What codes do you have, if any?

Folks, scanning for codes should be one of your first steps...

 

I have no check engine light... so I assume that there are no codes. Or is that wrong? And no I don't have a scanner but there is an auto parts store nearby that has one.

And I'm aware of the open and closed loop thingy that the car has and I think that has something to do with it. Because once again... I took my car for a trip to taco bell (yum)... and there and almost all the way back it was fine... and right as I got in my neighborhood it started to act up. BUT....... I didn't get back in my neighborhood until my car was well warmed up and most certainly in closed loop mode. OH!!! and also on that trip I unplugged to MAF sensor to see if that would help and I thought it did of course until it acted up again. Let me know if this changes anything and I'll try to get to a scanner to monitor the o2 sensors.

 

Oh and more stuff... I'm trying to avoid paying for a fuel pressure gauge or for a shop to test it for me right now while I try to narrow out the problem more. I already replaced the fuel filter. I checked the terminals on the coils and they were shiny and good looking. All the fuel injector wire connections seem to be fine. I haven't gotten under to check the plugs yet... that's a pain and so I'm waiting for that one haha. I disconnected the MAF sensor and that didn't help. Yes there is fuel in the tank haha.

Researching around I've heard alotta people say that they had a similar problem and it turned out to be a bad coil... What do you guys think about that? Is there a way to test them fairly easily? While they are still in the car? Is that common on the 3800II?
Thanks

 

Get that sucker scanned anyhow, your SES dash light could be burnt-out? With the problems you're having you almost have to have a code(s)...

 

Yea I'm just waiting (and actually hoping) for a code so it can tell me what's wrong! And I just had a CEL like 2 weeks ago that I fixed so unless the light burnt out since then...

 

So a new update... I was at an auto parts store talking to a really really old guy and he told me to do a test on my spark plug wires. He told me to look under the hood while it was running and look for arcing. Well... I looked underneath while it was running. Then I asked my gf to give it some hard and quick throttle. I saw some arcing. BUT... does the alternator give off any kind of sparks when it runs? Because it was kind of close to the alternator so I didn't know... But I saw it very faintly in some other areas too so I'm super hoping that this is the problem. Does this sound like the problem or is it normal?

 

maybe, i had the same problem and turned out to be my maf. Unplugging my maf did nothing so i feel as that test does nothing. A leak in vacuum lines can cause problems i hear. Also you might want to check the egr.

 

Yeah thanks. What sucks about this problem is that there are SOOOO many things that it could be! Dangit! Well I'm gonna buy some new plug wires tomorrow and hopefully that will clear it up If not... then I guess I have some new plug wires!

 

1) some codes will cause the Check Engine/Service Engine Soon light to turn on and some won't. The won't-turn-on-the-light codes aren't major or driveability-related though so they wouldn't be causing your car's problems. Get it scanned anyway to see what's in there.
2) sparking from *anything* under the hood is not normal and is not good. You may have found the problem. Use a spray mister to wet the engine while it's running at night. If ignition cables are leaking juice you'll see it right away. When you replace the ignition cables do them one-by-one and try to reuse all the clips, shielding, etc. while following the original path. There's a reason the designers laid things out the way they did -- mostly to keep the wires from chafing and getting fried by hot engine parts. the cables on my 94 had just been replaced when I bought it and 2 of them were already burned because the installer just ripped the old ones off and stuffed the new ones in.
3) coil packs do fail quite a bit. They can also work until they heat up and *then* fail. Hopefully a 2001 still has the 3 coil pack setup because then you can replace just one of them.

 

often times an issue with the fuel system wont cause a code, namely because its at high rpms/throttle where the sensors arent being used. if the maf was dirty, there is still a map sensor as a redundancy, although it wont hurt to clean the maf. it sounds to me that either the pump is getting weak or there is a restriction in the fuel line. feathering the throttle to get it to a high rpm uses a small amount of fuel to do. if you stomp it, it requires more fuel, which will cause it to lean out, shudder, and not do anything else. i just had the experience at work where someone dumped a whole bottle of lucas fuel system cleaner (its supposed to treat 100 gallons) into a car and it basicly degraded the fuel lines and clogged up the injectors (newer toyotas dont have fuel filters). the only codes it had were insufficient o2 temp to engine temp relation, which was caused by a burned out and clogged cat, and misfire for 2,4,6 cylinders caused by the blocked cat. after punching the cat, there were no codes but the engine still wouldnt rev past 1500