Car sounds like go kart..NEED HELP

[spc2125]

i woke up this morning and tried to start my car.
after fighting with it, it finally started
However, it sounds like a go kart. I checked under the hood and the engine was lightly smoking and was shaking.
Any ideas on the problem?

(There is also just less than a quarter of a tank of gas left. And it was a little below freezing temperature wise last night)

[Ttop191]

throwing any codes? Kinda sounds like you've got a gummed up injector causing a misfire

[spc2125]

the trac off light shows up on the dash
and is smells real bad ha

[Ttop191]

well i don't think the trac off light has anything to do with it, but it smells bad? you mean the exhaust? what does it smell like?

[spc2125]

not sure what it smells like,
but it shakes like a bastard

[Gr1m]

shaking usually means a misfire of some sort, and if there is smoke leaking out of the headers that usually means you have some crap in your cylinders thats burning off.

[spc2125]

could it be a possibility that there is a vac leak?

[Ttop191]

seeing that it happened over night and its that bad, i would say no

i would drain your gas, put in a fresh tank and try some injector cleaner

[spc2125]

drain it by letting it run, or by actually going under the gas tank and draining it?
and what injector cleaner do you suggest

[Ttop191]

well, if its bad gas you don't want to run it through your engine do you ;)

as far as injector cleaner, it really doesn't matter, they are all the same. I'm not guaranteeing it will work though, you might have to physically pull out he injectors and clean them if its too bad. but the cleaner is a good start.

[JLw7123]

go for Lucas injector cleaner.

[spc2125]

well how do you suggest draining it?

[Ttop191]

pull a fuel line coming from the tank, I don't believe there is an actual drain on the tank, but someone will have to confirm that

[spc2125]

anybody know if there is a drain co ck?

[widbyj]

No drain on tank.

Easiest would be to disconnect one end of the fuel filter, just forward of fuel tank on passenger side. One end is 'clipped' in and one end is threaded. Disconnect over a drain pan then turn on ignition. Fuel should pump out, may take a couple of tries cause pump may shut off before all gas is out.

Removing inectors isn't too hard but most people don't have a setup for proper cleaning. May have to go to a dealer or good shop (not a quick lube).

[Gr1m]

^ hopefully that draining method wont burn out his fuel pump.

i dont see why it would be gas, unless you go to a very shitty gas station, which you should not be doing. its not like the car has been sitting for years, right?

[kwhauck]

^ hopefully that draining method wont burn out his fuel pump.

i dont see why it would be gas, unless you go to a very shitty gas station, which you should not be doing. its not like the car has been sitting for years, right?

Even then it shouldn't be that bad. My car sat for over 3 years with a 1/4 tank. Topped it off with 91 and it runs fine.

[spc2125]

so a drained gas tank isnt necessary to try a quick fix with the injector fluid?

[sleepyalero]

Also kinda sounds like you put spark wires in the wrong place if you removed them. That will cause the motor to shake real bad

[spc2125]

i havent touched the spark wires since i got the car,
would replacing them make a difference?

[sleepyalero]

Hmm maybe.. but let ttop or gr1m clarify it. I dont want you to go buy something that wont fix the problem.

But I know That will make a motor shake if They are misplaced on the distributor. bad wires I think that would just Cause a misfire. I had a misfire not to long ago. Motor didn't shake but car ran bad.

[03Sleepr]

sounds like you need new plugs and wires..as for the smell, does the exhaust smell like rotten eggs? if so your cat is fouled out

[Ttop191]

Wires don't just go bad overnight, that cant be it...

as for CAT i was thinking the same thing when he said smell...but with the shake he is describing i would definitely say misfire, which easiest way to cause a misfire overnight...Frozen gas, which means theres too much water in it...therefore bad gas...so top it off and add injector cleaner, i personally would drain the old crap, but its not 100% necessary i guess...

