Engine Losing Power

The cars been sitting for about 3 weeks now because I have been waiting on all the piping and what not for the cat delete, and replacing the flex piping on my muffler. Did a cat delete, got everything re-hung, and turns out it wasn't the cat, it just wasn't heating up as fast without the cat so I assumed that was what the problem was. Any other suggestions before I start pulling crap off to check the crank sensor?

Back when I put in the zzp style aluminum radiator, the coolant level sensor didn't fit but was broken trying to get it to work on the new radiator. Yet, when i'm driving, the temperature gauge goes up to max temp once the engine warms up, and the warning light comes on. Would that have anything to do with it? I drove the car for nearly a month with it doing that before it started losing power like this. Also, why does it still reading hot if that sensor isn't plugged in? Isn't it only a coolant level sensor, and not a coolant temp sensor?

Could it be that your engine is actually overheating? How do you know the temp gauge isn't right? Have you tried replacing the t-stat?

A bad cat could definitely cause that symptom.

Quote :

Did a cat delete,

AA wrote:

Could it be that your engine is actually overheating? How do you know the temp gauge isn't right? Have you tried replacing the t-stat?

I don't know it isn't right.. I thought the sensor was for coolant temp not coolant level, but drove it back and forth to work nearly a month.. 60 miles a day, i'm sure if it was overheating at max temp on the gauge, something would have failed sooner? I could try the t stat I guess.

A scanner could really come in handy here. If you are overheating, the engine will knock a lot. The PCM would then retard timing, which you would feel as a power drop. Just a theory. If the t-stat fixes it, you'll know that's what was happening.

Very scary stuff, imo. I wouldn't drive the car until you fix it. Overheating is #1 reason for engine failure.

How fast is the temp needle moving? heating up as normal, then getting hotter?

AA wrote:

A scanner could really come in handy here. If you are overheating, the engine will knock a lot. The PCM would then retard timing, which you would feel as a power drop. Just a theory. If the t-stat fixes it, you'll know that's what was happening.

Very scary stuff, imo. I wouldn't drive the car until you fix it. Overheating is #1 reason for engine failure.

How fast is the temp needle moving? heating up as normal, then getting hotter?

Yeah, it's not just going straight to hot when I turn the car on.

Replace the t-stat, then reset the PCM and see what happens. It it the original OEM unit?

Yeah it's the original oem stat still.

Seriously, don't drive the car another minute until you fix this. I'm surprised the engine still runs.

AA wrote:

Seriously, don't drive the car another minute until you fix this. I'm surprised the engine still runs.

Like I said earlier, it hasn't been moved until yesterday since it started happening, I drove it for about 5 minutes to my friends so I could do all the exhaust work. You can reset the pcm by disconnecting the battery right?

Yes, disconnecting for an hour or so should do it.

A 180º t-stat would be a good idea with your mods. Might as well get it out of the way.

Yeah, was just going to head that route. Man.. hopefully this is it, not having a drivable car is killing me.

Pick up some antifreeze and some shop towels. You'll lose a bit changing the t-stat.

I'll need the new gasket, but what about the o ring seal?

Reuse the rubber seal. Get the new gasket ($3).

I also forgot to mention that after sitting for 3 weeks a new problem occured. At first, I thought the battery was just dead, so we jumped it, and I let it charge for a good 5 minutes, drove it to my friends, got it on a charger, and I can't hold a charge. I thought it was my alternator at first, it tested 12v or so while running, I think they're supposed to be at 14? Anyways, I can't get it to autozone or anything to have it checked until it's running right. But after thinking about it more, could it have any link to the water pump? Has my water pump died which would explain the overheating, and a possible short which is draining my battery? Just a thought..

shouldn't be any relation between operating temp and electricity, IF you trust your operating temp to be accurate. Have you tried a mechanical temp gauge temporarily? Double-checked the wiring to the temp sending unit?

Your water pump will leak coolant when it's bearings start to go. It's an alert - when the bearings start to fail, they will leak coolant out of a weephole on the bottom of the water pump. It's your warning message to change the pump before the bearings fail.

If you had some kind of short that was draining the battery it could explain your odd temp readings.

If your battery was sucked dry for a few weeks by a short, it could be unrechargeable. It happens sometimes to older batteries. Try trickle charging it overnight to see if it can recharge.

Damn.. it's the alternator. We jumped it, disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, turned on my headlights and it stalled out.

Update:

I got the 180-t stat in last Thursday, put it in. Helped quite a bit, but I was still running a bit warm. I closer examined my radiator looking for leaks, and where we had plugged the coolant level sensor hole, there was about a pinhole sized leak around the seal we used. I pulled the radiator out and used a 1/2" oil plug (same thing as a freeze plug basically) to block the sensor gooseneck. Worked like a dream, leaks are gone. I flushed the radiator, filled it back up with dexcool, and bam. Running around 190-200 now. Thanks everyone for your input.

I finally bought a scan tool!!! Thanks a ton for the suggestions to my problem. I have tried everything including replacing the computer, I also replaced my oxygen sensor. It is running better, but i still have a rough idle when in gear (800) and a high idle when in park or nuetral (1300). Here are the codes I am getting;
P0171 Bank 1 System Too Lean
P0670 Quad driver module 4
I have replace all vaccum lines except the little elbow on the boost contral selenoid. Dealer is trying to find one. When the cruise is set and i start up a hill the car chuggs really hard, I have to back off and push the pedal a couple times to maintain speed. This is now my daily driver. any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
The car has 137,000 miles on it.

3800 fuel injted, severe lost of power when I give it gas, or excelorate up hills, replaced plugs, wires, and fuel filter !! Ideles kinda rough

AZANC1995 wrote:

3800 fuel injted, severe lost of power when I give it gas, or excelorate up hills, replaced plugs, wires, and fuel filter !! Ideles kinda rough

did you look at the other older postings to get some ideas about finding the problem, and if so what are you thinking it is?

if not, when might you start reading?

also please when you are looking at the other posts, you will see people put some details about their cars into their signature file, and if you do that too it gets *lots* easier to help you.

In the meantime here's the thing.

If you just got the car you probably need to catch up on all kinds of maintenance. Rivs do not like to be neglected and the wrenching can get expensive even if you are doing it yourself.

If you have had it a while there is stuff we can eliminate.

For instance you say you have new wires. There is a difference between wires that *Fit* versus wires that *work* - in general people have the best luck with the OE Delco wires, Taylors, Magnecors. Other wires sometimes are bad outta the box and sometimes just don't behave with the Riv's standard high-energy ignition.

Have you ever removed the injectors for cleaning? Maybe they are dirty and flooding the engine, which would give you loss of power when you try to accelerate.

Have you checked all the vacuum lines for leaks?

What kind of plugs did you use?

Do you know if you have any deficiencies in compression in any of the cylinders?

So yeah look at the older posts to get an idea of how people have solved problems similar to yours. Do some more diagnostics. If you plan on keeping the car a while then also now is a good time to shop for and buy a factory service manual, you'll need it.

And please post an update.

Albertj

" Have you ever removed the injectors for cleaning? Maybe they are dirty and flooding the engine, which would give you loss of power when you try to accelerate." It does produce a lot of
fumes going up hill, have to lower windows, burning in the eyes !!

]This sounds like the prob, how hard is it to remove and clean,,,Can I preform this my self,,, I am pretty good with tools, do I need any SPECIAL tools ![[/size]