ENGINE TROUBLE - Ple

[grandbonnevillecreature]

ENGINE TROUBLE - Please help!

I am having some trouble with my 1983 Bonneville. Please help! It runs just a little weak, and I can't figure out the problem. I am running an engine code 13 (O2 sensor) but I have replaced the sensor. I still get the code and it didn't seem to help any. I am thinking EGR problems or maybe a damaged charcoal canister (fuel vapor recovery.) My exhaust has a strong smell - I don't know if I would call it a gas-like smell, but it's pretty aweful. You could choke to death on it in short order. My Haynes manual says something about the "knock sensor" under the code 13. I think the problem may be this - I am not burning enough gas. Maybe the engine temp isn't right, maybe I'm supposed to be getting vapor from the canister or recycled exhaust gasses from the EGR, and I am not getting them, thus my engine suffers. I am NOT a mechanic of any kind, and I have no diagnostic tools. But my brother-in-law does, and if he has some idea where to start, we may be bale to lick this problem. Any advice is appreciated. The car has the 3.8 Buick V6 and has recently been tuned up including plugs, wires, rotor cap and button (or whatever it is called), fresh oil and filter, fresh air filter. To the best of my knowledge the EGR is original to the engine, which is originally from a 1978 Grand Prix. The car has the 1983 Bonneville electronically controled carbuarator. As I said, any help is appreciated!

Wes

 

[SBCregal]

Does the smell from the exhaust smell kinda like rotten eggs? If your O2 was bad and it ran rich for a long time, it could have wiped out the catalytic convertor

Ryan

 

[Arok]

Does the smell from the exhaust smell kinda like rotten eggs? If your O2 was bad and it ran rich for a long time, it could have wiped out the catalytic convertor

Ryan

right, and if the sensor in question is post-cat then that would explain why it still throws a code after replacement. I'm not familiar with enough to know how many or where the oxygen sonsors are. Shake your cat around and if you hear much debris rattling in there it's shot.

 

[grandbonnevillecreature]

Thanks for the responses! As far as the question as to odor, NO, it is not a rotten egg smell. It smells like normal exhaust except MUCH stronger. I really don't know how else to explain it. I know the rotten egg smell from my Celebrity (had a bad CAT) and this isn't the same (and it is a pre-cat O2). So what else will give you an O2 code? The guys at autozone say a stuck or faulty EGR can do it. I will be taking it off for a cleaning soon. When you squeeze the vacumm line coming off the egr, the motor runs better. Maybe it isn't opening and closing right. This car is a real pain, becaue the previous owner, when he switched the engines, didn't hook up ALOT of stuff. The coolant temp sensor or sending unit isn't connected, AC parts are missing, it has the wrong pulleys on the engine, etc. Despite all the trouble, I still love the car and want to get it right. Any help is appreciated. Thanks guys!!!

 

[Arok]

Does it smell like unburnt gasoline? You could be running rich and that would set an O2 code. Make sure your choke isn't staying on. If the carb is from 1978 it's probably time to rebuild it.

here's a decent guide to exhaust smoke that might help

http://64.78.42.182/sweethaven/MechTech ... 0&modNum=1

 

[grandbonnevillecreature]

There is, at the moment, a little whitenes to the smoke, and it may in fact be unburned gasoline. That is what I've been thinking. However, I am getting a code 42, which is spark timing related. I think I may have a cracked distibuter cap or a similar problem, because I think I'm running on five of six cylinders. Today I bought an EGR, and when we (my brother-in-law and myself) put on it, we're going to try to figure out what the code 42 is about and fix it too. This code 42 thing is very new, just became a problem this morning. Before that I only had the code 13 O2 sensor problem. Some times I want to shoot this car, but I think I'm close to getting it right. I'll keep my GBody peeps informed best I can. Again, all ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[SBCregal]

white smoke is generally not unburnt fuel... that tends to be more of a black smoke. White smoke generally means that the motor is burning some coolant.

Ryan

 

[grandbonnevillecreature]

I think it may be burning "steam." Let me explain - I have a leaky hose and heater core, and I think my carb is sucking in the steam and trying to burn it. This one time, I hope I'm right. Otherwise, that would probably mean a bad head gasket, wouldn't it?

 

[SBCregal]

Does the car overheat? how much coolant are you going through? i'd be suprised if the engine was sucking in the steam and trying to burn it. It is possible that you have a blown head gasket though..

Ryan

 

[grandbonnevillecreature]

I don't use much coolant at all, and I can account for most, if not all, of my lost coolant. Most of it is lost as steam, and one of the hoses to the heater core dribbles a tiny bit. Occassionally I have to add a little bit to the resovior, like maybe once every two weeks or so.