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Daily Driver Problems...Opinions?

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84Toyota4x4

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So, this is on my fantastic daily driver, a 1995 Ford Aspire :haha:

About a week after I bought it (after sitting for three years), it started acting kinda funny if you put your foot into the throttle a too much while trying to accelerate quick (more than 3/4). It kinda acted like it was running lean and detonating or something, or it hit a rev limiter and just kinda stumbles. If you leave your foot in it, it eventually "catches up" and smooths out.

I did a full tune up on it with plugs, wires, fuel filter, PCV valve, O2 sensor, dizzy cap, rotor, and an air filter. This seemed to help as the problem wasn't noticeable really for a while after that. Jump forward 6 months or so, the problem started coming back, and I was just kinda living with it.

Jump forward a month or two more. The other day on the way home from work, I was at a cruise and it started doing it. Normally it was only if you accelerated too fast, but this time it just started doing it without even moving the pedal. In the two more blocks I had to drive to get home, it got to the point where I couldn't give it ANY throttle off an idle or it would stumble and try to die. Let off, and it would recover and idle smooth.

I parked it when I got home, and came out a few hours later to tinker with it and noticed that cold, it starts right up and runs fine. However, as soon as it gets hot the problem comes in hard and fast and you cant touch the throttle anymore.

So, my diagnosis is limited, but I'm thinking along the lines of the TPS Sensor, the MAF Sensor, or maybe the coil or pickups in the distributor or something? I kinda rule out the tune up parts because they only have a few thousand miles on them at the most right now. I'm thinking sensor of some sort.

While idling, I tried unplugging various sensors (TPS, MAF, etc) to see if they made a difference, and I couldn't get it to do anything different with any of them unplugged. Didnt get any better, and didn't get any worse. Also, no check engine lights came on, and it doesn't show any codes with a generic scanner hooked up.

So, any one have some opinions? :corn:

~T.J.
 
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84Toyota4x4 said:
So, this is on my fantastic daily driver, a 1995 Ford Aspire :haha:

About a week after I bought it (after sitting for three years), it started acting kinda funny if you put your foot into the throttle a too much while trying to accelerate quick (more than 3/4). It kinda acted like it was running lean and detonating or something, or it hit a rev limiter and just kinda stumbles. If you leave your foot in it, it eventually "catches up" and smooths out.

I did a full tune up on it with plugs, wires, fuel filter, PCV valve, O2 sensor, dizzy cap, rotor, and an air filter. This seemed to help as the problem wasn't noticeable really for a while after that. Jump forward 6 months or so, the problem started coming back, and I was just kinda living with it.

Jump forward a month or two more. The other day on the way home from work, I was at a cruise and it started doing it. Normally it was only if you accelerated too fast, but this time it just started doing it without even moving the pedal. In the two more blocks I had to drive to get home, it got to the point where I couldn't give it ANY throttle off an idle or it would stumble and try to die. Let off, and it would recover and idle smooth.

I parked it when I got home, and came out a few hours later to tinker with it and noticed that cold, it starts right up and runs fine. However, as soon as it gets hot the problem comes in hard and fast and you cant touch the throttle anymore.

So, my diagnosis is limited, but I'm thinking along the lines of the TPS Sensor, the MAF Sensor, or maybe the coil or pickups in the distributor or something? I kinda rule out the tune up parts because they only have a few thousand miles on them at the most right now. I'm thinking sensor of some sort.

While idling, I tried unplugging various sensors (TPS, MAF, etc) to see if they made a difference, and I couldn't get it to do anything different with any of them unplugged. Didnt get any better, and didn't get any worse. Also, no check engine lights came on, and it doesn't show any codes with a generic scanner hooked up.

So, any one have some opinions? :corn:

~T.J.
Click to expand...


maybe, buy my honda???:flipoff:

does it have vaccuum lines? i know sometimes those make a car run horrible. when i put CAI on the VEE DUB i left a line off and it ran horrible if at all...
 
If you unplug the MAF after it's warmed up and there is no change, then that's where I would check first. Got a KNN filter? The oil off them clogs the MAF sensors (run a can of O2 safe sensor cleaner through it) Could also be an O2 sensor about to bite the big one. CTS sticking 1/2 way between warm and cold is a big issue with Jeep EFI (makes a huge difference in fuel economy when it works right)
 
junkyard jim said:
If you unplug the MAF after it's warmed up and there is no change, then that's where I would check first. Got a KNN filter? The oil off them clogs the MAF sensors (run a can of O2 safe sensor cleaner through it) Could also be an O2 sensor about to bite the big one. CTS sticking 1/2 way between warm and cold is a big issue with Jeep EFI (makes a huge difference in fuel economy when it works right)
Click to expand...
There is no change when unplugged. I also sprayed out the MAF with some cleaner, and there was no change. It has a stock air filter.

