my daughter is having problems with her 89 2.o ltr bird she said it started to idle rough and then quit anyway i checked for codes this morning and it kicked out a 33 and a12 well 33 is the map sensor which is not to hard to understand so i have a spare map sensor and i will check the hose going to it and the wiring should be no biggie but this code 12 is a lttle hard to understand it says its a diagnostic mode no distributor signal to electronic control module system pass so does that mean its in some kind of limp home mode and what sends a signal from the dist to the ecm
i would be gratefull for any help on this matter
ps i did fire it up this morning and it did stay running but not that great
regards 2088bob (mister sandrail)
it may be the Torque Converter Clutch Solinoid, i had to replace it on my car which is a 94 2.0. when mine was bad, you would be able to drive it for about 20 min then it would stall. after the stall you could start it right up, but when put into gear it would die. if this is the same problem that you are having, then that is probly it. it is a very common problem with these cars. if it is the TCCS, it should only about 40/50 dollars at you local auto shop.
-94Custom
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i have had the tccs diconnected ever since we have had the car she only does mostly city driving having it disconnected only effects hiway mileage it justs prevents the torque converter from locking up no biggie code 12 is the problem and ihave told you what it says but what does it mean and at the cost of repeating myself WHAT? sends the signal from the dist to the ecm
Code 12 is the computer's way of saying "I don't see the distributor turning." If you check codes with the engine off, which is the only way if you don't have a scantool, then the distributor won't be turning. So it's ok to have a code 12 with the engine off. It's kind of like a sign that the ecm is actually checking things.
If you get a code 12 while the engine is running than something is wierd. The computer needs a signal from the distributor to fire the injectors, so if it's running and saying "I can't see the distributor turning" it's lying.
hth
-->Slow
WHATS A GOOD WEB SITE WERE I CAN FIND ALL THE COMPUTER CODES FOR 2ND GEN CAVALIERS
Yeah, like slowolej said, If the ECM isnt getting a signal from the distributor it wont run, thats what mine did and it turns out it was the ignition module in the distributor that sends teh signal to the ecm, and once I replaced it the car ran great
Ummmmm. code 12 doesn't mean anything....code 12 marks the begining and end of the code sequence. code 12 should flash 3 times starting out and then 3 times again once all the codes are diplayed. I'ts the same for all GM
Code 33 for an 89 2.0 sunbird stands for "MAP sensor signal voltage high" wich means you have too low of a vacuum in the intake manifold. Either the MAP (manifold absolute pressure) sensor is bad, or you have a seriouse vacuum leak.
An 89 Sunbird with a 2.0 doesn't have a distributor, it will have DIS.
Buy yourslef a chilton or Haynes manual, they both say so right in them, and have all the trouble codes in them. I've got both for 82 to 94 J-bodies and I'm getting the info right out of them. trust me, I'm right about this one. Check to vacuum lines and MAP sensor. And once you replace/fix the problem, make sure you clear the codes afterwards, or the computer will still think the problem is there and the car will still run funny. The easiest way to do this is to just disconnect the battery while working on the car. After a few minutes, the codes are lost. (10min to be sure, but any amount of time "should" work)
weebel took your advice went out and got a haynes manual i see what you were saying
anyway thanks to everyone for your replies i changed out the map sensor and we are up and running again cleared codes and we are good to go
Thats good to hear....Haynes is better than chilton unless, your looking to replace body panels.
