- Jan 2, 2006
- 10,455
- 35
- 91
UPDATE
Well, here's what the mechanic reported:
1. Fuel pressure is fine, so he doesn't think it's a fuel filter or fuel pump issue.
2. Spark plugs got replaced with stock plugs, probably Denko. Bosch plugs were soaking wet with un-ignited fuel.
3. He tried cleaning the MAF with the spray. No go. I actually didn't ask whether or not he tested it for the proper range of operation.
4. He's ordering a new MAF for $150.
Honestly, I can't tell whether it's affecting WOT. If it is, it's pretty slight. Maybe I'll take the car to a deserted road and do a couple of timed 0-60s. Back in the day it could do around 8.8s, which is peppy enough for me.
WOT UPDATE: took the car to a deserted road and got consistent 8.8s times, so WOT seems fine.
*************************
Took it to the mechanic. Right off the bat without looking at the car and going just from the problem description he said that it probably isn't a fuel filter issue.
After looking at the car, he said:
Engine is flooding. The engine codes point him to perhaps a mass airflow sensor problem. The Bosch Platinum spark plugs that I have in there are "absolutely good for nothing" because they don't allow gap adjustment (I put them in to replace my old plugs, but the problems below were still occurring). When he pulled them out they were soaking wet (with fuel I'm assuming).
So he wants to:
replace MAF
replace spark plugs with stock ones
Cost should be under $300.
Any comments?
************************
2000 Toyota Echo, 105K miles, stick shift
1. A year ago the check engine light went on and it says that the engine's running lean.
2. A half a year ago the car starts to take longer to start up. I have to hold down the ignition for a bit longer before the engine completely fires up.
3. At around the same time I've noticed that the engine sometimes seems to choke when I'm starting from a dead stop. Let off clutch, push in gas, the car starts moving, and the engine just chokes and the car stops accelerating. I push in the clutch to keep from stalling and try to pump the gas. It takes about two seconds for the engine to respond and to rev up again and then I get going. Kind of embarrassing at stop signs and intersections. Right now I tend to rev higher than normal at starts to prevent this situation from happening.
4. Today my car had kind of a hard time going up an incline from a dead stop. Normally I can easily just start going without rolling backwards at all, but today it was like the engine just didn't have the power to pull the car up. I would rev up to around 3.5K, slowly let off the clutch, but the revs would just start dipping down and the car wouldn't go up. I finally had to do something I never needed to do; engage the handbrake to keep myself from rolling backwards as I revved the engine really high and engaging the clutch just halfway to pull myself up.
I had a thread about #2 and people thought that it could be from a clogged fuel filter, which I've never had replaced. Could a clogged fuel filter cause 1, 3, and 4? FYI, #2 happens from both cold starts and warm starts.
Well, here's what the mechanic reported:
1. Fuel pressure is fine, so he doesn't think it's a fuel filter or fuel pump issue.
2. Spark plugs got replaced with stock plugs, probably Denko. Bosch plugs were soaking wet with un-ignited fuel.
3. He tried cleaning the MAF with the spray. No go. I actually didn't ask whether or not he tested it for the proper range of operation.
4. He's ordering a new MAF for $150.
Honestly, I can't tell whether it's affecting WOT. If it is, it's pretty slight. Maybe I'll take the car to a deserted road and do a couple of timed 0-60s. Back in the day it could do around 8.8s, which is peppy enough for me.
WOT UPDATE: took the car to a deserted road and got consistent 8.8s times, so WOT seems fine.
*************************
Took it to the mechanic. Right off the bat without looking at the car and going just from the problem description he said that it probably isn't a fuel filter issue.
After looking at the car, he said:
Engine is flooding. The engine codes point him to perhaps a mass airflow sensor problem. The Bosch Platinum spark plugs that I have in there are "absolutely good for nothing" because they don't allow gap adjustment (I put them in to replace my old plugs, but the problems below were still occurring). When he pulled them out they were soaking wet (with fuel I'm assuming).
So he wants to:
replace MAF
replace spark plugs with stock ones
Cost should be under $300.
Any comments?
************************
2000 Toyota Echo, 105K miles, stick shift
1. A year ago the check engine light went on and it says that the engine's running lean.
2. A half a year ago the car starts to take longer to start up. I have to hold down the ignition for a bit longer before the engine completely fires up.
3. At around the same time I've noticed that the engine sometimes seems to choke when I'm starting from a dead stop. Let off clutch, push in gas, the car starts moving, and the engine just chokes and the car stops accelerating. I push in the clutch to keep from stalling and try to pump the gas. It takes about two seconds for the engine to respond and to rev up again and then I get going. Kind of embarrassing at stop signs and intersections. Right now I tend to rev higher than normal at starts to prevent this situation from happening.
4. Today my car had kind of a hard time going up an incline from a dead stop. Normally I can easily just start going without rolling backwards at all, but today it was like the engine just didn't have the power to pull the car up. I would rev up to around 3.5K, slowly let off the clutch, but the revs would just start dipping down and the car wouldn't go up. I finally had to do something I never needed to do; engage the handbrake to keep myself from rolling backwards as I revved the engine really high and engaging the clutch just halfway to pull myself up.
I had a thread about #2 and people thought that it could be from a clogged fuel filter, which I've never had replaced. Could a clogged fuel filter cause 1, 3, and 4? FYI, #2 happens from both cold starts and warm starts.
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