tiburon354

Update- I put on a new tps and the car seemed to work ok. Ecu was reset. I took the car for a long drive(2hrs) and on the way back home, she started running rough and slowly losing power. I pulled over on the side of the road and it stalled. I tried to start it again, but it would just start up for about 2 or 3 seconds, running rough and bucking and then stall again.
Afew weeks ago on a Saturday, i changed my oil and decided to take off my heat shroud and take a look at the stock headers and down pipe, looking for leaks. I noticed a crack in the headers and left the heat shroud off the car, as it was in kinda rough shape and ugly anyways.
Now, on the following Thursday, i had problems driving home. It was skipping and rough and almost stalling. I figured maybe it was because i was kinda low on gas. I filled up the car ,put in gas line antifreeze and worked ok for a couple days and then Sunday, was acting up again and then Monday, when she finally gave out and been down since. Is there any way to patch the crack in manifold temporarily to see if thats the culprit? I have obx haeders here, but the previous owner welded a high flow cat on the stock exhaust, rather that bolting it up. And im planning on upgrading my exhaust, so i was waiting to get the exhaust and then put everything on at once.
I also had a cold air intake on the car, but took it off because the car was idling crazy. I think because the IAT sensor is in pretty rough shape. I now just have a cone filter attached to the MAF and the IAT snsor just dangling around. I also have my secondary o2 sensor plugged in, but not attached in the exhaust as the old o2 sensor is stuck in there. So those are the known problems i have with the car right now.
So im wondering if the removal of the heat shroud combined with the header leak could be culprit?

REDZMAN

IAT sensor not being plugged in can lead to huge problems.

Filter ON the maf can lead to huge problems.

Double check that your MAF is facing the right way. There's an arrow on it, it should be facing towards the TB, not the filter.

Cracked headers can cause problems, but not this severe, and they'd be constant.

Let me know when you've fixed all of that, we may have one more thing for you to look at, same problem I had wiht my old 1997.

tiburon354

Ive been driving the car for the past year, with the iat dangling and also the cone filter on the maf. Should hooking up my stock airbox make a noticeable difference right now? Maf is pointing in the right direction. What was the other thing i should look at? Ive tried almost everything.

cham

yah...i had basiclly the same problem with my car it was my sensor that goes into the air box...the 1 you have dangling around...but have u messed around with youre plug wires at all maybe you got the order mixed up...that can cause a headache.

tiburon354

^^^Plug wires are on correct. How much are IAT sensors? Also, are ECU's known to go bad?

REDZMAN

Driving like that is horrible for your car. Every sensor is there for a reason, what the HELL made you think it was okay to drive like that?

You don't need your damned stock airbox, you need everything where it goes. Cut a hole in your silicone connector for your filter and put your iat sensor in there.

Your MAF is probably filthy too, I'm assuming you are using an oiled filter right?

Go out to your car, take some overall pictures of your engine bay, then some closeups of the MAF, and post them all here.

Sorry if I sound mad, but I'm really NOT inclined to help out someone that treats their car like shit.

Right now, you are running around and replacing parts, or analyizing problems, without fixing the GLARING ones right in front of you. It's like going to the emergency room for a gunshot wound, and they spend a week working on your bloody nose first.

How old are your plug wires? How old are your plugs? Have you had your wires TESTED? ECU's very very rarely go bad, so yours should be fine. Your IAT sensor should be fine, as long as you clean it up and put it back. Your MAF is probably bad, or really dirty, and needs cleaned, and a CAI put on to keep the filter away from the MAF. Oiled filters are bad to begin with, but when it's that close to the MAF, your vacuum will pull some of the oil off of the filter and coat your HOT MAF with it.

So, no further, till you fix the current problems, and answer the questions above. I do have other ideas, but we aren't going to look for stress fractures of your shins, if you have a broken femur.

tiburon354

Spark plugs and plug wires are brand new. As far as the cone filter, not sure if its an oiled one or not. I have an aem short ram intake here, but no coupler to attach it to the MAF. How do i clean IAT sensor and MAF.

I try to take care of my car, i really didnt know the IAT was so important.

Im going to cut a hole in the filter and plug in the IAT, but need to know how to clean it first.

Here's pics in the meantime. Notice half of the stock airbox is there, i cant find the other piece.

REDZMAN

Holy rusty tiburons batman!

1. Do NOT cut a hole in the filter, do it in the rubber base, and make it small, so the IAT sensor is tight in place. To mount your "short ram", go to an autoparts store and pick up a damned intake coupler, they cost maybe $5 tops. That looks like an oiled filter to me, what kind is it and where did you get it?

2. Okay, above, you said you put in new wires, then took them back out. The wires in the picture above are NOT for your car, they are WAY too long. Look at them. TOO LONG. That CAUSES PROBLEMS. Since they are obviously not for your car, you can't even guarantee they are connected correctly in there. Take off your spark plug wire cover, and take a few pictures there. If you have the wrong wires, you may as well have the wrong plugs, or not have them gapped correctly. Did you check the gapping on your plugs? What plugs (brand, model) did you put in there?

