NighthawkBlack

I don't know if anyone can help me but I hoping someone can. I did my 110k service at 90k because it was 8 years. Here's the problem, I start my car and everything is fine until I rev the engine. The RPM's go up fine and come down but when they come down they seem to drop a tad below the normal 700 and nearly stall the engine sometimes it actually does. I changed the battery and thought that was the issue but it did the same thing. Could a bad alternator cause this? I put in an Optima yellow top now. Here is a list of everything I did, Please help! I am out of ideas and my car has been down for over 2 weeks!



I changed my
Rear motor Mount
timing belt
timing belt tensioner
water pump
both pulleys for timing belt
Crank pulley to OEM diameter UR Racing
fan switch (Mugen)
thermostat (Mugen) overheat problem at idle prior to this service, now resolved
adjusted valves, used new rubber gaskets for heads,
intake lid new gasket
intake manifold new gasket but not the paper "olympic ring style" paper gasket from outlaw engineering since I didnt think it mattered. Pain to get
new gasket on the egr valve and intake elbow for supercharger and throttle body and TB spacer
replaced coolant
Flushed power steering
changed battery to Optima yellow top

What could cause this issue? I am afraid to drive it.

NighthawkBlack

I also changed the grounding points of a few of my existing hyper ground wires, not sure if that would matter but throwing it out there anyway.

01tl4tl

you triple checked everything - the timing marks for the cams lined up after you changed the belt and tensioners?
A prior idle overheat is more than the thermostat- could have been water pump too or plugged radiator.
What did you use for the intake gasket instead of the one supplied with OE spacer?
The other thing to check is IAC valve under the Throttle body- when you take it all off the car and move it around, you have to clean all the little things that get stirred up

fsttyms1

Recheck the grounds, make sure all the intake manifolds and vacuums are tight and installed.

NighthawkBlack

By grounds do you mean the hyper grounds that I moved to a few different points? That shouldnt affect it right? Since the car only needs the ground ones to work?

I torqued all bolts in sequence and to spec.

I did use the OE gasket but you need two when installing the spacer. I have a metal oem and paper green "oem material" gasket on the top or bottom of the outlaw engineering spacer. Does anyone know if the paper goes on top or the bottom? Maybe I switched it when I put it all back.

I did check the timing marks with a laser many times. The only one that looked funny was the bottome crankshaft gear but it didnt move so I am sure its fine. It looked like it lined up but the arrow pointing down comes in at an ever so slight angle. If it was wrong wouldnt it run horrible or not at all?

So no one thinks it could be the alternator?

01tl4tl

the base metal gasket goes on- then the OE spacer with the paper gasket on top,
NOT metal gasket to paper contact.
The very topmost cover of the intake manifold, its gasket can get installed upside down
if you match it to the cover instead of putting it on the top of the manifold to install.

01tl4tl

The alternator only recharges the battery, it does not actually run the car.

ChucksCL-S

No, the battery energizes the starter motor which in turn starts the engine, the alternator then runs the car's entire 12 volt system and re-charges the battery and keeps it there. The battery, being a storage device, will be used when for example an idling engine can't supply all the electrical needs.

NighthawkBlack

OK Once I feel safe I will get the alternator checked. Right now I wanted to post something interesting. I started the car today and it worked fine at start up. Reved it from the throttle body and it did the same things. So I let it run a while, once it got warmer after the fans kicked on twice or three times, I could not duplicate the problem. I would rev the car, then rpms would go back to normal when I let go. Car always had a slight pause very slight when normalizing and thats how its acting after being warm. Could this be an IACV problem? I mean I find it odd that after the engine warmed up, the problem was gone. Also the first few times I tried starting it al the other days, I got nervous and shut it off before 5 or 10 minutes. I have 3 IAC valves so I am wondering if I should change it. At any rate could that be a cause for my symtoms?

Southern

Could just be the computer adjusting to your newly tuned engine.

bibledriver

bibledriver

Could change the IACV. Also might try resetting the cpu for kicks. remove "backup" fuse for 30seconds.

NighthawkBlack

Someone please help me. I I tried new gaskets and reinstalled the intake manifold, rechecked and tightened everything. I noticed when the engine is warm, it doesnt always do it. As long as I dont accelerate, its fine but as soon as I do and let go, the rpms drop below the 750 100 mark and come back to idel but half the time it stalls. What could it be? I am so tired and its been 4 weeks. I need my car back and Im out of ideas. What should I do? Please help.

