Cascade Crew

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

Working on getting my kids 89 V6 road worthy. heres the Skinny. CArs been sitting for 2+ years. been through 2 tanks of gas since. has been running fine. replaced radiator/fan and tranny lines. Now im getting codes 42 EST Singnal... Wiring seems to be good 34 MAF signal low... tried 2 other known good used MAF sensors. and 45. exhaust rich... Other issues are the guages are all over the place, no steady readings. Idles fine will rev in neutral just fine. but put the car in drive and it dies. The idle does degrade the warmer the car gets. I'm leaning towards the ECM, mainly because of the guage issue. I still havent checked all of the ground connections or looked under the distributor cap. I guess it could be a dizzy module as well.

Any ideas ??? Ewwwww

chevymad · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject:

Ecm has nothing to do with the gauges, seperate systems. The code 42 will pop up if you've recently timed the engine. Try the maf relays for the maf code.. see what happens. Wouldnt worry about the rich code until you get the car running right. It will probably cure itself.

aaron_sK · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 8:14 pm Post subject:

VSS working correctly? Bad VSS signal will cause crappy timing (thus the rich condition), and a high idle that creeps higher.

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

I cant even get the car out of the driveway. it dies as soon as its put in gear. The fuel pump growls like a b**ch. I left my pressure tester in Denver. Might have to replace it.

iansane · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:52 am Post subject:

Sorry no great input here but you can swing by and borrow my fuel pressure tester if you need to?

91RSVert · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:56 am Post subject:

You get a code 42 whenever you set the timing right?

Have you checked the pickup coil? the v6 I got had sat a while and the pickup coil corroded over and gave some wigged out readings.

Spikeophant · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 1:31 pm Post subject:

Not to thread jack, just a quick question on that code 45, I get it as well, I have a v8 car, and I know my vss has issues, I get a short circuit, car dies at idle, doesn't feel like it advances right, etc, is that my likely culprit?

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

Okay got rid of the EST problem. Seems previous owner replaced the ign module in dizzy and didnt use any heatsink grease. pretty much cooked the what looked like a new module. Now i have codes for both high and low MAF.( codes 33&34) Im going to replace both relays P/N 10094701 and 10067925. for the MAF sensor and MAF burnoff. going to order from gm parts direct. I dont want to use aftermarket relays. will check spark plugs tomorrow. was at least able to drive car around the block, wouldnt trust it very far...

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

ok.. car doesnt use a burnoff relay, MAF uses a film not a wire. still swapped around relays i had in my box.. no help. plugs and wires next. ANd will still check fuel pressure. never had a problem child like this..

aaron_sK · Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: update

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

Borrowed a fuel Pressure guage ( thanks iansane ) Its not the fuel pressure. It reads a steady 50 pounds and only drops to 43 to 45 on heavy throttle. I think the champion plugs have got to go never have liked them. ( why doesnt autozone carry AC Delco?) . Plugs, Wires and cap&rotor next. The pickup coil is pretty rusty, does anybody know what problems that would cause??

chevymad · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 4:43 pm Post subject:

It's the original signal for both the injectors and the ignition, so it can cause all kinds of wacko things when its screwed up. Also the trigger wheel that is part of the distributor shaft is known to either crack, crumble or fly apart. If its cracked that will cause an extra signal to the ecm and ignition. You can replace just the shaft, but I know at napa the shaft is more then a complete distributor including pickup and module.

aaron_sK · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 4:47 pm Post subject: Re: Fuel pressure

chevymad · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject:

Pretty much any regular copper core plug except champion or bosch and you're golden.

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

Picked up up the AC delco r43 plugs and and new pickup coil. will pull the dizzy and replace the pickup coil. I'll take the shaft to work and have the upper part bead blasted to clean it up. should be good as new. BTW this is a 2.8 v6 MPFI . pulled all the plugs and 2 of them reaked of fuel... not burning so good. wires pretty much fell apart. Got my fingers crossed.. again.....

PS on a side note...The ground strap on the firewall passenger side is cut . where on the block does it get bolted... Im assuming its the bellhousing bolt. I cant find the other end. The original seems to have been cut in half and is currently not connected. ( might be the cause of some of the gremlins)

aaron_sK · Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: Thanks

Dv8 · Member Joined: 05 Mar 2010 Posts: 108 Location: Ruston WA

We rebuilt the dizzy. The old pickup coil was a mess, surprised that the car even ran. plugs,cap&rotor plus the ground strap. Started to leak fuel from the charcoal canister. Found that somebody had crossed the lines at the fuel tank. Now the fuel pump sounds great and no more fuel up front. Car now runs great.

chevymad · Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:21 pm Post subject:

Great news Mike. I'm not sure why the distributors from the 3d gen era seem to corrode so bad. The old large cap hei's.. they sometimes outlast the motor. These small cap units, I always seem to end up replacing the cap at least once a year.