Thread: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!!

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  1. #1 Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    Hello,
    This is my first post (yes its long but please read it) however, I have been surfing this site for a couple of weeks and soaking up the vast knowledge here (The internet is good for a few things). I want to start by saying thanks because I doubt I could have fixed my problem without this site's information. I hope this compiled info now will help someone else. Now on to the show.. I recently aquired a 2000 GP GT coupe. It was purchased from a police auction by a lady and I got it from her, history originally unknown but I am closing that gap quickly. First it has no 4th, but that will wait until later. I drove the car a couple of times, then it started stalling, would not idle at times, would not restart for a few minutes. Sometimes it would be fine for a few miles then, it would stall even at road speeds and have the above symptoms again. When it was running ok, it would idle forever with no problems most of the time, but in it to drive, a few miles same thing (oh yeah did I mention surging) I had a code reader, and pulled evap flow low code, and a lean code, but nothing else. Code reader did freeze frame data every 30 seconds and codes rarely reappeared. Sometimes it had a check engine light. Disconnect battery, did fine at idle, the a few miles..same thing again. I learned early not to start just replacing sensors as it will break you and still probably not fix your problem. Try as I might even with a code reader, I could not get the info I needed to make an educated decision. I decided to get a better scanner so I purchased one that was live data capable. It saved me. After an hour of watching the data, I noticed the STFT (Short term fuel trim) never went above 20.3 so I figured that was at max correction, the LTFT (Long term fuel trim) adjusted itself rather high as well. The downstream O2 sensor worked intermittently and was at 0 for long periods of time. Fortunately, I also had a Chiltons, which after much reading about LTFT and STFT, it states that if you are having fueling problems especially with LTFT and STFT, disconnect the MAF and if the fuel corrects, then most likely it is a bad MAF and it needs replaced. Unplugged it and the fuel immediately corrected and the downstream o2 sensor started working right away. I drove it, which it wasn't perfect, but it had tons more power, idled better, none of the existing problems resurfaced. Went the next day bought the $130 MAF and IAC (mine was in rough shape), put it in, cleared any codes, it runs as though Jim Wangers (for you young Pontiac guys, he was one of the biggest movers and shakers ever in the Pontiac world) himself had tuned it. I am so happy I hope this may help someone else. Finally, I read it on this site a hundred times, get it scanned..get it scanned, scan it, scan it, Oh how true it is. The tranny is for another time. Thanks again for your help
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
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  2. #2 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    no fourth is gonna be the 4th clutch hub.... i did mine in the car and then the tranny went not too long afterwards so my advice is to just pull it and rebuild at the same time.


    Logan
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  3. #3 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    Yeah, One of my buddies own his own Tranny shop, he already gave me the bad news about the little splines. Can anyone recommend a better replacement? I know that you can get the hardened drum, but looks as though one with better spines would fit the bill even better.
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
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  4. #4 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    the one pictured is a replacement hardened one, all the ones youre gonna buy new are hardened, they started doing it on 2003 up models. You will never have to worry about it stripping out, its heat treated. You will burn 4th clutches before you think about stripping it out. ZZPerformance

    other places have them too, this is just one site. How many miles your car have on it? I will say it can be done in the car, because i did it myself in about 4 hours.

    Logan
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  5. #5 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    I have 160K on it, it shifts really well in all the other gears, just torn between going ahead and having it rebuilt or taking a chance and only fixing the problem it has....decisions decisions! Thanks for the reply
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
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  6. #6 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
    DUI BABY Bio248's Avatar
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    drive it like it is and build something on the side and swap it when the current one takes a digger.
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  7. #7 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    It's always a good idea to trouble shoot fueling and stalling by unplugging the MAF. The PCM will default to the VE tables and use the TPS and MAP sensor to adjust fueling. If it gets better, the MAF is bad.
    2004 Impala LS - got some mods sold!!!
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    NAIOA moderator Still Imp'n, just in a different Imp.
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  8. #8 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    LOL well to be dead honest, I didn't even know it would run without the darned thing plugged up!!! (now where do I set the float on this thing?) lol
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
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  9. #9 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    I'd try the MAF also...also it might just need a REALLy good tune up...plugs/wires/oil/filters, etc...

