Replaced radiator... now it's not running right... HELP
 

So my stock radiator blew while driving it. Car started to overheat, so I pulled over & towed it home the next day. Finally found a radiator (stock) to put in. Put it in, started it up, smiled cuz it wasn't spewing coolant. Sounds good...

Took it out... drove it easy for a few minutes, oops, low coolant... went back home & filled it up again. (Low coolant due to purging air, not leak)

So with the coolant topped off, I head to my "test" area... which is a long straight road with only 1 house & plenty of visibility & next to no traffic.

From a stopped, I gunned it (as best I can) & it went just fine. I'm all smiles...

Stopped, & did it a 2nd time... perfect...

1 more time just to make sure...

I get going (on the 3rd test) & once my throttle gets about 50% & the boost starts to kick it, the car falls flat on its face.

After testing, I find that it's a throttle thing... whenever I go past around 50% throttle, it falls on its face. It's not an RPM thing nor a boost thing (I can hold both so long as I'm not over 50% throttle).

So something blew off/broke on my 2nd test I suppose... any ideas? The car is idling wrong... likes it's miss firing... the spark plug wires didn't fall out...

Any ideas?

Oh, & all I had off to replace the radiator was the basics... air intake... intercooler... & battery... & radiator obviously... & everything got plugged back together

Have you tried resetting the ECU? Could possibly gone into limp mode?

Check to see if the map sensor hose came off.

has anyone ever actually blown the hose off a map sensor? everyone always says that but I've never actually heard/seen of anyone doing it....

I have. The line was old so it was hard as a rock. That cause it to slip off very easily. A new line (Baker Precision hose) took care of that problem.

i stand corrected. I see people posting it all the time but never saw a thread where someone actually had one slip off.

good to know there's some truth in it.

I'll check check the map sensor hose tonight. To answer questions...

It does NOT idle fine. In fact it barely idles/dies. The engine is 'noisier' than it should be & there is more exhaust smoke than 'normal'... so I assume it's running rich? Which would be caused by a sensor/wire?

I'll report back on what I see with the map sensor hose...

Sure enough... the hose that connects to the UIM had blown off.

Couldn't get the car started... cuz it's flooded to hell...

But when it was having problems... I could SWEAR that I hear a hissing sound coming from the location of the MAP sensor... I just couldn't find the air leak because it wasn't a constant hissing...

I'll de-flood & let you all know I'm running again. (Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon)

Well here I am the next day... & I still can't get the car to start... tried de-flooding it (remove plugs & EGI fuse & crank)... twice... still no luck...

Is there some other trick I am missing?

Are the plugs clean & dry? Did you put any MMO, 2-cycle oil, etc., in the plug holes to boost compression?

Dave

try push starting it in reverse. if all else fails, just replace the plugs. if that still doesnt work, then you have another problem

i've also had my MAP hose come off. One particular time my Plastic throttle body elbow broke at the flange and knocked it off! That was scary cause not only did i hear and awful bang noise but my car was then running like shit.

keep trying, it can be a B to start after you flood it. but it will eventually work. You should try pulling the plugs, pull the EGI and crank until all the gas fumes stop coming out of the engine (about 15 secs or so) put a little oil, ATF in one of the plug holes. Bump the engine over quickly to spread the oil out. Put new plugs in. Put EGI back in. start the car.

Get some new plugs.

Got it started... by tow starting...

So it runs... but it's running rough... it will hold an idle... but at around 200-400rpm... & even if I hold the idle higher it is still roughy... & has black smoke out the exhaust...

Does it ever end...

If you put ATF or some kind of oil down the plug holes it will eventually burn off. If it's staying like that its probably too much fuel.

The map sensor is connected and is alright correct?

I ran it for 10-20 minutes... I would think it would have burnt off... the map sensor is re-connected & the hose isn't leaking...

yikes, maybe it's something more major? do you have tools for a comp test?

Yeah, my dad does, I can borrow his...

But the thing is the car ran fine... perfect... before the MAP sensor hose blew off... so I wouldn't think that hose blowing off would cause the engine to crap out... I know this cars are finicky... but still...

Did you reset the ECU? That might be something to try first.

how does the black smoke come out? just all the way black or does it cough, cough, cough.... if so try checking out the EGR...

