ilike2eatricers

91 NA 73k.

Here's the story, over the weekend my friend helped me install some new speakers I bought and everything was fine. After we finished running all new speaker wires and ran them to the amp we tested out the car. I started her up in 1st gear and she was cold starting. While the car was idling my friend had screwed up the order of the RCAs on the amp and was plugging them in and out to see if they were right. He was doing this for a good 5 minutes and then my car began bogging and finally stalled itself.

I immediately tried to start her again but the idle just dropped straight down and stalled. I didnt want to keep cranking her because of the possibility of flooding.

Is there anyway that the pulling of the RCAs in and out could have blown something or shorted something out?

I have checked all the fuses in the driverside kick panel as well as the main fuses in the engine bay.

Is this related to the stereo install or is it something else?

The car was running perfectly since I had it. Is it a possible failed alternator as my friend suggested? I highly doubt it. Could it be the AFM or a vacuum leak?

The battery is fine and holds a constant 12 volts.

I really need your help guys. Just help point in the right direction and I'll do what I can. How do I check for vacuum leaks if I cant get the car to idle? Just look for cracks/tears in the hoses?

P.S. The speakers sound great!

Project84

The car should start and run with a bad alternator until the battery dies. If the alternator won't power the car, you should get a battery light because the battery is being discharged in order to power the car. Check in the Haynes or FSM to see what common components are on the same fuses, relays, or wires as the stereo equipment. I don't think the ECU has anything to do with the stereo, but I don't know for sure.

Icemark

did he run the main power wire for the amp to the battery (and put a fuse on it within 12 inchs of the battery)???

If he did then I would be looking to see if he disconnected a wire or vac line when he ran the wire.

The only way the stereo installation could effect the engine running is if he tapped into the wrong wires or disconnected or broke something.

And Project84 is right, the car will still start and run with only a battery as long as the battery has more than 8 volts, even if the alt is removed from the car.

ilike2eatricers

Yes from the batter he ran the power amp wire with a fuse within 12 inches of the battery. I checked to see if anything was disconnected but could not find any plugs except for one plug that has no other end to plug into. I still have yet to check for vacuum leaks as I suspected that this was electrically related.

Is it possible that while running the power amp wire through the firewall that he could have tore/snagged a wire where the ECU is?

Icemark

only if he ran through on the passengers side (which he should have avoided any stereo wires near anyway, but that is another story)

ilike2eatricers

IIRC the ecu is under the metal plate on the passenger side under the carpet. If this is true, what is the black box on the driverside kick panel with alot of wires going into it and also some other box with mitsubishi on it?

By the way I tried to keep the car idling once by revving the gas for a few minutes between 2000-3000rpm until the engine warmed up but the car still would not idle. I let the car die out because I could smell my cat start to burn up and it was glowing very slightly after. I also checked the fuel pump to see if it was ok and cleaned it as well just in case.

ilike2eatricers

bump anybody got any ideas?
My guesses are either the AFM or a vacuum leak.

Let me know what else to check out. I am really hoping its not an electrical problem as I dont know much about that subject.

Dougster

If your cat was starting to glow, perhaps they are getting clogged, it would explain it also not ildling well or at all...Is the Cat orig?
Good luck/skill

ilike2eatricers

No I am almost positive it is not the cat. The only reason the cat began to glow was because I had to keep the revs between 2-3k so the engine would not stall and also to see if the idle would hold when fully warmed up but that didnt happen. The cat is original by the way and has never glowed before even after very hard runs for an extended period of time.

Thanks for your feedback though. Anybody else?

Pinfield357

the cat should not start glowing from 5min at 2-3K RPM! it does sound like its clogged

to check for vac leakes you need to get it running and have some one with a steady foot keep it at say 1000 rpms
then get under the hood with a can of carb cleaner begin spraying it on your vac lines if the engine suddenly revs up then there is a leak somewhere in the vacinity of where you just sprayed the cleaner

if you want to just get an idea of what the car will do if you hit it try spraying just a little in the intake just so youll know how the car will react

ilike2eatricers

Ok let's assume the cat is clogged, would it still not let the car idle at all?

Can anybody explain why the car ran fine for 5 minutes and then suddenly bogged and stalled?

The hardest part will be keeping the rpm at 1000 while differeniating it from increased pressure on the throttle from trying to keep the engine from stalling.

I am heading home now and will start looking for vacuum leaks and come back with results of the search.

ilike2eatricers

Found the problem with the car. The AFM was slightly off of the black elbow. Reattached and car started up and idled fine.

Thanks all for your help. Now I got another problem: replacing the cat.