Every once in a while, frequently actually, when I first start my car, regardless of whether or not it is warmed up, and start driving away, when I am coming to a stop or completely stopped the car will go into a rough idle where it will fluctuate from 400 to 700 rpm and then completely stall if I do not switch it to neutral. After stalling the battery light usually comes on but there is no CEL. When it happens, it usually does so within the first minute or so of driving. However, when it doesn't happen or when I continue driving after switching to neutral the cars runs fine. Two times that this happened the stall/rough idle was so bad that it caused a CEL. Both times this happened I found out it was a cylinder 2 misfire from my OBD2 scan tool. Even after taking the car in for a tune up and getting the spark plugs replaced the problem still persists. Also, I noticed that when I get out of the car after driving and touch any part of the car except the glass sometimes I get a very bad static shock. Now I have tried pretty much everything to diagnose this problem but to no avail. Hopefully you guys can give me some insight into this problem and any suggestions are wholeheartedly welcome. I drive a '97 Z24 auto. Thanks in advance for any responses.
"Kneel before ZOD!!!"
I have a 1995 sunfire with auto 2.2...Was doing the same thing....Car would idle fine in park..When coming up to a stop sign would idle rough or die or when rounding a corner..TCC in the tranny was locking up the torque converter..Unplugger 4 prong connecto with 2 wired coming out of it for the TCC.Was in the front of the tranny.Do not know if 2.4 auto if it is the same..Can try unplugging it and driving around to see if it is your problem.If tcc is unplugged the torque converter will not lock up for 1 to 1 ratio.
So you think its a problem with the torque converter?
"Kneel before ZOD!!!"
I have the same problem with my 2.4, but mine's a stick. If I sit and idle after startup, it'll idle fine for about 30 seconds. Then it bogs down to about 500rpm, jumps to 1500 and finally settles down to 900 rough rpms. Some days it'll do that twice.
I've replaced about $1400 in sensors, nothing helped. It's never idled smooth since I've had the car. I blew my budget playing "guess which sensor", and nothing helped. If I had it to do over again I'd have taken it to the dealer right away, but my ego told me I could fix it myself easily. My empty wallet tells me I was wrong.
To clear out that annoying check engine light, disconnect the battery for about a half hour.
John Wilken
2002 Cavalier
2.2 Vin code 4
Auto
Gotcha, so has anyone figured out how to fix this problem?
"Kneel before ZOD!!!"
D-LuxZ24 wrote:Gotcha, so has anyone figured out how to fix this problem?
I have a fool-proof solution... I'm going to get a neon and sell my sunfire!!
Seriously, I wish I knew. As I posted, I'm out of cash for "Sensor roulette" so it is what it is until I can save enough for the dealer to repair it.
*groan*
I didn't have issues like this with my Neon...
John Wilken
2002 Cavalier
2.2 Vin code 4
Auto
try replacing your coil packs. i hear these go out on j-bodies quite often. I just put in MSD coil packs and it made a world of difference w/the problem you explained. It helped way more than replacing the spark plugs and wires.
Also if you're running any kind of bosch, or four tipped plug, ditch that @!#$. get some ac delcos or NGK ( which i prefer )
Sadly, no more..
if its a misfire pull off your spark plug wires at your coil packs and see if any of the connections(on the coil pack) have rusted a good amount, if they have then that means you need to replace that coil pack and the wires because they started arcing. as far as the stalling goes my car did that when i started it up and put it in reverse or drive and started pressing on the gas, that problem is caused by the PCM leaning out the air/fuel mixture and stalling the car out, the only was to get that fixed is to get your PCM reprogrammed at a GM dealership....
<img src="http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/edp/personal_pic.jpg" height= 200>
Are you serious about the pcm stuff? that sounds about right. I hear tons of people on this forum replacing sensors, plugs, wires, coil packs, etc etc and the problem still remaining. The rpm drop in my car is less of a problem for me with the msd packs / new wires + plugs., but it's still there and that's irritating. what'll it run you to get that reprogrammed? is it like a firmware update?
Sadly, no more..
they plug the tech 2 into it, itll take about an hour to do and i guess itll run you about 100 bucks, again not 100% sure that will be your fix but its def worth gettin looked at. if your gonna go this way go to the dealer and ask to get your car checked for updates in the pcm. I work for a GM dealer so thats how i know about the reprogram
Same problem here, mind you I have an aftermarket header 2.2L. It's beginning to get dangerous for me, when I pull up to a stop sign, it almost causes me to get into an accident. So I have to figure it out before the car comes out of storage.
I have bosch plugs which are going, going back to stock plug wires, and then we'll look at the dist.
EDP - I have an O2 sensor, and it pretty casual as far as readings, nothing really lean or rich.
like i said its not def your problem but its a place to look. i know thats what the problem was on mine
When I took the car in to get my plugs replaced after the misfires occured, I took a look at the plugs and the housing both of which had a significant amount of carbon tracking/residue on them. Does this mean that my car is running too rich? I think this might be due to the Jet PCM I installed which as I later found out was garbage so I took it off. But even after taking it off I still got the stalling problem. I wonder if that Jet PCM changed anything in the computer to make it run rich all the time now. Maybe getting a reflash might help the problem because at this point I'm so frustrated at trying to find the cause that I'll do anything. Also I don't see how the coil packs would cause the car to stall at such a low RPM. It seems to me that a weak coil pack might cuase a miss under load or at high RPM but probably not at idle.
"Kneel before ZOD!!!"
Hey I had a similar problem with my 94 2.2L, the mechanic I took it to replaced the TCC Solenoid. Not sure but I would say that Solenoid might fix it..it is just inside the cover of tranny I believe..can't remember for srue. Mght try that it fixed mine.
There's good indication that it might be the solenoid thats causing the problem so I might try replacing that. How much did it cost to get the solenoid replaced?
"Kneel before ZOD!!!"
Hi again
Before you spend any money!
If you think it is the TCC solenoid I would disconnect the plug on the LHS front (Drivers) of the tranny.
This prevents the solenoid from engaging, (some people drive around for years with it disconnected)
If all your problems disappear you have confirmed the fault at no extra cost.
However if you still have problems it may be something else.
This is a link to Chuck Kichline's great article which may help locating things(I know it's a Fiero but a '93 2.2 (Mine) is so similar and the general idea is the same on a '97
http://www.kichline.com/chuck/fiero/TCC.htm
Hope this helps
Alont
