Issue with 3.0L NJ

[Crazy_cabbie]

Hi. we have a 1994 NJ 3.0L auto. Now the engine has 9,000kms on it and we are having an issue when there is any load on the engine. The engine shudders like its low on fuel or its not running on all cylinders.

When the motor was done, all the filters were done as well as spark plugs. After speaking with the mechanic and hours of frantic searching I was able to locate a new dizzy cap, but no rotor button or coil. With that fitted there was no improvement.

Today while picking up a motor for my other car I was able to grab a 2nd hand coil and tried that and still no improvement. Now besides the leads and rotor button are there any other areas I should be checking?

Also does anyone have an idea on prices for a coil, rotor button and leads?

[Martynhpajero]

could it be pinging? has it been doing it since the rebuild? maybe check timing and spark plug gap. see what the plugs look like,could be running really rich or really lean?

[Crazy_cabbie]

It started on thursday arvo. When I was checking the leads on the cap it gave me an all mighty electric shock.

[xrrob]

Could it be crap fuel? blocked filter?

[Crazy_cabbie]

it smells very rich when it runs and I purposely only buy fuel from the same 3 servos and never had an issue, unless they got a bad batch

[goldnugget]

Make a cuppa and have a read of the following couple of threads of mine that may be similar to your issues.

http://140.99.20.180/forum/showthread.php?t=18100

and

http://140.99.20.180/forum/showthread.php?t=19004

I ended up with 2 issues, yours may be related, may not, but at least its opening up some ideas for you.

[Crazy_cabbie]

Cheer man. My problem is almost constant but I dont have the luxury of around town driving as everywhere where I am is 100km/h and after Fridays effort of trying to find parts new and second hand and driving almost 200kms to go to every shop/wrecker who might have a part I am thinking of sending the car back to the mechanic and making them fix it but not sure as we have just noticed the dirty buggers have charged us for brand new items that we supplied to them and even the prices on the receipt for those parts are higher then what I paid for them. Larbour is an entirely seperater charge on the receipt

[Crazy_cabbie]

I went back to my inlaws to try sort the car out. I disconnect the battery while I worked on the car. Firstly I got the fuel filter off and it came out like mud when it was shaken. I took the drain bolt out of the tank and the fuel came out looking like normal fuel so I am guessing the filter is very old. I did try to flush the filter but no luck. I put it back together and then checked the plug and all of them looked fine and all spark fine.

So I started the car and it idled perfect, so I got in and put it in gear and stalled it up and all was still good. Got on the road burried my foot and was quickly at the 100km/h speed limit and still no problems. 4km's later the problem returned, so back to the inlaws.

So now I am thinking its a fuel issue so I can going to try locate a new fuel filter and put that in but where is the fuel pump. Is it located on the top of the tank before the filter or is it near the motor? I tried to see if fuel would come out whenthe filter was removed but nothing and prior to that I hadnt been able to hear a noise when the ignition was turned to 'on'. I did get a noise after I had put the filter on and tried to start it, butthe wirring noise was from the engine bay.

What are peolple thoughts now? Help would be great as the car is needed

[dolphin]

this problem sounds like Electrical / Electronic and can be easy or hard to pin point as to which one of you buggers are playing up. now lets say all filters are perfect and also there is definetly no water in your fuel , sparkplugs are perfect. i would firstly start with fitting new sparkplug high tension leads maybe not the problem but you never know and atleast with having new leads with new engine you know where your at. the coils / rotor button don,t normally cause a breakdown under load so don,t worry about these for now. the electronical componants that can cause your problem are;
coolant temp sensor , sounds weird but the main ecu can,t read a faulty sensor.
CAS/ a part of the distributor for corrections in timings and if faulty can give incorrect readings to the main ecu.
MAF / located between the throttle body and aircleaner unit, if faulty will also give incorrect readings to ecu.
CO2 sensor / positioned on exhaust manifold, same thing if faulty very rich running engine etc.

as mentioned; i would start with the high tension plug / coil leads then go to the coolant temp sensor / than cas / then maf. many of these items are available from ebay and also repco and will save you some dollars .