I had the EGR valve off for at least 2 weeks but used a new gasket when putting it on. Could that affect it in the way I described?

Im so frustrated and tired, anyone?

NighthawkBlack

Do you know if that EGR update is for teh 99 only or all years 00-02 as well. I wonder if I have carbon buildup for sitting for 3 weeks.

01tl4tl

egr crud buildup comes from driving not sitting
the service from dealer to install sleeve is a 99 only issue, the rest of us got an improved manifold with more passageways for egr- more for us to have to clean~

fsttyms1

Try cleaning the IAC valve. Make sure the TB is clean and clear of all carbon.

And yes grounds make a difference.

NighthawkBlack

OK I will clean the passages in the manifold, AGRH I have to remove it again and the IACV. What should I use on the IACV, I actually have 3 of them. Doesnt that just have air and coolant passing through? How does it get dirty?


The one on the car which is new and two old ones when I thought they were bad a while back. I actually had a vacumn leak a while back.

LukeaTron

This could be a sensor issue as well. See if you can repeat it in the garage and immediately after the car stalls, pull a plug and see what it looks like. My guess is that you'll find it's wet with gas because the car is flooding the engine thinking it needs more gas than it does. Has the exhaust been particularly stinky?

bibledriver

No check engine light I suppose?

NighthawkBlack

no check engine light. Plugs only have about 25k on them and they are ngk iridium. I am going to seafoam today, then clean out egr passage on manifold and ports with throttle/carborator cleaner. If that doesnt work I am switching the IACV with one of the other two I have. IF that doesnt work, its a trip to the dealer which I am very afraid of since I have always had a bad experience with them breaking something every time. I just dont want to keep pulling off the maniofld and getting new gaskets.

Should I pour some seafoam in the oil too or just suck into manifold and gas tank?

bibledriver

don't pour it into the oil. It will not solve anything. If you are negligent about your oil changes, buy marvel mystery oil and put a small can in. If not, then don't worry, that is the least likely thing to be problematic. Suck it into intake, pour it into gas (when very low tank), following diy. Pour an extra can into gas afterward (full tank this time). Replace spark plugs (cause theyll get kinda fouled if you produce crud during process.

Good luck!

NighthawkBlack

I noticed my back cylinder head was a dark brown while front was not. I change oil every 3000 and filter since Jan 00. Thats the reason I thought to do the oil.

bibledriver

What do you mean by back cylinder head? The only way you could see anywhere that the oil is in contact on the back is by removing your valve covers. HAve you done that? Otherwise, engine is probably just dirty, and on the back you may have a valve cover gasket leaking. Where is it dark brown?

NighthawkBlack

YES I did remove the valve covers so I could adjust the valves. When you look at whats under both valave covers, the back one looked dirtier or as if it was stained with dirty oil, the front looked more like the color of metal parts.

At any rate, my problem has been solved by SEAFOAM through the intake manifold. Im going to do the fuel and oil down the road, geat product must have been from not running my car for so long.

bibledriver

Cool!

Try out Marvel Mystery Oil in your crankcase.

NighthawkBlack

Yes thats next, wish I could pull the valve head off cause I bett that was crude that made the rear head a funny color. Ill post a pic of what I mean in a minute.

01tl4tl

Seafom it again after you drive a few tanks, to finish cleaning the intake manifold and valves- give the TB throttle plate a shot of cleaner too

NighthawkBlack

Front





Rear

bibledriver

You got the two confused, but Yes, I see that the rear is more oil colored. Honestly, I don't think I would lose any sleep over that. It is fine. It is a bit odd, but most engines out there look like your rear bank, not front. Don't sweat it.

NighthawkBlack

LOL Like I said my rear is a darker color but everytime I try to post pics its trial and error so they posted mixed up.

Its odd but looking at the pic I can see it looks like sludge like oil residue. Im guessing its what seafoam in the oil would remove. I guess my front looks very clean and not the norm. I did forget to press on the vtec free motion button thingy that they say to test. Too bad cause Im not taking everything off again.

I'm glad did the work, car runs smooth and my valve chatter is gone.

bibledriver

Yeah, and if you plan on adding seafoam to the oil, be sure from the pros of seafoam that it is kosher. I, personally, am not sure. I don't think it is on the label that way, but not certain. I have used Marvel Mystery Oil (top cylinder lubricant) in the oil to "clean" things up though. your engine looks fine!