Yo there.
Yesterday I was getting back from the grocery when my IDLE became pretty rough.
The engine didn't stall but it was amazing how nuts the RPM gauge on the cluster performed. I pulled over for a moment and when I tried to get back to the street the car was completely out for power. As the 1st shift was engaged, the car kept jumping like a mad horse but the engine itself never shut off. There was also a strong smell coming from the engine bay, at first it felt like solvent (?) but now I guess it was just unburnt fuel.
Today morining I started the car and the problem was gone (?). Of course that was not enough to me so I kept rev'ing up the engine until the problem got back. This is what I was able to capture:
You can clearly see around 08s that I almost took the TBI to WOT but the RPMs couldn't follow it up. Then the IDLE became nuts again but the engine never stalled.
At first I was considering my ICM was gone as it seems to be a pretty common issue on the AEBs. A complete scan on VCDs now lets me believe that the MAF is the real culprit, though:
These results seem to be pretty obvious as the MAF sensors seem to freeze and make the ECU crazy as is tries to set the right amount of fuel for that amount of "air" which is fake. That's what makes the RPM so nuts according to my theory.
Right NOW, as I need the car running ASAP, may I just unplug the MAF to force the ECU work on a "default" mode? This will probably reduce my mileage as the car would run on much richer standard. My fear is that this could damage the engine or even the catalytic converter on short term.
At first I considered that cleaning the MAF could bring me some improvements but considering that the values are LOCKED (frozen) on negative values I'm pretty sure the unit needs to be replaced.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
Yesterday I was getting back from the grocery when my IDLE became pretty rough.
The engine didn't stall but it was amazing how nuts the RPM gauge on the cluster performed. I pulled over for a moment and when I tried to get back to the street the car was completely out for power. As the 1st shift was engaged, the car kept jumping like a mad horse but the engine itself never shut off. There was also a strong smell coming from the engine bay, at first it felt like solvent (?) but now I guess it was just unburnt fuel.
Today morining I started the car and the problem was gone (?). Of course that was not enough to me so I kept rev'ing up the engine until the problem got back. This is what I was able to capture:
You can clearly see around 08s that I almost took the TBI to WOT but the RPMs couldn't follow it up. Then the IDLE became nuts again but the engine never stalled.
At first I was considering my ICM was gone as it seems to be a pretty common issue on the AEBs. A complete scan on VCDs now lets me believe that the MAF is the real culprit, though:
I was able to LOG both scenarios, first when the IDLE was nice (which I called healthy moments) and later the poor IDLE time which I called unhealthy moments. These are the graphics from Excel:VCDS Lite said:
These results seem to be pretty obvious as the MAF sensors seem to freeze and make the ECU crazy as is tries to set the right amount of fuel for that amount of "air" which is fake. That's what makes the RPM so nuts according to my theory.
Right NOW, as I need the car running ASAP, may I just unplug the MAF to force the ECU work on a "default" mode? This will probably reduce my mileage as the car would run on much richer standard. My fear is that this could damage the engine or even the catalytic converter on short term.
At first I considered that cleaning the MAF could bring me some improvements but considering that the values are LOCKED (frozen) on negative values I'm pretty sure the unit needs to be replaced.
Any suggestions? Thanks!