Hey everybody didnt see any posts regarding my problem so here it goes.
I have a 1997 suzuki sidekick sport 1.8l and 108k. Some months ago the car started having a rough idle. When ever i came to a stop light the rpm would fluctuate up and down and the car would almost stall out. It progressively got worse and the car did start stalling when at a stop. During one of the rough idling episodes i decided to turn off the car, wait for the stop light to turn green, then turn it back on. But when i went to turn on the car, it wouldnt turn on, in fact not even the dash lights light up. So i called toyota service (they do suzuki's in hawaii), and had them check it out. Turns out during all the rough idling shaking a hose had come loose and spilled ( i think power steerin fluid) all over the alternator, which fried it and i ended up running the battery dry. They also told me my computer was fried. Had all of that replaced and the car turned on but still rough idle. They told to change maf, did and no change, then iac, did also and no change, then they had the nerve to tell me that the whole throttle body had to be changed. I argued they gave me the run around, so i jus paid and got out of there.
I went for a 2 month trip, and while i was gone my friends was using my car. Turns out a oil leak started and the engine ran with very low oil for a while. I came home it was running horribly. Took the engine apart saw that a couple of piston rings were broken and had scratched up the cylindes. Had machine shop hone cylinders, install oversize pistons, and check head. Got everything checked and ready and put it back together. Car is running alot better almost to full power, but now the rough idling returned.
I cleaned egr valve, checked for vacuum leaks the propane method didnt find any( first time doing it so i am not sure if i did a good job at it). But visually inspecting all hoses look good ( no cracks). There was a crack on exhaust manifold and i put thermosteel on it. Seems to be holding and i cant feel and hear any air coming out. I did notice that at first car runs great and no rough idling, but once it warms up the problems start. Also when i reset the ecm things get realy bad.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, i have been trying to figure this out on my own without going to costly mechanics. Also the ecm pulls up a p0171 code, and a p0420 code but i dont have a catalytic converter so it think that is why.
i checked the voltage for o2 sensor and had a constant reading below .45V, which in the haynes book says it is defective. but when i really gas the car i shoots up to .8V. So i am thinking it is not defective but i just get a constant reading below .45V because the mixture is lean. right? and therefore i am getting the p0171 code.
Also since no codes for any of the sensors are coming up it is safe to say that they are working?
anyways hope somebody can help thanks
Julius
