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Comments
Thanks
Timothy
The first thing that comes to mind is air locks in the cooling system. When the radiator is drained AND filled the heater must be full on. If it wasn't then drain and start again. Also as it first warms up after filling, bleed off the air by opening the air release valve on top of the thermostat housing. Remember the heat must be switched full on with the engine running before draining, as it needs the electrics up and vacuum to set the heater full on.
Talking of the thermostat, make sure it is correctly oriented. It is eccentric, so make sure it not only is the right way round, but that none of the struts is impeding flow. Most modern thermostats are very sensitive to correct orientation.
The third and worst possibility is that you have leak of coolant into the manifold due to a gasket leak around a waterway on the intake manifold. Did you put a bead of blue RTV sealant around the waterways on the intake manifold, as specified in the repair manual? If you are leaking water and replacing it with air, then you should see a white sweet smelling exhaust, especially on first starting up.
Also a plug or two will show evidence of water present during combustion.
Those are my thoughts on things to check.
As you select modes does air blow from the correct locations?
Have you done any work on the cooling system, or drained it for any reason?
The heating cooling system is complicated, and you need an accurate diagnosis before pulling ANYTHING apart.
You can get fault codes from the ATC . Have the engine idling and the temperature set to 75 degrees. Hold down the top two left buttons and the top farthest right, (floor, mix and defrost). Hold them down simultaneously until the display section blinks, then release them at the same time. The display will blink for a while and then show any double digit trouble codes from 23 to 36.
The display can only display one code at once. To move to the next code, press and release the lower left button (panel). Continue until all fault codes are displayed. Record them and post back here.
What components are responsible for gas/air mixture?
TIA,
nio
Even the replaced rails fail more often than they should.
Check for fuel leaks first, especially from the fuel rails. If there is no leak, then check engine codes which can be done from the ignition switch.
Have you found any solutions to fix your 96 LHS yet?
I have a 94 LHS with 44,000 miles that has the exact same problems as your 96 (running rough and chugging during acceleration), except mine also runs rough at idle, but smooths out at constant RPMs while driving on level roads (no hills). My gas mileage has also decreased from 22 to 15. It began doing this all of a sudden a couple of months ago. Changing plugs, wires, air filter hasn't done anything to fix it.
Squirt carb cleaner under the plenum by the thermostat housing, and see if the idle straightens out.
If it does you have your answer. If you have a bad gasket it won't be long before you are leaking coolant into a cylinder or two, and doing some serious damage. May be you already are.
I sprayed carb cleaner under the thermostat housing, and everywhere else I could see where the plenum attaches to the engine. Unfortunately, it didn't have any effect on the rough idle.
Although I'd recently replaced the plugs and wires, out of frustration, I thought I'd try pulling each wire off of each plug one at a time with the engine idling to see if I was getting spark through the wires. Each wire checked out fine (spark was present), but when I pulled the wires from two different plugs, there was no change in the idle (it didn't get worse).
So much for Autolite Platinums (that's all that was available locally at the time). I've ordered new Champion Double Platinums, and after they arrive, I'll report back with the results.
Any guidance on the freeze plug?
Thanks
tim
I recommend you drain the coolant. Then knock out the leaking frost plug and tap in a new one. Replace the coolant. Do this ASAP, if you don't want to walk!
The new one has to be tapped home and well seated. It must not be crooked.
Even though my problems were solved by installing new sparkplugs and wires, after reading so much here, and elsewhere, about bad intake gaskets causing problems, I went ahead and installed all new gaskets (2 air intake manifold, 2 fuel injector, 1 air plenum, 2 EGR tube, 1 rear coolant tube - this one wasn't available, so I made one out of a self-adhesive gasket sheet from NAPA -, and 1 thermostat housing gasket along with a new thermostat). I was kind of surprised to find that all of my original gaskets were in great shape, were sealing everything well, and showed no signs of breakdown. Oh well, I'll just chalk this project up as a bit of insurance for the future.
Thank you for all of your help, tuscanskipper! I've concluded from one of your posts that you may live in Eagan. I live in Apple Valley, so if I see another 94 LHS around here, I'll give you a thumbs up.
Thanks,
Joe
Kevin
Easy fix for your mechanic.
Good Luck.
Thank you,
Dennis.
Ignition is dead means there is no spark.
Does the engine turn over or not before you jiggle the ignition key? If not then it may be the transmission inter lock, on which there was a recall.
If the engine turns over but does not start then the list of causes is enormous. You need to check engine codes for a start, and then find out if there is spark or not. If there is no spark, then the problem will be no fuel, which could be a s simple as a fuel pump relay.
If you are not used to auto diagnostics on modern cars, then you will need professional help.
Before the "jiggle" it does not turn over....there is no sound at all. The first turnover produces a normal start. Sometimes there is an instant normal start....no rhyme nor reason....hot or cold, whatever...
When ignition is dead all dash lights etc turn on at each attempt, as would be usual.
See if jiggling the gear shifter also allows the car to start..
You might also have bad battery terminal connections, a bad connection to the starter solenoid, or a bad starter solenoid.
Thanks
Tim
thanks
Possibilities. You have a sized constant velocity joint. Remove the drive shafts and check carefully.
The other possibility, is something amiss in the differential. On those cars the differential is separate from the transmission. It has its own drain and fill plug. A lot of people servicing those vehicles do not know that, and so differential service is missed until there is a serious problem.
Thanks
My best guess is that the power control or transmission control modules are at fault, but I suppose it could be the body control module as all these seem to be intimately related.
This is probably something you will not solve yourself.