Looking for help here guys ! The dealership is yet to figure this one out ! I need some help and input on this 'cause I'm about to sell my Sunfire and a freakin KIA Spectra 5 !!
My car is an 03 Sunfire with 5 speed transaxle, a/c, tilt and cruise control. The ONLY relevant mods I've done that could even remotely relate to a driveability issue are a Stant locking gas cap, NGK Iridium TR55 IX plugs and a MagnaFlow catback exhaust system.
The problem has been present since day 1, before ANY mods. I have changed out my gas cap and gone back to stock, no difference. The problem was there before the exhaust upgrade, and before the plug change, so I think all these are dead issues. The dealer has flashed the PCM 3 times now in an attempt to resolve the issue. The last flash done supposedly fixed and EGR mapping issue, and the car seemed better for a time, until it popped up again, and has proceeded to get progressively worse and more frequent ! I've had a PCM snapshot tool fitted to no avail or use !
What I nave noticed ( as an ex-mechanic ... ) is when the problem initially occurs, I get a strong sulphur smell, indicating if I recall correctly, an over-rich fuel condition thru the catalytic converter. The next is that the car's performance like someone yanked a plug wire off ! The car starts to idle erratically ( hunts up to about 1300 rpm and then drops to about 800 and back up, then down ... ) and if you are driving and let off the gas, squash it a bit and let off again ( like you had some indecisive putz trying to decide where to turn ahead of you ...) the car bucks and lurches badly ! The problem seems irrelevant to outside air temp, humidity ( raining or dry outside), engine temp, whether a/c is on or off, or the gear it's in at the time.
Even though the NGK catalog doesn't show the NGK TR55 IX as fitting the car, the reach and approximate heat range *appeared* to be fine ! At the time I got them free from our NGK rep, there wasn't even a listing for the '03 Ecotec's ! This is about the only thing I can come up with in the stuff I've done that could be of relevance ! methinks I'll call NGK enginners tomorry ... see what they have to say ! And then of course I'll have to see what they find at the dealer !
Put everything back to stock save for the exhaust and see if that helps. What you need to do is get an Autotap, a Helms manual, and a passenger willing to help and drive the car and monitor the laptop and Autotap to figure out what is going on under load.
there are some recalls for the 03 models, too. If you haven't done the recalls yet I would check with the dealer.
my car did that then my car became undrivable and i found out my cat got clogged
I noticed that my cat since day one has had that smell and now it is starting to lurch like that if I try to floor it from 800-2000 RPM's. I used fuel system cleaner and a higher octane and it went away for a day but has come back but not as bad. I also noticed that my 1/4mi time are not as fast as the avg. of what the times people are running also. I know that the cat has atleast a 80K mi warr. on them by the gov. Maybe that is our problem?
Quote: no ofence man but if you have so much experience in all that why does your car look like crap?
I kinda have the same problem with mine, but I havent noticed any smell. Sometimes i will come out of gear to a stop, and my idle sinks to about 500 rpms or less. On rare occasions, it will stall out. It doesnt do this all the time but it is a concern. Other times, coming to a stop, my rpms jump up to anywhere between 1500 and 3000 rpms. So I try and pull on the gas pedal to see if its stuck, but it is not. Nice way to burn fuel. Had this problem shortly after I bought the car. It only had 54 kms on it. Since then i have put on an intake, cat back exhaust and a bigger throttle body. These problems still occur, but they are getting rarer.
Mat your computer needs to be flashed again. They have a bulliten about that at the dealer for the dropping RPM when comming to a stop. the jumping up rpm's? I'm waiting for them to get rid of Echeck here in ohio then i'm going to hallow the cat out if the can't replace it under the FED warrenty for cats.
Quote: no ofence man but if you have so much experience in all that why does your car look like crap?
I heard that there was a reflash recall but wasnt sure what it was about. trying to stay away from dealership as much as possible cause they are bastards and wont fix my wheel bearing cause there is not enough play in it. mean while i can hear a lovely grinding noise while turning at 60+ kms. I am a mechanic, i know exactly what is wrong, but apparently your tire has to be falling off for them to fix it. So much for customer relations. Thanks a lot though yellowcavalier
atleast your header isn't on the rack an pinion after doing a clutch install heating up the fluid making the car stearing not stable going around corners! Bearings suck!
Quote: no ofence man but if you have so much experience in all that why does your car look like crap?
Did you change your stock cat? A sulfur smell from the exhaust sometimes means the cat is going bad.
At the Saturn dealership that I work at, we have come across some problems with ecotecs.
1. Maybe 1 of every 10,000 ecotecs have a bad head. There are porous issues (small holes) in the aluminum of the head that causes serious leaks. (my ratio my not be right, but we have replaced 2 ecotec heads already in 4 months time)
2. A more generalized problem, is that the position 1 O2 sensor goes bad alot.
Mine has benn stinky since I bought it new with 7 miles on it. I'm going to buy a cat back down the road.
Quote: no ofence man but if you have so much experience in all that why does your car look like crap?
This might sound stupid, but i get a stinky exhaust smell every time i use texaco gas. But it only does it on the texaco fuel.
