Here’s something simple to have checked out.
Have someone remove both battery cables. On the positive cable, have them peel back the red rubber cover to expose the battery terminal connections. If a lot of corrosion is found under the red rubber cover replace the positive battery cable assembly.
Tester
The cables look perfect as the battery is under the backseat
Tester was talking about issues that may be hidden under the insulation - where you can’t see it. It’s also the case that only part of the cables would be under the back seat - there’s a whole other end to them. In any case, I’m wondering whether anyone ever did the “heat” test on the crankshaft position sensor as Tester mentioned way at the beginning. But I’m also wondering about a loose or corroded ground someplace. Someone should find ever point on the car - inside and out - where there is a ground connection, and clean them all.
I attached a piece of audio I recorded yesterday when the car had an episode(I think it’s at the beginning of the post). I drove to work just fine. 9 hours later when I went to leave, I had a hard time getting it to start. Start, chugging, spitting, shaking, stall. When I pressed on the gas to try and keep it from stalling, the engine did not rev. There was a gray or white smoke from the exhaust. Eventually it went back to normal and I drove it to a third shop where I have an appt tomorrow.
Have you ever gotten a whiff of the smoke coming out of the exhaust at a time like this? If it smells acrid then something is probably causing flooding out the engine with fuel. If it smells sweet then you need to worry about coolant getting into the cylinders via leaky head or intake manifold gaskets.
The smell reminds me of something burning like electric or plastic(its a very strong, lingering smell). This shop did say they thought of a leaky head gasket…maybe I’m going to get an answer this time…
If it has a sharp, burning smell rather than a sweet smell I would be looking for something that is flooding the engine with gasoline, such as sticking fuel injectors. That can come from the fuel injectors being dirty. But it can also come from the control side - as in wiring problems that have the injectors pulsed for too long. The pulsing is normally controlled by the PCM grounding them. This kind of thing is something that can happen intermittently and thus cause intermittent problems.
FWIW, I had an “episode” with fuel injectors not too long ago. Once in a while at random moments my car would suddenly lose power for a while. It never stalled but would just lose the ability to accelerate, and just as randomly as it showed up it would go away and everything would feel normal. I never got an error code. The only way I found it was to hook up my scantool to the car and leave it running and recoding while driving. It took a few drives, but it finally happened with the scantool on it and the fuel trims told me a “story” about the car suddenly going very very rich. I swapped out the injectors and that was that. You might ask the folks at your shop if someone could use the car for a while this way to see if they can catch it in the act.
There are obviously plenty of possibilities for your issues, because there are lots of inputs going into the car while its running and other reasons it might flood out. So I’m not telling you it is fuel injectors - I don’t know. But someone will probably have to catch it in the act to find out.
ya, the problems with it are becoming more frequent. Maybe 3 out of every 4 drives now, so I’m hoping they can catch it. I’m logging everything in case it helps them at some point. These guys say they work on computers, starters, fuel injections…I find them on the listing here too. So Im crossing my fingers…
Just an update…mechanic found a code today for a sensor that needs replaced. He said it shows a misfire on all cylinders as well, that he thinks is caused by this sensor too. He thinks replacing this one will solve everything, but if not, he will think about replacing the maf sensor as well
What was the code? One referring to the crank shaft position sensor perhaps? Get the exact code and post it.
I think he said cam but I will make sure…
This car has an ignition control module and a PCM. Also, it has MAP and MAF sensors. The SC has different injectors than the non super charged. A friend has been going crazy trying to find a problem with his. Did they ever fix it?
@knfenimore it is at a third mechanic being worked on right now. After I pick it up later today, and drive around for a few days, I should know if it is fixed
I wish you the best of luck. Intermittent problems are the worst.
It was the mass air flow sensor. They actually put one on, put in some cleaner to clean out carbon build up on the engine, and had me drive it for the weekend. I got a check engine light and took it back. They found the sensor they just put on was bad so they put on a new one. They changed the fuel filter and cleaned the fuel injectors with some kind of vacuum. I’m testing it for the rest of the week to make sure. They don’t require me to pay until after this test driving that they suggested.
You can unplug maf and car will drive fine. Good trick if ur sensor dies and ur on side of road.
Do you happen to know if the shop initially installed a poor quality aftermarket maf sensor?
Do you happen to know the brand of the failed sensor?
Good luck, in any case
@db4690 I don’t know the brand but I do know they told me it was not new(they said a new one would be about $700), I believe it was rebuilt. Thanks for the well wishes
Grr, dorman $75, acdelco, $135. A 15 min job to swap it. Grind teeth,
Uh huh. I looked it up too.