I have a 2001 gsr and it was towed to my house, no start, and if you could get it to start it smokes pretty badly and then seems to clear up a little once it is warmed up. I did the following things in order.

1 I replaced plugs, cap, rotor, fuel filter
2 I cleaned and inspected the throttle plate
3 I checked the timing belt alignment, good
4 I checked the o2 sensor operation and it is good once the car is warmed up
5 I checked the fuel pressure, good, 46-56psi
6 I checked to see if the fuel injectors were leaking, they're not
7 I fired the injectors and verified a good spray pattern
8 I checked spark at the plug end of each wire and it looks great
9 I replaced the map sensor, no change
10 I checked the ignition timing and It was right on the dot
11 I replaced the distributor, no change
12 I re-checked the plug wire routing
13 I checked the TPS and the voltage is .46V - 4.2V WOT
14 I checked the coolant sensor readings from the ECU and they are perfect
15 I had found a main ground cable to the engine had been left off when it was in the body shop last year
16 I pulled the ECM out and checked for any ground problems
17 I checked the MAIN F/I relay and bypassed it, no change
18 I checked compression and it was 170-175 all the way across

Every time you try to start it it will foul the plugs and smoke like crazy. If you keep the revs up and get it warm it will run and idle by itsself, but it seems to have low power still.

Any help would be sweet before I spend 300 on a reman ECU


Modified by mecaneck77 at 7:52 AM 11/17/2007

 

which ecu is in the car right now?

 

Dont see why the ECU would be switched out. But it is a possibility. Check and make sure it is the right one. Too see if your ECU is bad or not. Turn your key to the ON position. Engine light should come on. Then off. If it does go off its not your ECU.
Have you checked for codes?

 

There are no codes, unless you try to drive it when it is cold. Then it will set a p0300, which is a pending misfire code. But that is it. And you can feel it missing and running rough so the code is caused by the rough running/ hard starting. This is also affecting all cylinders. All four plugs look the same when you pull them out. All fouled up. This is definatly a mixture problem, but I checked the three sensors that are responsible for the main fuel strategy (map, coolant, throttle).

I don't think the O2 sensors would affect the intial start up and warm up cycles. Unless someone out there knows more about these systems? Could it be a bad O2???????

 

bump

 

could it be a really badly clogged cat?

 

The SHELL gas stations in the San Mateo and Burlingame areas had put diesel into their underground gasoline storage tanks. Apparently not enough to completely stall the car but enough to foul the plugs and cause it no to start when cold. This caused all of the problems with the car. Now it is time to see if I can get some payback for the time/money spent fixing this thing.

Who would have guessed.......BAD GAS

 

Have you checked the IACV?
Did you use the white timing mark to find TDC for the timing belt alignment?
Have you set the base idle for the car? (You need to ensure that timing etc. is correct first.)
Does the ECU have p/n 37820-P72-A05?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mecaneck77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The SHELL gas stations in the San Mateo and Burlingame areas had put diesel into their underground gasoline storage tanks. Apparently not enough to completely stall the car but enough to foul the plugs and cause it no to start when cold. This caused all of the problems with the car. Now it is time to see if I can get some payback for the time/money spent fixing this thing.

Who would have guessed.......BAD GAS</TD></TR></TABLE>

Saw that you just replied. That is unfortunate, but a good find.