North American Turbocoupe Organization



Not running well...trying to trouble shoot
Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#1
Sorry guys, I hate to go on and on but the way this thing's running is driving me crazy.
I'm not trying to flood the forum, but this is kind of a continuation of the "timing belt?" post. Hopefully this one will get a little more attention.

A couple months ago, on an 80 mi. road trip my '88 began running very poorly. It struggled to hold 70mph w/the a/c on, or off for that matter. Whenever it got above 5psi or so it would just cough and sputter and go no where. It had out-of-the-ordinary fuel in it at the time. After running out that tank of gas I put the usual back in (92 oct.) and it made a slight improvement.

About a week a ago while doing some trans work I decided to gut the cat. Not long after that while experimenting with turbo response (read: driving it like I stole it) the thing backfired and blew the dirt cheap muffler apart. Now with the muffler wide open I've noticed what sounds like a miss. The only way I can describe it is that it "chugs" instead of purrs.

Since then I've done plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and timing belt with no major changes.

The "chug/miss" is always present, but the car runs fairly well even up to 10psi. However, at about 10-12+ psi with WOT I get a lot of popping and other awful exhaust noises with very little power.

Codes showed 41 and 42.

I'm just confused and frustrated b/c it seems so close to running like a champ, and I don't know enough about cars to know where to start in getting it back to running smooth again.
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#2
Put a new O2 sensor in it. Those 2 codes indicate the O2 is bad. Let us know the results. That bad load of fuel you had may have contaminated it or it might just be age.

------------------
NATO Member. it's not a vice, it's an obsession
"The nice thing about each new day is nobody ever used it before" Barnaby Jones
88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, mods list at
http://www.turbotbird.com/showroom/pd_88tc.htm
Pete Dunham


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Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#3
Thanks again pete. I'll give it a try. I don't believe the o2 sens. has been changed since my parents bought the car in '91 with 30k on it. It now has 196k.

I'll be thrilled if it's something so simple.

[This message has been edited by Liquid_force (edited 09-27-2002).]
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
Reply

Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#4
Is it possible that the bad gas you got had water in it? A fill with good gas wont get the water out, as it settles to the bottom of the tank. Happened to me years ago in an old Mustang. Returning home from a 3k mile road trip during which the car ran flawlessly, I stopped for gas off the freeway about 30 miles from home. Got back on the freeway, and the car wouldnt hold 50 mph at WOT, sputtering all the way. Nursed it home, and after about 2 days of troubleshooting, found about a gallon of water in the gas tank.

You can easily check for water in the tank: disconnnect the fuel line at the filter outlet, and put a hose on the filter outlet tube, and run the hose into a glas jar. Run the fuel pump using the fuel pump test terminal on the EEC test connector. Look for little globs of water in the gas, or water settling to the bottom of the jar.

------------------
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 20 psi, forced air intercooler, water injection, bypass valve, Ranger roller cam, subframes, etc., etc.. // 86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP nitrous, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.... // 91 Escort: Bone stock winter car // 00 Windstar (wifes vehicle)
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#5
Quote:Originally posted by Jeff K:
Is it possible that the bad gas you got had water in it?

That is entirely possible. It came from a place in a not-so-good part of town. It was the 90 octane with 10% ethanol, and I put some o'rielly brand octane boost in with it.

If the o2 sensor doesn't improve things I'll certainly pump some fuel out and see what I get.
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
Reply

Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#6
O2 sensor is in.

Good news...Any and all erratic idle probs seem to be gone.

Bad news...Power @ WOT/10+psi still not good. Maybe slight improvement.

Since I did the sensor on lunch break I didn't have time to check the condition of the fuel.

I think I'll check codes tonight and see if anything new comes up.

It's weird, as long as I'm never more than 1/2-3/4 throttle it runs fairly well, but once I put it on the floor it's just sad [Image: frown.gif]

[This message has been edited by Liquid_force (edited 09-27-2002).]
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
Reply

Kev Offline
Posting Freak
#7
I say change the pump and clean the tank while you have it off. When my pump got old, I put the 255 lph Walbro unit in it and had the tank cleaned. Now my top end feels very crisp, throttle response is great above 90mph.

Kev

[This message has been edited by Kev (edited 09-29-2002).]
Kev
1988 TC 5spd
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Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#8
Would VAM replacement be a good idea at this point?
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
Reply

TurboCoupe50 Offline
Posting Freak
#9
You need determine if it is a throttle problem or boost problem. If it is throttle then it is likely either the TPS(have seen one that caused a voltage drecrase after 1/4 throttle but never set a code, not likely you problem though)or the VAM. If it always has the problem at 10 psi boost you likely have a fuel delevery related problem. Which could be the fuel filter, pump, tank strainer or possibly the fuel pressure regulator(is the vac line connected to it and in good condition?). It would be a good idea to check fuel pressure at this point. Should have 39 psi plus 1 psi for each lb of boost.

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Four 1988 Turbo Coupes .....
yea one of em has a 5.0 And runs 13.1s.. uhhh make that [email protected] with a
80hp shot of nitrous. Yep, I'll be goin for 11s.



[This message has been edited by TurboCoupe50 (edited 10-03-2002).]
1988 Turbo Coupe331 AOD

1972 Comet GT

1969 Fairlane Cobra 428CJ 4-Speed
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Liquid_force Offline
Senior Member
#10
I was checking out the area around the fuel injectors this morning and the #1 injector is wet with fuel, the other 3 look fine. Do you think a slight leak like this could cause the problems I'm having under boost? What do I need to do to get it repaired correctly?
88 TC -- Dark Blue 283k
RIP - 9/22/07
She was a great TC and went down swinging Smile
Now -- Me: A minivan, I'll spare you the details.
Her: '09 VW Tiguan AWD 2.0T 101k
Reply





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