Well I changed my head gasket about 4months ago, and ever since then my car has been dying alot. Whenever im cruising and I take it out of gear, the rpms drop all the way down and die. I have no CELS. This doesnt always happen, but I'd say 3 out of 4 times it dies. It gets really frustrating because sometimes i try to keep it from dying, and paying attention to the road at the same time. I find my self, braking and reving back and forth to keep it running.

When it dies, it takes a few seconds for it to start back up. Also, at the same time this was happening, my car had a really bad stutter/hesitation when i accelerate in all gears. Then one day, i bottomed out and I accidentally smashed my o2 sensor and my CEL came on and the hesitation stopped. I assumed it was a bad o2 sensor so i just replaced it last week.

So last night i was crusing and the studdering/hesitation **** started happening again.
Its pretty ******* annoying, because now i have to worry about my car dying and now accelerating. The studdering only happens every now and then though. So as of right now i have NO CELS, already is already checked.

Cliffnotes: car dies when taking out of gear 3 out of 4 times, car studders/hesitates when o2 sensor is hooked up and no CEL. When o2 sensor is damage and CEL is on studdering goes away.

PS: i have a little bit of a head gasket leak, but I dont see how that would change if an o2 sensor is hooked up or not

On the evap purge solenoid, there was a roudn black cap on it, but I lost it when i changed my head gasket, so i capped it off with a regular vacuum cap. I think that might affect some of my problems. Heres a pic of it, right now its capped off.

 

it could be your valve lash settings,

i forget which one it was, but it could be either too loose or too tight that is causing the motor to die. Mine did the same thing

 

I had a situation like that with my old car(civic) and it ended up being the MAP sensor. Same exact symptoms and for some reason my CEL didn't come on either.

Just a thought in case all else fails

 

if it was a bad MAP sensor then u might probably run n extremely rich. check ur spark plugs to see if they are black. also double check the tiiming on the timing belt to make sure they are set proper after u did the headgasket install.
http://www.c-speedracing.com/h...t.php

check the timing on the distributor as well.

 

Im running good, my spark plugs are gray. Ive already checked my timing and it is dead on. My distributor doesnt move... heh. Also Im pretty sure my valves are adjusted right on, they tick a little bit, but not much

 

i would suggest do n a quick tune up on the motor like new plugs and wires.
what does ur car idle at?

 

i put new plugs, cap and rotor, but not the wires yet. the car idles at 800-900ish warm, when it does actually idle.

 

Check your valve lash, that seems the be the problem.

 

are there any DTCs? if so, what are they?
like the guy above said, i'd check valve clearance. but like the other guy said, your plugs and wires... no way. that's bs.
check the DTC's, check the valve clearance, and if anything, make them looser than normal... rason being, everyone has their own feel when they adjust valves. if you go to the looser side of the specs, you should be alright.
after that, if that didn't fix the problem, i'd do the factory procedure for testing the map sensor, and also look into your ECT. especially if you have a leaking headgasket, if the ECT is getting a whack reading, it would be dumping fuel, which in turn would make the O2 take a ****.

keep us updated. any questions, PM me.

 

what is a DTC? I'll try to find some time to readjust my valves, and ill keep u updated. thanks for the suggestions

 

dtc is the same thing as cel, or an ecu code.

i say dtc because i am a dealership technician, and that's what everyone else says. dtc stands for diagnostic trouble code.
cel is check engine light.
ecu is engine control unit.

 

It only does it once in a while through out the powerband, and sometimes it'll die when you're not in gear right?

I had the same problem, I did a valve adj and everything problem still remained.

Its the map, take it off clean it w/ air nozzle and replace if problem remains try a new map sensor.

 

i have no cels, i put fuel injector cleaner in my tank the otehr week and it hasnt studdered since. It still dies alot though, ill try everything you guys said

 

I am a trial user but do you still have the vafc if so I will take it. Send me an e-mail at Petenmaggie@msn.com.