Stalling and trouble light, when making sharp fast left turns, and stumbling after...
2002 Corolla LE. It's doing two weird things. Any ideas on these?:
If I'm stopped at a local stop sign on a hill, with the car tilted downhill to the right some, and accelerate into a left turn too sharply, the check engine light comes on and stays on for a day or so, then goes off. Is this a design flaw or is it happening just because of the tilt of the hill and how fast I accelerate into the turn? Is it shifting the oil so much that it tells the sensor that the oil is low?
The other thing happens in real hot weather ( mid-upper 90's ) , after doing a lot of highway driving and acceleration. Then I exit the highway and stop at a light and the engine RPM go low, like to about 400 and the engine stumbles and stalls. Any ideas why, on that?
I'm in Denver and don't know if the altitude plays into that or not.
When was the last time the car got a comprehensive tuneup? Did you happen to pull the plugs and give them a read? More importantly, hooked up an OBD-II scanner to see what CEL was triggered? Even if the CEL turns off - the code is still stored on the ECM. Without that piece of info - could be a number of possibilities causing that problem, from a fuel supply issue, ignition issue, emissions, feedback sensors, etc.
More importantly, hooked up an OBD-II scanner to see what CEL was triggered? Even if the CEL turns off - the code is still stored on the ECM. Without that piece of info - could be a number of possibilities causing that problem, from a fuel supply issue, ignition issue, emissions, feedback sensors, etc.
Not much to remove/replace nowadays - mostly fluid inspects and audible noise checks and hooking up an OBD-II newer device to read any potentially stored codes. Aside from oil and oil filter changes, the OEM iridium plugs can last up to 120K miles, coolant is good to 60K miles, P/S every 30K miles or so, same with brake fluid/automatic transaxle fluid/manual transaxle oil, etc.
Might be a good idea to pull the plugs and give them a look. Especially with the plug gap (0.044") - this engine is pretty sensitive to plug gap and electrical noise. Double check that the coil on plug units are making a good connection to the electrical plug on the wiring harness. Check the exterior of the coil on plug unit looking for cracks, leaks, any physical damage.
To read the CEL - will need to hook up a scanner to it. Most mechanics will charge you a diagnostic fee to check the code, usual going rate is $85. Might try an retail autoparts store - many offer free CEL checks and tell you what code was set.
My first guess would be a misfire codes - P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, or P0304 - pointing to random misfires, misfire in cylinder #1, #2, #3, or #4 respectively.
Not much to remove/replace nowadays - mostly fluid inspects and audible noise checks and hooking up an OBD-II newer device to read any potentially stored codes. Aside from oil and oil filter changes, the OEM iridium plugs can last up to 120K miles, coolant is good to 60K miles, P/S every 30K miles or so, same with brake fluid/automatic transaxle fluid/manual transaxle oil, etc.
Might be a good idea to pull the plugs and give them a look. Especially with the plug gap (0.044") - this engine is pretty sensitive to plug gap and electrical noise. Double check that the coil on plug units are making a good connection to the electrical plug on the wiring harness. Check the exterior of the coil on plug unit looking for cracks, leaks, any physical damage.
To read the CEL - will need to hook up a scanner to it. Most mechanics will charge you a diagnostic fee to check the code, usual going rate is $85. Might try an retail autoparts store - many offer free CEL checks and tell you what code was set.
My first guess would be a misfire codes - P0300, P0301, P0302, P0303, or P0304 - pointing to random misfires, misfire in cylinder #1, #2, #3, or #4 respectively.
My mechanic just hooks the thing up and checks it, and it's done the misfire code before.
I'm a little dubious about having those coils down in a hot engine like that, there must be enormous thermal stress on them that way, between subzero temps and how hot the engine must get in the summer. I'd much rather see the old single coil design, but then you needed the distributor and all that.
No worries about those coils - they are incredibly tough and there is enough of an air gap to prevent them for popcorning inside the plug wells on the engine.
If it is coming up with a specific cylinder misfire - try moving the coil to another cylinder and see if the misfire code follows the coil or stays on that cylinder. If it is a random misfire - could be related to the engine coolant temp switch or other sensor, not having anything to do with ignition.
Check the basics - see that there is no oil pooled down in the bottom of the plug wells. Pull the plugs and read the ends, make sure the plug gap is spot on - use a wire loop-type feeler gauge. The flat gauges can chip the electrodes if you force it there, coin type gauges are pretty inaccurate. Verify chassis grounds are present and make a solid connection. Any noise is the electrics can confuse the ECM, causing the car to have drivability issues.
No worries about those coils - they are incredibly tough and there is enough of an air gap to prevent them for popcorning inside the plug wells on the engine.
If it is coming up with a specific cylinder misfire - try moving the coil to another cylinder and see if the misfire code follows the coil or stays on that cylinder. If it is a random misfire - could be related to the engine coolant temp switch or other sensor, not having anything to do with ignition.
Check the basics - see that there is no oil pooled down in the bottom of the plug wells. Pull the plugs and read the ends, make sure the plug gap is spot on - use a wire loop-type feeler gauge. The flat gauges can chip the electrodes if you force it there, coin type gauges are pretty inaccurate. Verify chassis grounds are present and make a solid connection. Any noise is the electrics can confuse the ECM, causing the car to have drivability issues.
Oh wait. Come to think of it, I found this thing dangling. Not sure what it is, or where it's supposed to go. Anyone know? It's a single wire coming through a connector and looks like it may have clamped somewhere to ground at some time, but I found it dangling when I was removing the PCV on the drivers side.
Doh! I just checked - mine was dangling free too! That goes on the corner bolt on the valvecover - just a secondary ground point, that bracket will straddle over some wiring in that corner.
Mines apparently been off since I last checked the valve clearance and when I replaced the timing chain tensioner - almost 4-5 months. No change in the driveability that I've been able to tell.
Doh! I just checked - mine was dangling free too! That goes on the corner bolt on the valvecover - just a secondary ground point, that bracket will straddle over some wiring in that corner.
Mines apparently been off since I last checked the valve clearance and when I replaced the timing chain tensioner - almost 4-5 months. No change in the driveability that I've been able to tell.
If it's not important to ground, why would they waste money on the clamp and all?
There is a little capacitor inside the connector portion that is for noise isolation.
Possible that the electrical load during operation was not "noisy" enough to cause issues with the ignition system. The car has several layers of redundancy, likely this is one of those layers. Won't be an issue unless something else makes intermittent contact.
Be worthwhile to see what happens when you put it back on and see what it does for driveability. I'm planning to put it on after work today - just have to look around for a 10mm socket or wrench.
There is a little capacitor inside the connector portion that is for noise isolation.
Possible that the electrical load during operation was not "noisy" enough to cause issues with the ignition system. The car has several layers of redundancy, likely this is one of those layers. Won't be an issue unless something else makes intermittent contact.
Be worthwhile to see what happens when you put it back on and see what it does for driveability. I'm planning to put it on after work today - just have to look around for a 10mm socket or wrench.
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Stalling and trouble light, when making sharp fast left turns, and stumbling after...
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