Remember, timing of your spark is a PRECISE thing, an extra few inches of spark plug wire CAN make a difference. We had one member here, watsup4800 with spark plug wires that were 2 FEET too long, and he couldn't understand why he was having so much trouble. His IAT was TAPED TO HIS valve cover.

3. Sensors. My man, if the sensor wasn't important, would they put it on the car? Think about it, car companies are always trying to cut costs. Your IAT sensor measures the TEMPERATURE of your air in the intake. This, coupled with the MAF readings (that show how fast the air is coming in), tell your ECu how much fuel to fire into the engine to make power. Right now, your car is showing that it's getting air coming in fast, but the sensor is also telling it that it's a different temperature than you are actually taking in, so you are getting the WRONG amount of fuel in there. When the engine gets hotter, you are even more off in readings, so your car is running way rich, or lean, causing misfires and gunking up your o2 sensors.

You following here?

Also, look at where the air enters your MAF. See that screen on there? I can see in your pictures that there is DIRT on it. Mud. Your MAF is probably filthy. Remove your MAF from the intake stream, and look inside of it. Get pics if you can. Clean it as I told you above, and clean the connectors too. You'll see there is a METAL CLIP that holds the wiring harness to your MAF, you should just be able to push on it to open it up. Clean in there on both sides. If you don't have that clip, then there's another source of problems. No clip = not secure = space to let shit in to corrode and dirty up your connectors.

You can clean your MAF and IAT sensor with electrical cleaner, available at ANY auto parts store. Let them fully dry before you start the car.

4. Airbox. Take out the rest of the shitty stock intake, at least you'll get some cooler air in there. The DIY section shows you what to remove, just remove it ALL.


Those steps should take you a bit, and should help a LOT. I'd start getting some of that rust taken care of, unless you want a unusable car in a few years.

tiburon354

There is more dirt than rust. The engine bay is filthy and yes, there is a little rust, but considering the car has been in Atlantic Canada for the past 10 years, that would probably explain it. Rememeber we all dont live in a tropical paradise like you, Redzman. Road salt= eventual rust. Its inevitable.
The plug wires are fine. They were ordered for a 1997 1.8l tiburon, which is what I have. The plug wires are brand new. Ive never replaced the plug wires since i bought the car, so i decided to keep the new ones on. Bosch plug wires and NGK plugs, which were gapped correctly.
We also put 3 different MAf sensors on from a junkyard and the car was still acting like crap.
The only time the car made a difference is when the TPS was replaced and it was good for a 3 hour driving period, when it broke down again.
When i broke down, the car would not start. I got towed home by some hillbillies, who had a trailer ,but only 1 functioning tail light, so i left the 4 way flashers on all the way home and it drained the battery.
Now i just got a boost and the car acted up for a minute or so. I reved it up some and then she started to work like new again. The MAf is sucking in air good. I doubt its the MAf sensor, as we put 3 different ones on and this one was cleaned last week.
The filter is a Ractive brand and I bought it from Canadian Tire, 1 year ago.
My dad drove the car to his house, as he has a garage and it made it there fine. 20 minute drive.
But i really dont know what to do next. I called a few parts places for the coupler for the aem intake and i have to call back tomorrow, as 1 place can order from the main warehouse, which is closed today, but can have it tomorrow.
Does anybody have any ideas? Maybe dirty crank sensor?

new plug wires
new plugs
new primary o2 sensor
new coilpack
fuel pump tested and ok
fuel filter changed
new tps
3 different maf sensors put on
maf sensor cleaned

REDZMAN

I know what makes salt, and I live nowhere near a tropical paradise, I live in the desert. There is plenty you can do to quickly get rid of or treat for rust from salt. There are plenty of canned spray paints that will convert that directly into primer, and other anti salt treatments, you might want to look at them.

Doesn't matter what wires you ordered, those are not the right ones. Look at anyone's Beta 1, the wires you have are 4 or more inches too long.

As for the intake coupler, you don't need a specific AEM anything, just go to Autozone or wherever you have close and pick one up off the shelf, you can measure the size you need before you leave, just get it. I can show you some examples if need be when I return later today.

What did you clean your maf sensor with? Did you clean the contacts? Did you clean your IAT and put it back in? Did you reset your ecu afterwards?

Only a few things can give you a misfire.

When is the last time you put a bottle of fuel injector cleaner through that car? I just thought of that, youmight have some badly clogged injectors. Also, have you ever changed the fuel filter? Do you put in quality gas or cheapo gas? Cheap gas often has nasty stuff in it, and can easily get water in your lines.

You MAY want to check your ECU wiring also. The 97 I had, which now belongs to ABQElantra, had extensive and similar problems, until he found the reasoning for it and fixed it. You can search for his threads to see what the issue was, and as yours is also a 97, it could well be the same.

If you follow the ECU wiring harness from the ECU up over the steering shaft and to where it exits the interior near the gas pedal, his pedal arm was hitting the ecu cable, and had worn through and damaged the wiring. He fixed the damage, car has run perfect for quite some time now.