ok guys, im sure you have heard this way too many times daily but i have a problem with my fd..

first off, let me say that this problem is the very FIRST to happen to a point where its not driveable (well i didnt attempt to drive it so maybe it is driveable)..and i had the car for about a year..ok let me explain..

this past tuesday, like any other work day was perfectly normal, i went to work with the fd no problem, went home with the fd no problem..like any other normal day in the past..

ok, wednesday, the car sat in my driveway cause it was raining, i never drive my car in the rain (yes im weird) and yesterday, the car sat the whole day too cause it was thanksgiving and i was in new york..so thats a total of over 48 hours the car sat..

ok here is the problem, this morning, 6:15am, i do my normal routine, carry my steering wheel to the car, take off the cover, check the fluids (i do that every friday) and i get in.. i start the car in 1st gear and the car started in less than half a second..i was like, WHOA wait a minute..it started up faster than normal, almost fast enough to where the car is warmed up prior and you start it again..im pretty sure you fd guys know how the cranking cycle is, its like hesitant sorta, maybe like a second or 3/4 of second before it starts..but this morning was like 1/4 of second..

after that happened, i put my dash lights on (since it was still dark out) and i saw my coolant light on, my oil pressure light on, my radio was flicking on and off and the engine sounded different..i was scared as all hell..i walked to the back of the car and heard a different repitition of the exhaust sound and it was def quieter than normal mornings..now with my heart racing i get back insider and i look at the a/f gauge, it reads dead lean, the last red bar is bright and not moving..i look at my boost gauge and its reading 15mg of vacuum, normally it reads 19..at this point im freaking out..the car is still idling (sorta), its shaking a bit if i try to rev it and im just panicing..smoke is coming out the exhaust but cant tell if its white, like thick white or just normal smoke since it was 35 degrees out this morning..

now im just freaking out, i shut the car off (it prob idled for about 5 minutes tops) and i put the cover on with a sad face, get into my other car and drove to work with a sad face..

thats all i thought about the whole day was this morning thinking what it could be..i havent gone back outside cause its dark and i wanna attempt to solve the problem with some help from you guys and in the light..

so my question to yous is, what is the problem? the car showed NO type of flaw at all the last ride home on that tuesday..could it be the weather? should i try to reset the ecu? im thinking its something electrical cause why would my radio flicker on and off, why would all my gauges warning? even the charge light came on..

please help guys, i wanna go back out there tomorrow morning with confidence knowing its something minor..

thanks for reading

rob

 

you might wanna double check or put more grounds on your battery. perhaps double check all your vaccum lines just for sh*ts and giggles. other then that, check your oil and coolant levels. how high is your idle? 15mg of vacuum does not seem that low and this could all be a freak type of thing. what other mods do you have on your car?

 

thanks for the quick reply..yeah, oil and coolant are perfect when i checked it this morning before starting the car..normally, when i start the car in the morning (in 1st gear), it would still jump and idle at 1800rpm..this morning it jumped at stayed at 1500rpm..vacuum gauge reads 15mg..

thing i dont get is the car was untouched from tuesday to this morning, what the hell happened under the hood from then til now i have no clue..

i really think its something electrical, i mean if its the engine itself (i hope not), why would all my gauges show a warning, coolant light stayed on, oil pres light stayed on, charge light stayed on, radio turning on and off..

might be a stupid question but perhaps the car jumped in limp mode?

 

you wouldnt notice your car in limp mode till you try boosing or go past 5k. As for the smoke it was probably moisture that got into your motor since it was raining and cold as hell. But for the oil and coolant light i dont know... you can do a parasitic draw just for the hell of it to see if you are pushing anything with the whole car off. But it most likely is a electrical problem if all the liquid levels are fine.

Jeremy

 

First, You`ll need to take into account the outside temp...35degree`s you say. This **** seems to happen when it gets cold. However, I recommend that you check the water level in you battery...If it`s a maintenance free that alls good.

Secondly, check your alternator output with a voltage meter at the battery after you`ve started the car it should be 13.5 to 14.0.

Thirdly, 1500-1800 rpms idle when just started is normal. !5-18mg is fine it just the cold start keeping the idle high until the car warms up.

4th, start the damn car in neutral.

good luck and let me know what happens then and we`ll go from there.

Andre

 

^yeah, my idle seems normal but vacuum is what freaked me out..i normally get 19, all the time..that morning was the first i saw at 15..

and i start my car in 1st to disable the AWS, i dont like the idea of the car revving to 3000rpm with no oil pressure..especially in cold weather like that morning (35 degrees)..

anyway, im about to go to work, im gonna try a couple of things, hopefully it will work and i can take the car to work.. if not, then i guess you'll hear from me later this afternoon LOL

 

*BUMP*

car is running back to normal, all i had to do was reset the ECU LOLOL

i guess the weather F'ed the car while it was sitting in my driveway for 50+hours..

and im soo used to the car running good, little problems like this scares me, plus im still new to the FD game..

o well, thanks for the help guys

 

you can start the car in neutral and immediately tap the gas pedal and the car will not idle at 3k. it will go back down to 1500-1700 rpms. and really, what's the difference between 1500 and 3000 rpms w/out oil pressure. if something's going to fail due to lack of oil pressure, it will fail at either engine speed.

 

Glad to see that things are O.K. drive safe.


Andre

 

yeah and nah

if the car sat for a long time, i dont like the idea of starting the car and it revving to 3k with no oil pressure..not to mention all the metals not being saturated with oil yet cause i just started the car..in my thinking, i believe its worse in this case if the car is revved to 3k..

and i know i can tap the pedal and it will go down, i just dont want to reach 3k until the car is warmed up period...

anyway, car is fine..