has anyone else had this problem, or know what it could be??
has anyone else had this problem, or know what it could be??
my friends evo keeps blowing one of the 20 amp fuses to the engine when the car is put into gear. it started out innocently enough with the notorious "service engine soon ' light coming on at a stop light. Seeing as how this is the norm for us '03 guys, my friend shrugged it off, and continued on his journey to the bank. It was at the next stop light that when the car was put into gear, the engine simply died. It would crank, but would not turn over. So, we towed it to the dealership where, after a long day of attempting to pull codes for fun, they finally determined that 1:a 20 amp engine fuse had blown and 2: the cause had to be his aftermarket gauges which have been in his car since day two (by the way, he's had the car since February).
After having wasted a day without his car, and having to pay to have all of this done, he headed home to have his car do it again not five minutes down the road. So we said "hmm, lets disconnect the gauges and see if that helps." Results: not good. The problem only seems to be getting worse. The car starts just fine with a new fuse in, it idles normal and forever, but once it is put into ANY gear, that same fuse pops even before the clutch is released.
Has anybody ever heard of such a thing or have any insight as to what is going on??
After having wasted a day without his car, and having to pay to have all of this done, he headed home to have his car do it again not five minutes down the road. So we said "hmm, lets disconnect the gauges and see if that helps." Results: not good. The problem only seems to be getting worse. The car starts just fine with a new fuse in, it idles normal and forever, but once it is put into ANY gear, that same fuse pops even before the clutch is released.
Has anybody ever heard of such a thing or have any insight as to what is going on??
UPDATE:
THE PROBLEM: My friend installed his exhaust, downpipe, and cat-delete pipe two weeks before the problem occured. He used his stock o2 sensor but put a spacer on it so his ecu wouldn't throw a code. The problem was that the spacer was too big putting his o2 sensor too close to the undercarriage of the car, thus it would tap everytime he accellerated. This tapping caused the wire to become exposed and frayed, and eventually the sensor would ground itself out given the right conditions which explained the intermittent blowing of the same fuse.
THE SOLUTION: His spacer was removed, cut down to half it's original size, and re-installed. This allowed adequate space for the sensor to move. His wires were simply spliced and soldered together where the fraying occurred. His car has since had no problems.
RECOMMENDATIONS: For those of you out there considering modifying your exhaust, he purchased a HELIX cat delete pipe. There are two models. One keeps the o2 sensor in it's stock location, the other moves it entirely. The latter one requires you to add more wire to the sensor to allow it to reach. The first on requires you to use a spacer. I recommend that no matter which one you use, make sure you either A: Know what you're doing or B: Have a professional do it for you. It'll save you a lot of headache and two days of exploratory probing of your vehicle.
THE PROBLEM: My friend installed his exhaust, downpipe, and cat-delete pipe two weeks before the problem occured. He used his stock o2 sensor but put a spacer on it so his ecu wouldn't throw a code. The problem was that the spacer was too big putting his o2 sensor too close to the undercarriage of the car, thus it would tap everytime he accellerated. This tapping caused the wire to become exposed and frayed, and eventually the sensor would ground itself out given the right conditions which explained the intermittent blowing of the same fuse.
THE SOLUTION: His spacer was removed, cut down to half it's original size, and re-installed. This allowed adequate space for the sensor to move. His wires were simply spliced and soldered together where the fraying occurred. His car has since had no problems.
RECOMMENDATIONS: For those of you out there considering modifying your exhaust, he purchased a HELIX cat delete pipe. There are two models. One keeps the o2 sensor in it's stock location, the other moves it entirely. The latter one requires you to add more wire to the sensor to allow it to reach. The first on requires you to use a spacer. I recommend that no matter which one you use, make sure you either A: Know what you're doing or B: Have a professional do it for you. It'll save you a lot of headache and two days of exploratory probing of your vehicle.
did cutting the spacer to half its size work as far as eliminating the ses code? i noticed the same problem when i installed the mechanical fix and modified the exhaust so that it would have enough clearance for the spacer and o2 sensor. i wasnt sure if reducing the length of the spacer would eliminate the code or not.
seems to. It's been about a month, and we've had no problems so far. Also, some places actually sell an appropriate sized spacer. Gruppe-s told us that the found theirs at their local Home Depot. However, we weren't able to find it here in Colorado (which is why he used the wrong sized one to begin with). Check out your local hardware stores and see what you can find.
mine is working just fine. i was just curious if it could be shortened or not. i used the spark plug anti-fouler fix. i wondered if you could get away with using one instead of two but im thinking that it wouldnt provide enough depth for the sensor.