The car is a 97 Cavalier 2.2. My fiancee has been driving around with the check engine light illuminated for a while now. As I was already working on it refilling the A/C, I decided to see what the PCM was reporting.
Here's what I found:
P0122 Throttle Position (TP) Sensor Circuit Low Voltage
P0300 Random Misfire
P1404 Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Closed Position Performance
A little history and how the car runs:
I've seen the random misfire before, it's an ongoing problem. The other two are new.
The car runs ok, the only hint that something is amiss is at idle there is a slight skip or miss. It doesn't have a regular rythm, sometimes it will be fine and other times it will miss three or four times in a couple of seconds. The engine doesn't buck, there's just a slight tone change in the exhaust note.
Also one injector has a slight leak, it's not spraying gas it will just get slightly damp over time and every once in a while you'll catch a whiff.
It used to hesitate under load, I replaced the (oil soaked) coil packs and it runs good now. She says the wires and plugs are new-ish but I will probably test / replace soon.
Anyway I cleared the codes and we'll see which ones come back. I'm thinking the TP sensor one is a fluke, I monitored the PCM input on it (obd2 software is great!) and it saw 0 to 100% and everything inbetween.
Any input on the EGR code would be greatly appreciated. Is normal procedure to just replace them? Does anybody know if the valve and pressure sensor are on the same unit, or separate pieces? On other cars I've seen most EGR problems stem from blocked passages due to carbon buildup, after cleaning them out it works ok again. Does the Cavalier suffer the same fate?
Also any input on what to look at first about the idle stutter would be greatly appreciated. I'm leaning towards it being related to the random misfire problem (either the plugs / wires, or maybe the leaky injector), but I've seen bad EGR valves affect the idle on cars too.
Thanks in advance and best regards,
Justin
the sensor is on the egr itself.. if tps comes back or egr.. let me know i just pulled an engine last week i have both parts working.. let me know ill sell for cheap
osirissk8ery2k@aol.com