[sleepyalero]

I would agree I say clean injectors. And replace gas if you feel like draining it is necessary. If that doesn't fix it move on to cat and maybe plugs and wires.

[Philbar71]

Could be a fouled plug or a bad coil causing misfire too.

[spc2125]

put injector cleaner in and filled up the tank.
its running right now, however i just noticed the "service engine soon" light has come on.
it may have come on earlier and i didnt notice.
so what is the next solution to fix this problem?
Spark plugs?

[Ttop191]

It came on because of this misfire, it will reset itself after IIRC the car starts and runs correctly 3 times

[sleepyalero]

If its still doing What it has been and the light Is still on after the 3 runs have it scanned at a part store to get exactly what's wrong.

[spc2125]

i put in new spark plugs and it still does the same thing.
any other ideas?

[03Sleepr]

bad coil would be my guess

[spc2125]

im a huge noob. can you elaborate on the coil that you are talking about and where its located

[03Sleepr]

if you changed plugs you already removed the coil once...its the black thing that says ecotec and has the plug boots on the bottom

[spc2125]

so how do i go about fixing that?

[03Sleepr]

have to get a new one..its probably pricey so I'd get it diagnosed first to make sure thats whats wrong

[spc2125]

is that connected to the ignition lock cylinder?

[03Sleepr]

couldnt tell you, I have a 3400...I just know the very basics on the eco

[robalero]

one of two things, cat needs replacing ( or gutted ) you can't do this in your yard or the coil pack finally went back which was that piece you asked if it needed to be taken off. check for the prices of that first as gutting of the cat will be about an hours labour to do possibly an hour and half plus Misc stuff from a garage. but run a scan tool while the vehicle is running to test why its doing this ( its not your plugs since you changed them and stretched those little springs right? ) and see which cylinders are misfiring if any

[spc2125]

ohh shoot i forgot to stretch the springs.
i dont know how to get them out though and stretch them.
however, the car still started so does that mean i dont have to stretch them? (i have a feeling i do)

[Ttop191]

Is it still misfiring? (shaking/really rough idle)

[spc2125]

yess!!!!!

[03Sleepr]

try to stretch them. one could be missing a bit, always worth a try right? better than replacing a $200 part for nothing

[spc2125]

try to stretch them. one could be missing a bit, always worth a try right? better than replacing a $200 part for nothing

so it could be still misfiring because of that, even though i changed spark plugs, correct?

so i should try stretching out those springs and would that fix the shaking part?

[03Sleepr]

its possible that the coil isn't making a good connection with the plugs, which would cause it to missfire..IF the problem is a bad connection then that would fix the problem...but I dont think the springs would compress like that overnight.

[spc2125]

keep in mind that it was prob around 32 degrees F or below that night. if that helps at all.

but so should i bring it to a mechanic?

[clutch1]

OK... STOP GUESSING!!!!!!!

jesus christ, don't just guess saying "it's probably this".. that's no way to fix a car.

Start with this. One at a time, pull off the plug wire and ground it to the engine... then run the car see if the shake get worse or stays the same.

HOPEFULLY one will stay the same. That means that's the plug that's misfiring. Once you find that, pull the plugs and run a compression check on all the cyls.. See if the one that stayed the same has any fluxuation in compression.

Also, while the plugs are out, get a flashlight and shine it down the bore to look at the top of pistons.. in the one with the misfire, see if it's SOAKED with gas. Had a Nissan the other day, badmisfire and bad smoke... the misfiring cyl literally had a lake of gas on top of it.

Go do that and tell me the findings. I'll help you diagnose from there.


Also... This engine has a distributor, right?? If so pull off the cap and see if any of the contacts are burned badly on the cap or rotor.

[Cliff8928]

The only time I've seen an Ecotec do that, it was the ignition module. But I was able to swap it with a known good one to test it out.