[goldnugget]

The fuel pump is in the tank. To get to it you peel back the carpet in the back and you will find a sort of sideways diamond shapped plate with several small bolts. If they are a little rusty looking, spray some wd on them before you remove them, the plate will have a sort of sponge type gasket, thats fine, just try not to tear it.
Once you have the plate off you will see there are 2 'things' that go into the fuel tank, the one with the 2 fuel hoses and plug is the fuel pump, the other is for the fuel tank sender for the gauge (wiring only).
To remove the pump and its hoses...after you have removed the cover I mentioned, start the car, let idle, then unplug the plug at the fuel tank...this is the fuel pump and the car wil stall (removes some of the pressure from the fuel line) , turn off your ignition, disconnect the battery.
Get under the car and you will see that the fuel line the filter is on...follow it back towards the tank, you will see a joiner, on the fuel tank side of this joiner you will have to undo the fuel line between it and the tank before you can undo it from the pump. Then undo the hose from the tank and the fuel return pipe (this will be just a clamp). Then you undo the small nuts on the fuel pump housing, when they are all off then you should be able to remove it. Fitting is the oppsite of everything I have mentioned...watch out when under the car for residual fuel in the line ( have a rag handy).
When you talk of the noise under the bonnet when ignition goes on...if it is like a tap tap tap and then it stops, it is the fuel line pressurising and the fuel pressure regulator doing its thing and is normal.
There is a mesh type bag filter on the fuel pump itself as well, but is unlikely to be blocked up if you are still getting fuel through.
A good way to see if the fuel is an issue (before you start pulling it all apart), disconnect the fuel return pipe at the tank and and have someone activate the fuel pump from under the bonnet without starting the car (if you dont know how to do this let me know), and collect the fuel into a container that you can then see if there are contaminants. (this is also a good way to purge air from the fuel line after removing things like the filter prior to actually starting the car with the fuel curcuit complete)
I think there is likely to be contaminants in the fuel line that have probably gummed up or blocking injectors and/or the fuel pressure regulator possibly from bad fuel, buildup over time, or from cheap fuel additives like injector cleaner (if you have added any lately). If that is the case, and you need it 'fixed' now and have the money to have it done it can get pricey....otherwise it can take months to 'possibly fix itself' (with higher octane fuel from either caltex or BP over time) depending on what the contaminant is(as was the case with mine).
See how you go with a new fuel filter first and go from there...you could check the fuel pump screen, but if you are getting fuel through the system, it is unlikely to be the issue.
Thats my thoughts....injectors.

[Crazy_cabbie]

Dont have the option of a higher octane fuel of any sort, just regular unleaded where I am. I have disconnected a fuel line and had the ignition on to see if the pump was pumping bit got nothing at all out of the line although it was just the fuel line that goes into the filter. the noise in the engine bay is exactly the same as you said so that fine then. I have my wife and mother inlaw going to QLD to chase up at least a fuel filter because it should not have such dirty fluid come out of it.

I have to chase up a new plug that goes into the front of the dizzy lower then the cap. It had no wire clip on it so when I went to check to see if it was dirty or not exactly in place it just crambled, but enough survived that I was able to plug it back in. It is fitting tight but expecting that prolonged driving on bumpy roads could cause it to loosen.

This thing is doing my head in. Cost 10 grand at xmas with full service history and we have had the radiator let go and the motor and along with the full coast of accident damage the car has had a further 15 grand spent on it and thats not including regular stuff like services, tires and brakes

[Crazy_cabbie]

The fuel filter has been replaced, no change. The pump was fine and flows. The ecu was removed and visually checked and no obvious issues there. Have spoken to the mechanic who did the motor and apparently neither the temp sensor or oxygen sensor should be causing the issue we are having. So I have now done all I can so now the car looks like its being towed back to the shop and plugged dignostics computer and find the faults

[Crazy_cabbie]

The car was towed to a different mechanic this time and he has come to the conclusion that the other mechanic has screwed us over. Spark plugs and leads and air filter and most likely fuel filter were not replaced when the new engine when in even though we were charged for them. The battery was buggered and electrical plugs have been broken put back broken with the metal clips or glued on. So this new mechanic has tested what he can is is replacing whats needed as well as some other things as well.

So hopefully when all the parts turn up it should be all good. Even going to get the auto serviced and hopefully remove the viscous fan and replace it with an electric fan and have the aircon serviced and regassed before summer.

Hopefully this will be the end of the major troubles with the car and we can try enjoy it more

[goldnugget]

Good to hear from you again.
I would see if he can get it running alright first before you go spending money on the trans and the rest of it. Hopefully once all the wiring and the other bits are changed over it will come good, but it may not be immediate..mine took a little while to come good even after nearly everything (except the injectors) was replaced....my money is still on gummy injectors if the changed over parts dont fix it straight away.
Good luck with it...let us know how you go .

[Crazy_cabbie]

The gearbox is over due for a service, but got the call last night its running spot on. Have to wait to see if he will do the service on the gearbox and the fan but other wise we get the car back today. Atleast the 150km drive home should be a good test.

Also found out that he removed the steering column and had it reco'd because the steering wheel moved in odd ways. Had 3 other mechanics say it was fine but this mechanic thought differently