paw140

I just installed a midpipe on my car tonite. Installation went pretty good, except I broke a bolt on the old cat. I also didn't know what to do with the air pump hose connection, so I just disconnected the rubber hose part and let the metal line vent to atmosphere.

Anyway, I fired up the car, everything is fine (idle sounds like crap now, IMO). I start driving the car, everything is normal. I never got on the gas because the engine is still cold... about a mile later, I'm pulling up to a traffic light and my check engine light comes on. When I try to pull away from the light, the car hesitates and stumbles very badly, and pops out the exhaust. So I start to head back home. If I give the car just a little gas, everything is fine. If I even give the car a moderate amount of throttle, the engine would want to cut out. I was able to go up to 4K rpm fine, but if I gave the car much gas, it would cut out.

When I got home (about 15 minutes ago), I checked the engine codes and got a 16 and a 27, EGR valve and metering oil pump. I've gotten both of these codes before... I kinda just ignored the EGR code, and strangely enough it went away (I haven't had an EGR code for the past couple months, I'm assuming the code in there now was from a long time ago). I've also had the code 27 before, but it was kinda rare and never caused a drivability problem. The EGR valve was causing my check engine light to come of constantly for a few months, and when I pulled the codes periodically sometimes I would have a 27.

Will a code 27 cause the car to go into limp mode? Is that what I was experiencing? When I got home, I shut the car down and restarted it, and there was no check engine light and the car ran fine. Right now I'm assuming that this problem has nothing to do with the midpipe install.

My only performance mods are downpipe and K&N air filter. I know I really should not put on a mp with my mods, but I'm just experimenting with some things.

Nathan Kwok

Yes, OMP code will cause limp home mode. How you suddenly throw the OMP code from installing a MP, have no idea...

paw140

Thanks... I'm thinking the OMP code happening right after the midpipe install is just a coincidence. Hopefully my OMP wiring is just messed up or something.

P'cola FD

Yeah, sounds like a freaky coincidence to me. OMP codes will put the car into limp home mode, so you need to get down there and check out your wiring.

R Xplicit

hey paul, do not have any idea on the 27 code, but do know as NK^ said, that it does cause limp mode, since it injects the oil for the lube cycle. do have one question. is your air pump still intact, plugged in or gone?

i agree with you that the MOP code might be a fluke, however, there might be someone else here that says otherwise.....however, i CAN say that i have removed plenty of air pumps and such, and never experienced this problem....i have never even seen the CEL come on in my car.....so i guess that i am not too much of a help right now....

louis

R Xplicit

also the removel and unplugging of the air pump will cause poor idle w/o an ecu...

paw140

Thanks for the advice guys,

Louis: I didn't remove the air pump (yet). I actually didn't touch *anything* under the hood when I put in the midpipe. The only thing I did that I wasn't sure about was leave the air pump hose venting to atmosphere, but from searching I've found out that that is ok.

Like I said, I've gotten the code before, so I think its just a coincidence that it happened after the mp install. I guess I'll be checking out my OMP wiring today...

Paul

R Xplicit

go ahead and unplug the sonnector for the air pump. not having the line run into the cat, which is no longer present, will cause it to fail and the clutch will most likely burn out in it...

have you sold the wheels yet? i sent someone a pm one day and told them that you had a set of stock wheels for sale.

-louis

RX7Elmo

i thought there were no ill effects of just leaving the hose from the airpump vent to atmosphere when u get a midpipe. Also, the airpump aslso feeds the exhaust manifold to keep teh 02 sensor running correctly, which is the reason why you run super rich at idle and at low RPM if you unplug the airpump.


Danny

R Xplicit

shouldn't be, he's from mississippi too...

paw140

Actually, I'm pretty sure it is a Cali ECU. When I bought it from a dealership in Mississippi, it had cali plates on it from the previous owner. And, I have the Cali EGR position sensor.

Thanks for the help everyone. I just took it for another ride, and it was fine until it reached operating temp and the same thing happened again. I shut it down and restarted it, and it was ok for another 30 seconds or so, then went into limp mode again. I'm gonna clear the computer codes, take it for another spin until the CEL comes on again, just to confirm that the OMP code is what's causing the problem. Then I have the fun of tracking down the problem... hopefully just wiring.

Louis: I haven't sold the wheels yet... I never heard anything back from the guy you pmed. Someday, when I get motivated, I'll have the tires taken off of them, check out their condition and put them on Ebay.

R Xplicit

sell me 2 of them.....pretty please...

regarding the cali ecu :

<foot in mouth

paw140

How about $125 for a pair of the ones in the worst shape? You just need them for drag tires, right? I haven't really looked at them in a while, but I remember one or two of them having some oxidation.

Or maybe trade or an old OMP?

paw140

Well, I reset the ECU, immediately checked the codes, and there weren't any. So I took it for a drive, and couldn't get the problem to re-occur. Hmmm... damn intermittant problems **** me off.

The car feels A LOT more powerful and responsive with the midpipe. I was able to get on the gas, but backed off when my boost crept up to 12 psi. And I smell like exhaust now... maybe the midpipe wasn't the best idea?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Yep, welcome to the world of midpipes. Boost creep and exhaust smells...

Those were two reasons I went with a hi-flo cat. I'm not all that much into performance, I still want to drive my car out on a nice night out to dinner and not be in the resturant, in a suit, smelling like a garage.

If you plan on keeping that midpipe, you might look into getting some restriction plates for your exhaust which should help with the boost creep.

Good luck!

paw140

I bought the pipe figuring that I probably wouldn't like it. I love the extra response and power, but the smell and the noise, I think, might not make it worth it. My plan was to buy the pipe from ebay for $150, but a high flow cat from Summit for ~$130, and have it welded in. Actually, now that I think about it, the way the pipe is bent, there might not be room to put a cat in. Hmm...