1998 DX, 119k miles, 5 speed. Seller was selling it cheap because it was "lurching" in first/second gears and popping out of 5th. Good condition overall aside from the lurching.
Hooked up my trusty laptop, scanned for codes. A few popped up, cleared them, the CEL came back on...fuel trim. Hmmm. Major vacuum leak?
Look under the hood. See a big slit in the air hose. roll my eyes, offer the guy $400. He was selling it because his "mechanic" said the transmission was shot. Put two and two together and deduct that the engine movement is causing the tube to open up causing the engine to momentarily die as too much air gets in that isn't metered...as th engine moves back into place the hole closes and the engine can breathe again....seriously we're talking fuel trims around +20 on my software.
Go to Lowe's, get some duct tape. Pay the guy, get the title, drive down the street. Park it, tape up the hole, reset the ECU.
Drives like a dream now. No more codes, exhaust is clean smelling, fuel trims are normal (same as my 97 Pro) and the O2 sensors are reading normal again. Still pops out of 5th but I'm hoping that's due to some obviously broken engine mounts.
Hooked up my trusty laptop, scanned for codes. A few popped up, cleared them, the CEL came back on...fuel trim. Hmmm. Major vacuum leak?
Look under the hood. See a big slit in the air hose. roll my eyes, offer the guy $400. He was selling it because his "mechanic" said the transmission was shot. Put two and two together and deduct that the engine movement is causing the tube to open up causing the engine to momentarily die as too much air gets in that isn't metered...as th engine moves back into place the hole closes and the engine can breathe again....seriously we're talking fuel trims around +20 on my software.
Go to Lowe's, get some duct tape. Pay the guy, get the title, drive down the street. Park it, tape up the hole, reset the ECU.
Drives like a dream now. No more codes, exhaust is clean smelling, fuel trims are normal (same as my 97 Pro) and the O2 sensors are reading normal again. Still pops out of 5th but I'm hoping that's due to some obviously broken engine mounts.
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