Earth Child - AKA Grizz

[2000Silverbullet]

The old Grizz has been cranky lately. It all started when a belt pulley seized a couple months ago and threw the belt. The belts and pulley were replaced. Shortly after that the ABS/traction control acted funny (brakes locking up) , so the fuse has been pulled.
It made it through an Alberta winter.....without a block heater in -40F conditions.....I forgot to re-install a block heater after changing the engine a few years ago....don't really need one on the coast but Alberta is slightly colder, lol. She had been plugging it in all this time and the cord was not connected to anything, LOL.

Chynna is 9 months prego now and almost ready to pop, so hasn't been driving it much but when she does it will only run well in open loop. After about 10 minutes when it warms up and goes into closed loop (I'm assuming), it will stall and stutter with not much poop.

She lives a thousand miles away now so I can't tell exactly what is going on.
I'll be there in a couple of weeks to help change diapers so need some help with troubleshooting ideas until I can drive the car myself.
I will need an excuse to get out of her house, if you know what I mean.

I'm not a gearhead anymore so must have apparantly lost my senses.....

All the obvious items have been checked already by her backyard mechanic friend.....plugs, wires, diagnostics.

The plugs are over a year old and I'll change them as soon as I can even though he said they were good but I can't believe that's the reason.

[RJolly87]

Start with a good seafoam treatment, get it blown out, and see where it stands? Has she been religious with premium fuel?

[2000Silverbullet]

Yes she has been religious about using premium fuel...ALWAYS.
Alberta has the least expensive fuel rates in Canada, although still more expensive than in the USA.

[Jrs3800]

For the running... are we sure the MAF is functioning as it should be? Or even better yet could it be low on fuel pressure? Just a couple of things to look into while you are there...

as for the ABS if it was freaking out while driving it I'd have to say bad wheel speed sensor making the system think a wheel is locking up... hard to say 100% for sure..

[willwren]

Look for damaged ABS/TC wires to the WSS on the RF passenger side in the engine compartment from the thrown belt. That happened to the ZiLLA in 2004 at Woodburn. You were there. Remember DriverEd's electrical tape bandaid on my finger?

Didn't you buy a scantool for the car some time ago?


Look very carefully for vac leaks. You know where every single line is now. That could be part of the open/closed loop issue. The MAF is a possibility too. Try to run with it disconnected (some will, some won't).

[2000Silverbullet]

Thanks those are some good hints.
I'll definitely look into the ABS wiring to the right WSS and check vacuum lines. She hears a hissing squealing noise.

I spoke with her again today. It is definitely backfiring when it goes into closed loop. Could be a MAF or fueling issue.
I'm bringing all my tools......

[2000Silverbullet]

Yes she has the scan tool now and has cleared all the codes ....... just to give me a challenge.

Now she tells me all of the dash including the DIC gauges and A/C heater controls are black. The only thing working is the tach and speedo.

Something is making a clicking sound from the engine bay.......A/C compressor clutch??

Boy, have I got work to do!

[2000Silverbullet]

I've been busy fixing since I got to Edmonton on Friday.

The Grizz was truly in sad shape.

The parking lights were not working. The fog lights were both burned out. She later told me she thought the fog light switch was the side view mirror defrosters. LOL
One light had a bullet hole in it.

The rear bumper has a pie plate chunk broken out of it from a parking lot ding.

The trunk jack container had broken away from the spot welds and hung at a 45 degree angle blocking half the trunk area.

All the dash was not functioning, no DIC, no compass, no fuel gauge, no temp, oil or boost gauge....no A/C.
No ABS or traction control.
Someone had pulled my wire for the remote fan turn on switch. The light on the switch was all that worked.

Both front wheel bearings are howling again!! This is the third set!! The last ones I had done by the dealer with good SKF bearings supplied by GM.

Half of the clearcoat is now gone.

The magnaflow tips were black and brown. She didn't know how to use a scotch brite pad...

The stereo was missing. Ripped out by thieves.

The Service Engine Soon light is on. Cam position sensor code. She had a new sensor installed but didn't fix it.
As soon as the engine warms up, any more than light acceleration, it begins to misfire and chug with what feels like pulled timing.

I changed the plugs first off.
Fixed the burnt out fuses, that got most things working again.
Drilled new mount for the jack.
Cleaned the tips. Those Magnaflow tips are awesome. 316SS is great for regaining a like new appearance.

Tomorrow I replace the front wheel bearings and freshen up the brakes.

Thursday it gets a block heater and fix for the cam sensor......got to be a wire...or maybe the magnet fell off??...bigger job!! I hope not.

Baby is almost due.....

[J Wikoff]

That's quite a list. It sounds like she's had the car for years.

[00Beast]

What's with your spawn and abusing cars?!

[2000Silverbullet]

They drive like me but don't fix anything....

I just discovered the front sway bar links were broken, so I installed some new HD links.

It's almost back to smooth running condition.

I replaced the fog lights and they work fine now.

The 2000 SSEi is running great. I like playing with the lsd on the wet roads but would rather wag my tail, like in the Firebird, than wag my nose.


The baby has dropped and it won't be long now.

[renchjeep]

Wow, that's some hard driving! I hammer the crap out of my 94 SE, and I'm sure it costs me a lot more in wear items like tires and brakes. Broke a rear sway bar once, but have yet to snap a front swaybar end link. Even with Poly bushings on the stock links.

Good luck, and God Bless the baby. Hope it's a smooth delivery.

[2000Silverbullet]

OK, I need some help with this one.

I put it to the test this morning. It started fine and at first drove great with no problems or codes even after it was warm and in closed loop.
So I put my foot down and that's when things began to happen.
Misfiring, erratic rpm, mild backfiring, no accelerating power.....until it stalled. Let it sit for a few minutes and it will start and drive with the same symptoms until it stalls again.

I just made it back home after a number of restarts and sitting and waiting.

This time I got codes.

P0321 - 18x interupts lost signal
P0341 - Camshaft sensor intermittant signal
P0361 - Electric spark timing EST not toggling

It has a new cam position sensor.

I'm trying to avoid having it towed into a dealer so any help would be appreciated.

[J Wikoff]

I'd be looking at the crank sensor and its wiring. The 18x signal refers to one of the halls of the crank sensor. And IIRC, the cam sensor wiring is linked to the crank sensor.

[2000Silverbullet]

I was thinking that it might be the crank position sensor. It's the only sensor that hasn't been changed yet.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[JMH1950]

Paul, thats the same codes I was getting on Christine before I changed the PCM. I believe it was the same with the green one I bought from what's his name in Vancouver.

Different PCM and all the codes and problems went away.

Then again, with that car (grizz), you never know.

[olblueeyesbonne]

icm?
PCM?
Is it possible for the o2 to cause this?

[2000Silverbullet]

Hmmm....much easier job to replace the PCM.

How do I know for sure...or is it trial and error?

The O2 sensor is only 1 year old.

[2000Silverbullet]

John, where is the PCM on these cars? Is it the box under the hood mounted to the drivers side strut tower? Just two nuts holding it on?

What's the difference between the PCM and the ICM or are they the same box?

[SSEimatt93]

ICM is what the coil packs are mounted to.
The PCM on that car will be inside the passenger side foot well hush panel. I havent done it in years, but i belive its just retained in there with a spring like plasic clip