    The transmission...if you got the cash I'd have Dave (tripleedgeperformance.com) build you one, OR...find a low mileage one in a junkyard...I've heard that is a pretty good bet
    Sold WBody's: '03 Blue GTP/'98 Green GTP/'98 Silver GT/'05 GXP
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  10. #10 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    What scanner did you get and what did you pay for it? I don't own one today but am thinking it's a worthy investment...of course my mecahnic likes that I don't have one...
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  11. #11 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    Sorry it took me a while to reply, been hell week here. I bought a 3140 Innova by Equus. i got it because it does OBD 1&2, (I have a son that has a couple of earlier hotrods that need a little scan from time to time), has all the cables normally used, a handy carrying case,and it was not outrageous for what it does. YES!!! I KNOW THERE ARE MORE CAPABLE CODE READERS OUT THERE, THEY NORMALLY REQUIRE A LEAST ADDING ONE MORE DIGIT TO THE FINAL PRICE (I.E. $230=$1230) About $210 is the going online price, some want more some less, go with someone you trust and pay 20 extra dollars is my theory! Now if u have mega cash, a Pegiss 3825 can go from $4K to $7K according to how bad someone wants to screw u. Or you can get a gensis for $1400 or more. Also I local purchased mine at Oreilly's. Paid a little extra, they are good to me, i have someone to ***** to if it blows up!
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
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  12. #12 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gunfighter View Post
    Hello,
    This is my first post (yes its long but please read it) however, I have been surfing this site for a couple of weeks and soaking up the vast knowledge here (The internet is good for a few things). I want to start by saying thanks because I doubt I could have fixed my problem without this site's information. I hope this compiled info now will help someone else. Now on to the show.. I recently aquired a 2000 GP GT coupe. It was purchased from a police auction by a lady and I got it from her, history originally unknown but I am closing that gap quickly. First it has no 4th, but that will wait until later. I drove the car a couple of times, then it started stalling, would not idle at times, would not restart for a few minutes. Sometimes it would be fine for a few miles then, it would stall even at road speeds and have the above symptoms again. When it was running ok, it would idle forever with no problems most of the time, but in it to drive, a few miles same thing (oh yeah did I mention surging) I had a code reader, and pulled evap flow low code, and a lean code, but nothing else. Code reader did freeze frame data every 30 seconds and codes rarely reappeared. Sometimes it had a check engine light. Disconnect battery, did fine at idle, the a few miles..same thing again. I learned early not to start just replacing sensors as it will break you and still probably not fix your problem. Try as I might even with a code reader, I could not get the info I needed to make an educated decision. I decided to get a better scanner so I purchased one that was live data capable. It saved me. After an hour of watching the data, I noticed the STFT (Short term fuel trim) never went above 20.3 so I figured that was at max correction, the LTFT (Long term fuel trim) adjusted itself rather high as well. The downstream O2 sensor worked intermittently and was at 0 for long periods of time. Fortunately, I also had a Chiltons, which after much reading about LTFT and STFT, it states that if you are having fueling problems especially with LTFT and STFT, disconnect the MAF and if the fuel corrects, then most likely it is a bad MAF and it needs replaced. Unplugged it and the fuel immediately corrected and the downstream o2 sensor started working right away. I drove it, which it wasn't perfect, but it had tons more power, idled better, none of the existing problems resurfaced. Went the next day bought the $130 MAF and IAC (mine was in rough shape), put it in, cleared any codes, it runs as though Jim Wangers (for you young Pontiac guys, he was one of the biggest movers and shakers ever in the Pontiac world) himself had tuned it. I am so happy I hope this may help someone else. Finally, I read it on this site a hundred times, get it scanned..get it scanned, scan it, scan it, Oh how true it is. The tranny is for another time. Thanks again for your help
    Greetings! Exact same symptoms I have on an old '99 3.8 GP I got for my daughter to drive. I'm an experienced mechanic, where can I get the scanner I need for a good price? I own a license to VAG-COM for my VW TDI's, GREAT stuff, only $200. Last time I shopped for a scanner for my 8.1 liter GM, I found $500 stuff..
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  13. #13 Re: Newbie fixes stalling with your help!!! 
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    The first thing I would do is disconect the MAF and see how it runs. It may not be perfect, but it may correct the stalling issue post-haste. I bought my scanner at O'Reilly's, but it was priced higher than most other places. But they had it in stock. I had a Innova 3120, which is a pretty good OBD 1&2 scanner, but it does not have real time data. I got the 3140 (which is available online for around 200-240 bucks) and I am glad I did, I could not have trouble shot the vehicle without viewing the real time data and making an educated guess. I would do a search online to find the one most benificial to your needs, the rest is strictly money. How nice of a setup do you want, if I had the cash, I would spend a bunch on the best scanner/reader I could afford, but as it is, I will make do with the nice scanner I have.
    Old School Pontiac Man- Rich Carbs, Burning eyes, No Traction..Ah the good ole days!!!

    Speed is just a question of money!!!
    How fast do you want to go?
    Reply With Quote  
     

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