I can't seem to get it to de-flood unless I tow-start it...

pull/dry plugs... remove EGI fuse... crank engine (to remove gas)... put ATF in sockets... quick crank to spread ATF... install plugs... install EGI...

That's right... right? I've done it a few times & it's not even close to starting...

& it's more of a coughing with the smoke... I'll check the EGR...

since your car is flooding.. try cleaning out the injectors by taking them out and replacing the o-rings on them and do proper right cleaning... there probably just old and torn or something... then place them back... they should fire back up...

my MAP sensor hose has come off I think twice. The first time, I thought I had blown the engine, LOL.

With the map sensor re-attached... I reset the ECU & got it to start.

It is still doing the same thing... once the PSI gets 5+ it kind of falls on it's face. I can also still hear a hissing sound coming from the area where the MAP sensor is. I checked the hose leading to the sensor & it's fine (no leaks). It's running very rich (my eyes burnt from trying to look at the MAP sensor area to check for a blown hose). So maybe something is leaking badly in this area... although I am getting exhaust smoke from the downpipe side (my downpipe usually leaks a bit... when something goes bad & it's running extremely rich)

Once the engine cools off I'll run a compression test & let you know the results.

Best I got is a piston compression tester...

But 92psi front, 92psi rear...

Any suggestions? (Aside from saving up some $$ & letting Chris @ Banzai figure it out) :)

& the smoke clears up once I get the car to unflood... but it floods like a mother...

the main thing on the compression test is to verify you have 3 even bounces (on the gauge) on each rotor timed the same. Bounce... bounce... bounce... instead of bounce... bounce...................bounce.

Are you sure the map sensor is working properly? did you check the voltages? And when u say the car falls flat on its face does the boost fall off? Maybe the 2nd turbo isnt coming online, or somthing with the turbo system. are you sure the map sensor is connected to the right spot? Leaking injectors causing it to be rich? Not getting spark on all plugs? There is lots of things to check.

Yes, I have. It now has a good and tight tie wrap on it.

The compression does did do 3 even bounces... so I'm good there.

I was wondering if the MAP sensor itself could have failed... maybe that's why the hose blew off? because even with the hose connected, it acts as if it's not connected.

I am not able to get the RPMs high enough with high enough PSI on the turbos to get the 2nd turbo to come online.

i'm at a loss then. I was wondering if it wasn't a coincidence that it jsut happed to pop then.... but if the comp test is good then it's definately not that..

GL!

I have no idea why, but my injectors started dumping fuel and flooding immediately after I started the engine with the tb coolant hose detached. I sprayed some coolant around the brake booster area and shut off the engine in a couple of seconds.

From that point on, I had problems starting/running that were only solved by replacing my injectors with freshly cleaned ones. Your symptoms sure sound like wonky injectors.

Dave

Where do I buy new injectors? Which ones do I get?

have you checked to make sure you have spark at all 4 plugs? it does sound like you could have leaking injectors or something. You can test the map sensor to see if its failed or not. Have you tried pulling any codes from the ECU?

I'm getting the diagnosis computer from my dad to run checks on that.

I'm going to buy new plugs to rule that out.

& how do you test the map sensor?

& is there a way to test an injector without just replacing them? How much do injectors cost?

I have. The nipple on the MAP isn't very large nor snug, even with a clamp.

Well I finally pulled some stuff off, & saw that SEVERAL of my vaccum lines were either snapped in half, or snapped off at the nipple. The car has 125k miles... & Chris @ Banzai commented how brittle all my vaccum lines were when I took my car in last year. So something must have happened which caused a higher-than-normal pressure around my UIM, because that's were hoses either popped off or broke off. Since all the lines are in such bad shape, I think I'll just be taking it down to Banzai for a full vaccum line job (yeah, I know you can do it yourself... but it's a LOT of lines to run... I'd rather just have an expert do it... so I don't have to troubleshoot missed connections or worry about missing a line).

But I would assume that's my problem, cuz the car is running VERY rich... which I would again assume would be caused from broken/leaking vaccum lines...

Relatively safe assumption?

Really the only line that would cause it to be really rich is the one to the map sensor. All the other hoses are mainly for the turbo and emissions systems.