~T.J.
 
Its got good fuel pressure at the rail.

I messed around with it more tonight, and the problem is so damn random! Sometimes when I start it, it will immediately idle up for a few seconds like it always has, and come down smoothly. But, as soon as it tries to idle, it starts running like **** and dies. Other times, I can try and start it and it will just sputter and barely start, then run like **** and die. I can start it one time after another after it dies, and each time it will start differently. This of course is after the first time I start it and it has warmed up. When its stone cold from sitting over night or a long time, I can start it and drive it around the block with no problems, but once its warm the above starts happening.

It kinda feels like its running on only three cylinders or something when it starts running like ****, and after a quick Google search, people seem to be having similar problems as me, and the distributor is the culprit. Apparently they are problem prone or something, so maybe I was right about the coil/ignitor type setup in the distributor having the problem when hot. Wouldn't be the first time Ive seen a coil work fine cold then not work when hot.

~T.J.
 
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So, I put a spark checker on it while I was working on it tonight, and it doesn't seem to be losing spark at any point, it keeps trying to spark even when the engine completely cuts out.

Also, I swapped AFMs on the air filter box (the whole lid), as well as the whole throttle body with TPS sensor. NO EFFING CHANGE!

I also pulled the line off the fuel filter to make sure for SURE its pumping GAS, and it is. Good pressure as well.

So, I have spark, I have fuel, I have air, I have compression, I have good timing. Why the FAWK wont this thing stay running!?

~T.J.
 
84Toyota4x4 said:
So, I put a spark checker on it while I was working on it tonight, and it doesn't seem to be losing spark at any point, it keeps trying to spark even when the engine completely cuts out.

Also, I swapped AFMs on the air filter box (the whole lid), as well as the whole throttle body with TPS sensor. NO EFFING CHANGE!

I also pulled the line off the fuel filter to make sure for SURE its pumping GAS, and it is. Good pressure as well.

So, I have spark, I have fuel, I have air, I have compression, I have good timing. Why the FAWK wont this thing stay running!?

~T.J.
Click to expand...


vacuum? i know my vee dub, won't run if just one of the lines on my air box is off or it'll run WAY bad if something starts to slide apart. and i know i had a problem with my honda, one of the lines was capped and as soon as the cap got old and fell apart it wouldnt hold an idle for poop.
 
Sounds like the EFI box may be headed south. It'll just stop spraying fuel and it won't run w/o that. Only way to test is with a special fluke tester AFAIK.
 
Yeah, thats kinda what I was thinking too. Im gonna check resistance on the injectors per the manual, as well as TPS (even though Ive tried two) and see what that yields.

The camshaft position sensor as well as crank angle sensor are built into the distributor as well, so thats two more things I could check that are "non replaceable" without a whole new $300 distributor, plus another $100 for a new ignition module :mad:

Anyone want a car fairly cheap they could fix up and get 35+ MPG out of? New tires and such things...

~T.J.
 
My GF has a 98 aspire i noticed it kind of hesitates and studers if you realy dont get the rpm's up when you up shift. Can you check the fuel pressure to make sure it is int the pump. My gues was TPS but sounds like you covered that? Good Luck!
 
Just as an update - I got the damn thing running about a week ago.

I checked the fuel pressure while it was running, but it wouldnt run long. Pressure checked out while running, and didn't seem to drop before it died, however, I pulled the pump out of the tank anyway as a last ditch effort. The intake screen on the pump was all nasty and brittle, with chunks missing presumably sucked into the pump. I beat it on the ground a little, took whats left of that screen off, and put it back in. Ill be damned if the thing didn't run after that.

I think it still needs a new pump because its back to its old self of running good, but hesitation if you give it too much throttle, like the pump cant keep up. I need to put a new one in it anyway since the screen is now gone, but its got two other fuel filters on it (stock, and another one I added because the screen was gone) so it should be fine until I can get the new pump.

Go figure, I checked the fuel pressure almost right away, and it seemed fine. Whatdaya know... :rolleyes:

~T.J.
 

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