New Owner with a huge issue!

jim_jiminy · May 9, 2018, 11:28

Hi,

A new owner here of a pre-facelift 2000 MR-S - having some major issues!!

So after a few weeks of new ownership, having a major service and driving this fab car around for 3 weeks I have a HUGE problem.

The car now keeps stalling, is undrivable. Have to hold accelerator down just to keep it alive. It just wants to die, misfiring, idle speed is way way too low. It happened on Monday , after driving for an hour with no issues. Started the car and just kept stalling...I limped home having stalled at every Junction / roundabout.

Now when I start it, the accelerator response is like delayed / no effect. Car shaking and juddering, misfiring. The previous owner said it has been de-precatted.

Any ideas? I've cleaned the MAF, no change.

Could it be Idle control valve? Coil packs gone (the spark plugs were changed in major service and one in particular was in a terrible state) .... Throttle position sensor?

Many Thanks!

shnazzle · May 9, 2018, 11:50

This doesn't sound like a happy car.
The one spark plug in a bad way doesnt sound good.

Could be any number of things at this point. You need to get it hooked up to a JDM-compatible OBD2 reader to see if there are any codes that might give a better idea

Carolyn · May 9, 2018, 16:49

The following is courtesy of our member, HFB. It will let you use Torque Pro on your MR S so you can find out what's going on...

Step 1: go out and buy an OBD2 Bluetooth adapter. In this case, the one I purchased was this one from Amazon the Bafx PIC18F2480 - http://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-PIC18F...=obd2+bluetooth

Step 2: Purchase the 5$ app "Torque Pro" from the google play market for Android. (For you apple guys, the App Store does not have this exact app on there so I am unsure if any of the steps after this are valid) Any android powered tablet or phone should work here.

Step 3: Inside of the app you can create car profiles for different vehicles (This app is incredible and is by far the most useful thing I've ever bought as an app because this app and the adapter can be used on ANY obd2 car) In the vehicle profile at the bottom of the profile page is a line that says Very Advanced ELM327. There is a line in that section to add text. The following text should be added to that line:

ATIB 96 \n ATIIA 13 \n ATSH8213F0 \n ATSP4 \n 0100

Once that is complete, hit SAVE and go back into the app. The app is now configured to see the JDM ecu's (that code changed the searching frequencies and some other protocol stuff in the app to be able to read the JDM ecu's)

jim_jiminy · May 9, 2018, 17:07

Thanks, I just ordered one from amazon....should arrive tomorrow.

I'll post back with the readout!

Cheers.

Ardent · May 9, 2018, 18:12

where are you based

jim_jiminy · May 10, 2018, 09:06

Hi, I am in Amersham, Bucks.

jim_jiminy · May 10, 2018, 12:39

Quote from: shnazzle on May 9, 2018, 11:50
This doesn't sound like a happy car.
The one spark plug in a bad way doesnt sound good.

Could be any number of things at this point. You need to get it hooked up to a JDM-compatible OBD2 reader to see if there are any codes that might give a better idea

To be honest all of them were old, and the air filter was filthy! One in particular looked worse but wasn't like caked in oily black or anything. I'm thinking coil pack might have gone as working too hard, especially as spark plugs look like they haven't been changed in years and a filty air filter wouldn't have helped things.

Guess I'll find out this evening when I get my OB2 ELM reader.

m1tch · May 10, 2018, 13:33

Check for an air leak for any of the vacuum lines around the throttlebody - there is a line going from the evap tank which would cause a massive air leak if the pipe cracked or became disconnected, should be fairly easy to check.

shnazzle · May 10, 2018, 15:18

Good shout Mitch. That damn evap tube causes havoc and comes loose so easily.

jvanzyl · May 10, 2018, 16:32

Hey Jim,
I've just had a look at this thread and I'm just up the road from you (Kings Langley, but I work in Berko). Very happy to lend a hand if you need.

Cheers,

John

jim_jiminy · May 11, 2018, 10:13

Quote from: jvanzyl on May 10, 2018, 16:32
Hey Jim,
I've just had a look at this thread and I'm just up the road from you (Kings Langley, but I work in Berko). Very happy to lend a hand if you need.

Cheers,

John

Hi Wow that would be great!

I just moved from Kings Langley 2 months ago. If you are free over the weekend please let me know.

Regards,
Jim.

jim_jiminy · May 11, 2018, 10:16

Hi, so the latest is I checked for any loose hoses, couldn't see anything.

I also plugged in the ELM OBD and as I have an apple iPhone and not Android, I cant use Torque Pro. So I tried a Android emulator on my laptop but none support Bluetooth!

The apps available on iPhone do not connect to the ECU.

I',m borrowing a Andriod tablet later so should hopefully get some answers soon. Thanks for all the help!

shnazzle · May 11, 2018, 10:19

For iPhone torque will work fine if you use a WiFi adapter instead of Bluetooth.
Unless you get an expensive proprietary dongle.

Have you tried Dashcommand? It's almost as good and I'm decently sure you can put in that connection string for the JOBD

jvanzyl · May 11, 2018, 10:27

Hey Jim,
can't really do daytime as I'm looking after the family - however I'm usually free from about 8ish most evenings.
From reading the thread getting the obd scanner will tell you a lot - I'm willing to bet that it's going to be O2 sensor related...

Does the car start easily?

Send me a PM with your address and I'll drop by tomorrow night if it'd help.

Cheers,

John

jim_jiminy · May 11, 2018, 14:00

Hi! So I have an update....I don't know how I missed it TBH, but the main air hose was loose (near the MAF). I didn't hear it when inside the car! And didn't seem to check that! Doh!

It has lost it's suppleness so must of come off when I hit a pot hole or something! Re-attached done up tight and running nice now!!!

Thanks for all your help. Nice to know there's a place I can count on for advice.

And John, thanks so much for your kind offer. Might be nice to meet up anyway in next couple weeks can probably learn some vital info from u!

Cheers for now!

Carolyn · May 11, 2018, 16:52

'Just had a major service'.

That would include and air filter? Have to disconnect inlet hose to do that.

Just not tightened up properly and came off. Easily done!

Those inlet hoses are pretty tough, though and yours probably has plenty of life left in it. At some point a goodclean and something like Armour All will help it to last.

Glad you got a result. (Wasn't so 'huge' after all, was it?