need help, car dying again

well back to the same problem. my car is dying once again when no pressure is applied to the gas pedal. most of the time it will die. sometimes it'll struggle and keep itself alive. other times it'll idle at 500 rpm then raise and drop. the problem came back just yesterday. also around 2700 rpm, right before i shift, its as if the car is struggling. and sometimes during the lower gears when i dont step on gas the exhaust makes a noise. it kinda sounds like its suckin air? im not too sure how to describe it. this happens sometimes and sometimes it doesnt. it was also smoking. i dont know what color because it was at night and i just saw it from the headlights behind me. i dont really know what is wrong. does it seem like a o2 and tps sensor problem? i ordered/bought a tps sensor but its being shipped to autozone and should be there wednesday. then i bought a o2 sensor but its not fitting.

i know this is a dumb question, and i havent worked on a car. this is my first car. do i take off that bigger nut piece that fits into that hole onto the exhaust? the bosch one i bought doesnt screw onto the exhuast hole at all. its too small. but the one thats in there has like a bigger thing on it. that goes onto the hole.

yeah, put a wrench on the nut that screws into the manifold.

and first thing I thought of was o2.

brakes work?

Im sure if your car didn't have brakes you would ask about that, not an idle issue.

This seems to be a pretty common problem for 240s I would give your AIV a cleaning...I need to as well. heres a link to some info on it.

"I had been having what felt like clutch slippage, kind of cyclic bogging down, in low revs. Car didn't lack upper end, or bother on hills though. I went through the bother of getting to the AIV, removing the top, and rinsing it out with electrical contact cleaner (its what I had, as I was also degreasing All contacts). (my speedo still wonk work right.) On removing the top clamp, the valve unit, was stuck. Some gentle pulling released it. The valve had to be stuck to some degree. Clean, bolt it back up, no bogging. Engine breaking smooth again. I feel (without real evidence) that this could be an additonal idle-type problem. I did have the unit replaced prior due to catastropic engine stalling when pushing the clutch and breaking. The unit seems to be easy to clean. I feel silly now for having it repla$ed.

Idle problems should include: MAF, MAF connectors, AIV, AIV connectors...."

Quote from 240sx.org FAq's give that shot it seems to be what is the problem most often.

And heres instructructions form 240SX.org FAQ's as well

"The AIV is easy to do. We suggest NOT removing the whole assembly from the car. Just take a real hard look at it and find the 4- screws that hold the 2- halves together. Remove the small vacuum line to the top, the larger one, and take the 4- screws off. Pull the top half off and there is a kinda "cap" over the reeds. GENTLY pry the assembly out of the housing. There are 2-sets of reeds. We only did one at a time so we could see how they went back together. With a wire brush and a can of carb cleaner, all we had to supply was a little elbow grease."

brakes work?

doesnt really sound like a vacuum problem... also it prolly wouldnt be smoking if it was just a leak.

I'd say the MAF/AIV sensors, I'd also make sure you didn't blow the head gasket.(change your oil and look at the color(dark brown-black=Ok),If it looks like mud u blow the head)

Check two things: MAF and your distributor. The distributor can be off a tooth, mine was. It did the same thing. Same thing with my MAF now. Almost same problem. Struggles like my motor's boggin down in lower rpm range.

Im sure if your car didn't have brakes you would ask about that, not an idle issue.

i know when my car is outta brakes or not. maybe if theres a jackass sensor it will be going off right now.

what is a AIV?

air intake valve?

i know when my car is outta brakes or not. maybe if theres a jackass sensor it will be going off right now.


Goodjob almost understanding my post.

I was referring to lt1-power, but good effort trying to look e-cool. :disappoin

Goodjob almost understanding my post.

I was referring to lt1-power, but good effort trying to look e-cool. :disappoin


LT1 Power was asking about the brakes because brakes are vacuum assisted... so when that hose pops off or cracks your brakes wont work well (or atleast as they normally would) and neither will your engine.

and once agian... I doubt its a vacuum issue...

LT1 Power was asking about the brakes because brakes are vacuum assisted... so when that hose pops off or cracks your brakes wont work well (or atleast as they normally would) and neither will your engine.

and once agian... I doubt its a vacuum issue...


I realize this. But I suspect he would say something if his brakes didn't work at all.

put a resistor in the MAF sensor(the part with the wires)and run the car if its fine u know what the problem is. also tell us what color the smoke is.

I would bet its blackish smoke and its because he running rich.

what is a AIV?

air intake valve?


The aiv is located to the left of your power steering resivour. its that little black box. its job is to bring "unburnt" exhaust gases back into the intake system. Needs to be cleaned once in awhile, i cleaned mine a few months back with carb cleaner, and it was black as hell. lol
peace

oh yea, AIV stands for air intake valve
my bad

MY car had the exact same issues, and this is what i did to it. First check the injectors to make sure they are all working right. IF they are. whith the car running more the wires connected to the top of the injectors. The mechanic that i deal with told me that since the injectors on this car tend to go bad offen. the wires to the injector get loose. when people take the wires on and off to check the injectors. I know this might sound dumb. but for my car it worked. It would idle rough some time and sometimes it would be verry steady. Also when i was taking out of first gear, it felt like the manual trans was going or clutch. It would back fire at points. what i did was cut the injector connector wires from another car and just twisted them together. Again it is really easy to check. move the wires arround and if the changes the engines idle, you might have those connectors loose. after the wires were replaced the car drives great. You wount loose enything if you test it out. Let me know if it helps or not.

Before hacking away at your harness make sure the plugs are clean and have no corrosive build up.

i just changed the maf and the tps sensor today. it stopped struggling right before the shift point and no more smoke. but when i "test" drove it, it was dropping down to 200-300 rpm when i was letting the car roll. a couple times it just died when i was rolling at 45 mph. then it started to idle at 900 rpm when i was stopped at a sign. and sometimes it just dropped back down to 200-300 rpm.

i just got some car cleaner and sprayed the iav's black box and the metal thing connected to it by the hoses. i didnt take it out or anything. still trying to find a scrub so i can clean it with. what do you mean by cleaning the black box?

I have the same problem with my car..the smoke is white and comes from the exhaust...

i just changed the maf and the tps sensor today. it stopped struggling right before the shift point and no more smoke. but when i "test" drove it, it was dropping down to 200-300 rpm when i was letting the car roll. a couple times it just died when i was rolling at 45 mph. then it started to idle at 900 rpm when i was stopped at a sign. and sometimes it just dropped back down to 200-300 rpm.

i just got some car cleaner and sprayed the iav's black box and the metal thing connected to it by the hoses. i didnt take it out or anything. still trying to find a scrub so i can clean it with. what do you mean by cleaning the black box?



you have to take the AIV apart, and clean the inside. i think someone posted something about cleaning it, read this thread again. if you cant find it go to www.240sx.org click on FAQS, look for AIV servicing.
you used car cleaner? or was that a typo.
i used carb cleaner, tooth brush, and a rag to wipe.
good luck

check all the rubber hoses to you intake to, if one isnt plugged up right a lot can go wrong

put a resistor in the MAF sensor(the part with the wires)and run the car if its fine u know what the problem is. also tell us what color the smoke is.


no dont do this

Yea, a typo. I bought some carb cleaner. I read some people cleaned the black box. I was like wtf? Does cleaning the exterior help or something? Lol. Ill spray some carb cleaner on that metal piece that's right below it and scrub it clean then.