[robalero]

use a pen or something to get the spring out to stretch it. worst case scenario you spent an extra 30 minutes of your time and you ruled another thing out.

edit:


clutch this doesn't have a cap and rotor its a coil pack car.

[widbyj]

Start with this. One at a time, pull off the plug wire and ground it to the engine... then run the car see if the shake get worse or stays the same.

HOPEFULLY one will stay the same. That means that's the plug that's misfiring.

This would be very hard to do on a car with no sparkplug wires!

'The springs' that might need stretching are the only electrical connection from the top of the plugs to the coils. This might be the problem. If not then the coilpack / ignition module needs to be tested, most bigger auto parts places can do this for you. Replace any defective units...

[clutch1]

Ooo, it's that stupid ignition casette that's on the top. Bleh.

In that case just hook it up to a scanner and use the misfire counter to find which cyl is causing the problems.

[spc2125]

i took out the springs from the "boots" and cleaned them.
they had what looked like ear wax on them.
but then i stretched them a little and put them back in.
i still have the same problem.

[robalero]

most likely coil pack, your gonna have to get it scanned either by a shop or someone who can diagnose it properly around you. we did the best we can do online without just "guessing" that that just hurts people wallets more then anything esle

[spc2125]

so i have to bring it to a mechanic and they can diagnose the problem?

[Ttop191]

Yup, because our guesses aren't going anywhere...obviously some needs to physically test things now so we don't send you off in the wrong direction and make you spend money you don't have to...

[spc2125]

Yup, because our guesses aren't going anywhere...obviously some needs to physically test things now so we don't send you off in the wrong direction and make you spend money you don't have to...

aint that the truth

however i REALLY appreciate all the help ive recieved

[clutch1]

I tried.

[robalero]

we all did, but from here on its best left to someone who is there locally to help you properly fix it instead of online guessing as it can be a few different things but a shop will tell you cheaper

[clutch1]

Which is exactly why I posted a process on how to test various things. I try to never tell someone to replace random shit without giving them a lesson on how to test it and confirm it needs replacement.

[spc2125]

problem : needs a new ignition module
he said a used one will cost around $120

is there any way i can find one that is less than that
like can i pick one up at the junk yard.. are they easy to take out?

[robalero]

http://media.photobucket.com/image/ignition+module+2.2+ecotec+/72chevelleTPI/ebay/GM%2520Ecotec/GMEcotec22ignitionmodule.jpg&imgrefurl=http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk308/72chevelleTPI/ebay/GM%2520Ecotec/%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DGMEcotec22ignitionmod ule.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fmedia.photobu cket.com%2Fimage%2Fignition%20module%2022%20ecotec %2F72chevelleTPI%2Febay%2FGM%20Ecotec%2FGMEcotec22 ignitionmodule.jpg%3Fo%3D1

think you can figure out what she looks like by that? so you can understand what he is talking about and figure out if its able to get it from the junk yard yourself and do it?

[spc2125]

oh yea i def know what that is. but do i need that whole thing. or the little box in the right that connects to the wires?

it wicked easy to take out but im wondering if they would still work if there at the junkyard. cuz if i can go to a junkyard and spend like $30 instead of 120 or something then i would.
im just curious if it would work since its at a junkyard

[robalero]

whole thing not the box. and where do ya think he is getting it used?

[spc2125]

idk... you think hes getting it from a junkyard too?

[Ttop191]

yup...if you go through a mechanic you will get seriously ripped...

[robalero]

he is getting it from the junk yard, they tend to have a 14 day policy on electrical stuff like that and its normally tested before they sell it, however its prob not gonna be the $30 like you expect a new one at my cost from Napa is $166 and retail is $300+

[JLw7123]

i would go with napa

[robalero]

so would I, but don't forget thats canadian prices I don't know what it would be in the US probably a lot cheaper

[JLw7123]

http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?A=ECHTP462_0305951242&An=599001+102002+50052+2052018+4052051+5999999

ya it is 98 bucks here