Hello all, I'd really appreciate your help. My problems started with a transmission that suddenly started not engaging. The car sat for a month while I located a decent tranny and had my honeymoon. Anyhow, after getting the brakes/rotors and transmission replaced I suddenly was getting CEL codes. I had a VSC ABS light on which I think is just a bad front right speed sensor. Any suggestions towards a replacement there?

The bigger issue was that there is also a Lean banks 1 + 2 codes. The car was getting horrible gas mileage, stuttering slightly at idle and low rpm ranges toward shift points, and also had bad smelling fumes. The transmission however seams to shift better than it ever did in my ownership. However, there is a small amount of fluid leaking. :-(

I tried checking vacuum lines and changing the MAF sensor with no luck. So, after maybe 400 miles, I went to start the car and it won't start. I can smell gas. The first time it seemed to turn and the engine chugged a couple times. Then the second time a little less, and now it doesn't respond to the ignition turning. I am really at a loss now. I have a mechanic friend looking at it, but he suspects a control module or coil packs, etc. I was thinking maybe a leak to the fuel injectors? A safety protecting the transmission? Or perhaps an ECU update after the transmission change? My friend is going to pull some spark plugs tomorrow and check if they are wet or burnt etc. He also has a scan tool, but I pulled the negative off the battery and now the lean codes and CEL are off.

There is a small exhaust leak in front of the rear 02 sensor, but I don't think that would prevent starting. The car is also a Canadian model. The replacement transmission was used, but supposed to have less than 50k on it sourced from Japan. That's all I can think of for now. I did a lot of searching and just seem to be lost. Thank you all so much for any input. I don't know people survived before forums like these!

--Tim

 

You have multiple problems listed here.

Transmission leak: Since had the repair done, I would suggest go back to the mechanic to see if the job was done right. When you separate the transmission from the engine, the rear seal should be replaced.


CEL & ABS: They can be both lit up and you may not have any problem with ABS .. so concentrate on getting the codes read. When you disconnect the battery, you loose all active codes, but after a short while you start getting Pending codes (which convert to active codes if they keep on accumulating).


Got those two issues resolved and then proceed to other items.

Salim

 

Thanks for the response, but I might not have been clear. The primary issue now is that the car will not start. We can smell gas/fumes, but I don't think it has a spark. It was running lean on banks 1 + 2, so I assume that has something to do with it. I also had the transmission replaced and hope that that has noting to do with it, but it very well might. The ABS/VSC issue is due to the speed sensor not responding. I can fix that. I only can't reproduce the CEL since I can no longer start the car.

 

So a quick update. The spark plugs are wet with gas, and they are getting a spark through the coil packs. So, I'm even more confused now. Could this be some kind of safety or module? Do you need a software flash after the transmission install? I still think it must have to do with the car running lean ever since the new transmission.

 

When you are in Park, transmission is practically out of the picture.

It is a matter of fuel, air, compression, valves, spark and timing.Were all the grounds connected back?

Another fact that escapes lots of folks is ,,,, when the ecu recognizes lean (through sensors), it reports lean and to compensate increase the gas/volume_of_air. So if the sensor was faulty (just one example), you get a reading that the mixture is lean, but inside the chamber it would be rich.

Confused? Think it over and will become clear.

Salim

 

I dont understand why the spark plugs would be covered in gas (obviously getting fuel) and with the sparkplug out of the cylinder and pushed into the coil, it is firing a nice bright spark. What is missing here? Air? What would cause a no start issue when you have fuel and spark? Also, the security light just turns out when you put the key in the ignition.

 

Timing?

Salim

 

Thanks Salim, I can understand this perfectly as the car was getting lean codes, but burning through gas like crazy and it was easy to smell the fumes. Anymore advice is greatly appreciated.

 

Mitchelltj,

I had a similar issue today with my 2002. It's only done this once, so I hope it doesn't lead to bigger issues. I started the car, it fired then died. Subsequent attempts during the next 5 minutes just had the engine turning over, but no firing. I could smell gas. I waited another 15 minutes and tried again. Engine fired, then ran rough for about a min, then smoothed out. From the smell, I think the cylinders were flooded. Subsequents restarts were normal. I did refill the gas tank the night before so maybe i got some bad gas or something. At this time maybe your cylinders are still flooded. I will check back to see what your issue was.

 

Holding down the gas pedal fully and crank the car should make it go into clear flood mode if you have flooded the engine from the numerous attempts to start the vehicle.

If there is spark and fuel, then its probably a compression issue; Try a compression test and if it doesn't hold compression I'm going to guess your valve timings are completely off.

Specs from AllData:
218psi max/ 145psi min; Should not have a difference higher than 15psi between each cylinder.

 

How could the timing be off from one day to the next? It was running with a slight miss and was running super rich out of the exhaust. Then it just quit starting all together.

 

I feel like a bad cam sensor could mess up the timing enough for it not to start. Or crank sensor, does that seem along the right lines?

 

bump, so anyone experience a similar problem? We're still not starting... If the transmission is out of the picture what else? The car was 100% until the transmission, then lean after the replacement although it sat for a month. Now it won't start. I did read somewhere that a software update might need to be done after the transmission replacement to better control the power train. Could this be true? And, that doesn't seem to explain a failure to start.

 

When some one works on the vehicle, there might be some collateral damage.

One has to go through the basics .. and do not make any assumptions ,,,,

Visual ... check for pinched wires, hanging connectors, twisted hoses, unconnected ground wires etc.Pending error codes.

Quality of fuel
Bad/clogged injectors
Air/filter
Spark
Vacuum
Timing (was that checked?)

You get to a point where you have to flat bed to a good mechanic.
IMHO you may be at a point where advice from the net will not locate the problem for you.

Salim

 

Fuel is getting to the cylinders, spark plugs are soaked. Getting great spark while cranking. Changed the MAF to a new one. Prior to the vehicle not running at all it was getting bad fuel mileage and the exhaust smelled rich with fuel. When turning it over you can also smell the fuel. What would cause the fuel to get into the cylinders and spark is sparking, but no detonation? Seem like it could be a timing issue to me. Would a bad crank sensor or cam sensor cause this? If so, how can I test them? Thanks!