Hello All,

I have been a ralliart owner for a couple of year, and in fact this is ralliart number two that is in question here. I have had an intermittent P0171 code on the car, and I had chalked it up to the MAF being zip tied to the SRI (Not My Doing). The car would run fine, and would idle up slowly to around 1500 RPMS if it sat running for more that 3 minutes and the light would kick on. Well today the light was off, and I drove it about a mile to the garden, watered the garden and got back in the car...Started it and as soon as the car found first gear the CEL light came on, but this time it was different. The car lost like 80 HP, and ran kind of rough. I went home and reset the code. The next start was terrible... The engine would turn over, but would not start without giving the car gas, and lots of it.... The car had even less to give now so I babied the living hell out of it. I was smart enough to keep the OBDII tool connected to the car while running it. THE MAF readings were bouncing everywhere, but what got me was that at 60mph the bank one o2 sensor was reading 0.02...I had been expecting the car to do something of the sort so I went ahead and change the MAF with one that I new worked. Same part number and all. I reset the computer by disconnecting the negative battery cable and putting the car into learn mode. Upon tiding up I went to start the car and it took a terribly long time to get it started. But once it started it ran absolutely terrible and died after about third seconds, so I disconnected the MAF and did a dry start without it connected, same result run for thirty second, and then shutter to death as the RPMS drop. If I give it gas it floods and dies faster.... The car is parked in a safe place, but I absolutely need it running. Also the o2 Readings for bank one after the reset was 0.00 and the fuel system was listed as open. I need some serious help with this one...

Thanks in advance guys...

 

The car runs with the MAF unplugged, but if the gas pedal is touched it shuts off... While the MAF is unplugged the car runs at .68v on bank one o2 sensor, has calculated load at 100%

 

at first it sounded like limp mode...and please don't run the engine without a MAF...

how long did you unplug the battery for? and it was running completely fine with the old MAF?

 

It was running terrible with the old MAF, and the MAF voltage was bouncing badly! with either MAF it will only run for about 30 seconds and it will run terribly and then die. Battery was undone for about 30 seconds

 

Left the battery unplugged over night. checked the car for vaccumm leaks and found nothing. I replace the SRI, and made sure there were no air leaks there. Has a loud buzzing from throttle body now when the key is in the on position. Still the same issue though, the car will crank run terribly for a couple of seconds and then shut off....

 

I also have that buzzing sound coming from the TB when the key to the ON position. I've heard its normal and nothing to worry about.

 

I figured it was normal, but worth noting any how... Still in dire need of help.

 

ok, so it's not the MAF, unless the harness or connector is damaged...can you get a video of the buzzing noise? also, take the intake off, don't start the car but put it in the on position, you should here a chime, and a clicking noise for a few seconds or so, then it should stop. move the APPS ( springy sensor that throttle cable attach to) and look at the throttle valve, slow and fast, the throttle should follow what you do with the sensor (or gas pedal) can you keep it running if you apply throttle? and is 0171 still set?

 

If I give it gas it floods and shuts off.... The buzzing noise is coming from underneath the throttle body on the throttle position sensor... will check it later tonight as the car is not at my home... I'm beginning to think its bad gas from the night before. I add $20 in gas the night before when it was already at about half a tank then drove it like 40 miles (went fishing) and the problems started the next morning.... I will check the APPS tomorrow morning and then drain the tank and replace the fuel filter, bleed the lines and then put about$5 worth of premium in it. then try to start it again....

 

The code is gone because of the ECU reset

 

Ok, so checked what you asked me too, that works fine. Pulled the fuel pump today and have two problems that I have found.... The rubber grommet to the fuel pump on the outlet side was split and cracked, and I found what looked like to me to be belly button lint attached to the filter that looks like a bag on the receiver side. Going to replace the pump and filter and try to start it again. probably next week.

 

that was my next step...was the fuel system.

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE:::

Checked the plugs since the car is down. Came up with very black plugs, and not the hyper white you normally get with a lean condition. So my next steps are replace the regulator the pump, and the filter. Going to replace the injectors, orings, and insulators. Going to add a fuel pressure gauge that constantly reads in the cabin. Here is the important part. The ECU say LEAN but the plugs say rich. There are only a few cause that I know of for this scenario fried psiton rings bad egr or bad bank one o2 sensor.... any thoughts... definitely taking the car to be compression tested though it will still start and run for a few seconds.

Any advice?

 

yeah was thinking maybe it jumped timing, but it's a pretty big job to verify valve timing...


before you changed the MAF it would stay running, right? it was just very rough? what i wouldn't bother with injectors and pump...you're just throwing money at ideas, you don't even know the problem...if you need it fixed ASAP and you're not doing the work yourself, why not just take it to a garage?

 

The stuff I am replacing I am replacing with better than stock. IE 255lb pump, bigger injectors, thicker O-rings, Better Insulators. I haven't thrown any money out at it yet to fix the problem, and I am doing the work myself. Bought the car as a project, but was using it out of necessity. I'm still in the process of trouble shooting the car, and I have liberated another car for the duration of the fix on the RA. The P0171 was an intermittent problem, and the car started idling high after about five minutes of sitting still on a regular basis. The problem that is causing it not to run started that day, and it never gave me a code for what ever is wrong with it that caused it to start acting stupid. Under an assumption Changed the MAF with one from my old supercharged RA.

It began with a huge loss in power from the car, but ran and idled fine. Normally I would have parked it, but I needed it that day. The next start took a very long time. Had to give it gas to start it. Plugged in the OBDII tool and datalogged the car, at constant speed the MAF was bouncing, and the car would run off the charts lean 0.2 - 0.4 volts even with the huge loss in power. under acceleration the car would surge, come off the gas and it would idle down fine. Brought it to my other house because the problem gradually got worse. Parked it and Changed the MAF. Upon the ECU reset the car would not run correct. It would start run terribly for a few seconds and then die, unplug the MAF to see if the car would run. The car would run longer, but would still die. This makes me think there is a physical problem. Checked the vacuum lines no issues, replaced the intake so that no air can leak between the MAF and the throttle body. Still no results. Now, I am in the process of checking the fuel system. Once I get the car running again, I plan on putting a tune on it with the SMT-6 I have. I have a lot of experience with these cars, but I have never had an issue with one like this where the problem isn't obvious. I'm afraid I am going to have to take a multimeter to everything because the ECU was reading that the car was terribly lean, but the spark plugs have a dead give away that the car is very rich. This is why it needs a compression test. because if the piston rings are fried or have leaked it will show up the same way. If the Injector O-rings are gone the lean condition is false and the ECU adds more gas. This causes a rich environment under load, but a very lean condition at cruise or idle. But neither explain why the car isn't running. So, I am going add fuel pressure gauge to the car instead buying a tool just to check it. This will allow me to constantly monitor the fuel pressure to see if there is an issue with the fuel pump/regulator before I replace it, going to replace the injector o-rings because it is a known problem with these cars that causes the p0171. Kind of like the heater knob issue...