this is it? I don't want to throw too many parts at the car. You could do a resistance test but I don't know what values correlate with what temperatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Originally posted by GLCraigGT It might be the Temp sensor for the ECU. Sometimes when it gose bad the ECU will think that the engine is running at normal temperature. Where is this usually located? thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub2k Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Its On the Intake Manifold, But its in the back below the throttle body, its kinda a bitch to get to ill see if i can find that picture that someone showed me when i had problems with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrub2k Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 The Attached Picture Shows where the Coolant Temp Sensor is, And yea i Kinda Stole the Pic From Skip, He Helped me out when my car was having trouble starting and running crappy, so thanks to skip for the pic hope this helps When you get it off clean it out and spray it with some wd-40 and see if you get a better connection made a hell of a difference in my car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks for the pic, is this a common problem on these carb engines? My manual doesn't show much really. Any thoughts on the EGR? With it running I manually opened the valve and the idle stayed the same. I was going to take it off tomorrow and clean it and the inlet port. Thanks for your time. I just don't want to throw parts at it. Although that's hard to do without diagnostic tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viceversa Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I haven't messed with my EGR yet, but from what I know about other cars, the engine should begin to die when you squeze on the EGR valve. I also know that high mileage vehicles do need it serviced or replaced. Not only does it get carboned up, but I hear the spring gets weak. It stands for Oxygen Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve. I don't however think it can make that much of a difference. Exhaust Oxygen Sensor (commonly called O2 sensor) is probably more responsible, and I think should be a part of a tune up. It screws into the exhaust near the catalytic converter. You have to raise the car to replace it. 7/8" deep socket is what you need, maybe Power PB blaster if it won't come off easily. In your specific case, I don't know. Probably some sensor like said above, or a thermostat? T-stats do go lazy. But, it could be that you have two different problems - one with temperature and the other with acceleration. It seems doubtful to me that it not getting warmed up can cause performance problems. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe the ECM thinks it is always in cold mode. Do you run rich also? I.e. Poor MPG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Yes I thought it should stall out after pushing the valve in. So that to me says that I have to at least clean it. The little port where the tube goes in was totally carbed up. It does't run rich, at least I'm not smelling any gas. It'll take a couple times to start her up (especially since it's started to snow). But once it does it idles at 500 rpm and then after 3 minutes or so begin to rise. It stays at 1k rpm until I give it some gas. It will cut out or just chug real bad until the needle is on the half way mark (on the dash). Once it's warmed up, it's totally different. I'll lift it up today and pull the o2 sensor and clean the egr. In the meantime I love hearing all your thoughts so keep 'rm coming int! Thanks for your time.:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calebz Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Now that we know its a carbed car, the symptoms sound to me more like a malfunctioning choke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I'm going out to mess with it now. Too bad I don't know jack squat about carbs. I will follow the manual I have and see if the choke is operating like the manual says it should. I will also pull the egr and clean it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slcpunk Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Ok here's the new deal. I called the PO (works with my wife) and she said carb was overhauled a few months prior. I checked everything out (following my manual) and the choke seems to be operating as it should. Pulled EGR and the inlet port was completely clogged. Scrapped that out and cleaned the EGR too. Ran the car without EGR for a few minutes to blow out chunks of buildup in inlet. Then I put the EGR on. It sounded much smoother, very quiet, but the hesitatin was still there. Now when I opened the EGR all the way during idle it did nothing, nada, zip. I thought it should stall out the car? Hardly a change in idle. I ran over to my Toyota and did the same thing and the engine died. Should I run to the junkyard and pull a new EGR out and see what happens? Also, something I forgot to mention. I can haul a** in reverse and it won't chug at all. Pop the clutch and whippy! I'm moving backwards no problem. Any further thoughts? I'd love to hear what you think. I just got back and I can not find the o2 sensor on this car, where do the hide the thing? On most cars I can find it in 30 seconds... Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nug Posted November 5, 2003 Share Posted November 5, 2003 The EGR valve isn't bad from that. All the ports in the intake and in the valve have to be clear. This doesn't sound like an EGR problem to me. I'd check your timing and basic tuneup stuff first. The reverse thing you mentioned kind of sounds a little like the float setting in the carb could be off, but that's mostly speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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