I am working on a pontiac bonneville. It starts very hard and when it does, it runs with a miss and runs quite rough and wont develop power. I had the three coil packs tested at autozone they said they were fine. The first time when I got it running the catylytic converter glowed so i thought it may be plugged. the second time it ran it didnt get hot (did it get hot the first time from a miss giving the cat. more unburned fuel that usual??) the second time I drove it and it had power for about three minutes, then it died.. Thanks for any ideas
2006-12-05 13:21:25 · 11 answers · asked by electricman2170 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Bad gas??
2006-12-05 13:24:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you test the "module" that those three coils sit on??? It can cause that trouble. However also the cam sensor on that engine which is simply a tiny magnet "clipped" on the cam gear that is read by a sensor on the outside of the timing cover. The magnets fall off into the motor after some years as the plastic clip holding them gets hard and dry and just crumbles to dust. You have to take the timing cover off to fix it as new clip and magnet won't fit through the access hole. That aside, there are many other things that can cause the trouble as well including weak fuel pump (just because it pumps doesn't mean that it is pumping enough pressure), crank sensors are notorious on these as well. AIr flow meter is you have one, and these engines also are prone to blow a piston and cause popping out the air breather. The catalytic converter glowing usually indicates that it is plugged up. It can also glow red though it the engine is running so badly that it dumps too much raw fuel down the exhaust. Still might unbolt the exhaust and run it to see if that is the problem. The idea of having power for a few minutes and stopping though sure leads back to the converter being the problem as they heat up and seal off under heat more than when cool. Take that exhaust loose and see what happens to the miss.
2006-12-05 13:27:33 · answer #2 · answered by mohavedesert 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What are the plugs and wires like
If one or more of the injectors are leaking down and flooding the cyls it will miss and dump gas into the cat. When the engine starts the gas will be burnt off super heating the cat. Could have melted the cat so now it does not work so second time it will not super heat no glow.This will also cause the no power as the cat is blocking the exhaust .Pull the plugs and inspect them for being wet or fowled then do a compression test and a injector leak down test.Hope I shed some light on what it could be. Good luck
2006-12-05 13:33:45 · answer #3 · answered by Rudedude 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure, but I know that if your converter turned red, it may have melted some internal parts and caused it to plug up. I don't know why the second time it ran well for 3 minutes and then died ? You don't mention if you tried to start it again with no success. You can do a little test to see if its plugged up. Have someone turn the key while you put your hand at the tail pipe, if you feel wind, its probably not plugged. Other than that I'm not sure. If the timing is off that will cause poor power and stall. Good luck.
2006-12-05 13:34:37 · answer #4 · answered by CLAUDE D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check your ignition system again and most likely your catalytic converter is already ruined from unburned fuel. Catalytic converter get red hot when you have bad misfiring. Good luck
2006-12-05 13:29:24 · answer #5 · answered by brian m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i own a repair shop,and it has a blown head gasket on it,,i just got one of these back together a few weeks ago and it did the same thing,,but when the cat -glowed on it that indicates a blown head gasket ,if you drove it any ,,you also warped the head on it also,,once it got red ,that was it,,its going to cost a few dollars to repair this one,, i spent around 700 to get the one i had going again,and the customer was pleased,but that's what has happened to it,,its a job to repair also,,the heads will have to be trued up,,or replaced on it,,good luck, with it,i hope this help,s.
2006-12-05 13:28:10 · answer #6 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this is a tuffy! it could just about be anything.bad intake manifold gasket,a plugged gas filter,vacuum leak(ie hose running to the map sensor) bad spark plugs.diesel fuel in tank instead of gas.
2006-12-05 13:37:42 · answer #7 · answered by Don O 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check / clean all connections. Don't waste time & money on " maybe this 'll fix it".Replace only what's bad. Look at dist. cap, coil, coil wire, etc. Good Luck =^ )
2016-05-22 22:48:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
sounds like lots of things. carbon build up on the pistons, timing off, bent vavles too much gas trying to burn, its a pontiac
2006-12-05 13:28:18 · answer #9 · answered by greg j 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tune up the gap of spark plugs may be off fire order out, if u have or u blown head gaskets
2006-12-05 13:45:00 · answer #10 · answered by Servant 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