hey guys...i have a 97 itr w/ around 180K km on the original motor.

mods list includes: Mugen intake, toda header, t1r test pipe (i think), t1r bpipe, mugen twinloop axel back.

my problem is that my check engine light will start flashing going up this long, sweeping uphill left hand turn on the drive home. it only does this on this turn and i have yet to experience this problem during regular driving. i've searched around the site and it seems to be the consensus that a flashing check engine light while driving indicates a misfire...however the car drives fine and idles fine. once i turn the car off and turn it back on, the flashing cel goes away. because of the test pipe, my cel is always on as well.

just wondering if you guys had any insights as to what the problem could be. any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.

 

how many times has this happened and how much fuel is in the tank when it does?

 

check to see if your low on oil....if the reservoir isnt picking up oil while it is all towards the back of the pan (uphill) and to the right side (left turn pushes oil right) it will flash...

try taking the turn at a slower speed to see if it still happens...i mean ALOT slower....

 

hmm well i have been topping up the oil every couple of weeks....but i do tend to take that turn a little fast. but i'll check the oil levels again to make sure. tho wouldnt the oil light flash if it was low rather than the check engine light?

thanks for the inputs tho guys...appreciate it.

 

but the oil pickup may be starving when you go around that turn up the hill....and at that point it is sending a signal sayin there is no oil to be picked up....because it is all in the opposite side of the pan....

The new Corvettes actually addressed this problem by putting a pump into the oil pan constantly circulating the oil no matter how many G's the car was pulling in any direction. It is also something that is input by people that are heavy into autocross so they dont burn up the motor with no oil....


gravity is a mother ****** you know.... and be careful cruisin a long turn...you never know..

 

hmm thanks for the info guys...im gonna check the oil levels tomorrow morning and see what the levels are at.

 

CEL (mil) flashing means that there is an active code that is being monitored. it's a type A code, meaning that it is catalyst damaging.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Check-Engine-S...615049&sr=1-38

 

checked the oil levels this morning and it was definitely not low...kinda stumped as to what could be causing this...

 

I agree with this statement.

Misfire can cause cataylst damaging events. This can be caused by things like ignition problems (too advanced, faulty components) loss of adequite cylinder sealing (bent/burnt valves, rings).

Going up hill increases the load on the engine increasing the chance of preignition

FYI, If you were experiencing intermittent oil pressure drops, the oil light will flash, not the CEL.

 

Like everyone else said it's a misfire. How about pulling the code to see which cylinder is missing.

If it's missing on all cylinders check what ever is common between them, (fuel pressure, O2 sensor, etc) if it's a specific cylinder start with the basics... compression test, spark plug, injector.

 

the thing is once i turn the car off and turn it back on again, the flashing cel clears. will i still be able to pull the code? or would i have to wait till it happens again and try to jump the ecu to read the code?

 

easy enough to find out- jump the service connector with an appropriately bent paperclip, turn the key to the accessory position and see what flashes!!!!!!!!!

if i recall the misfire codes are in the 70's, so it would be 7 long flashes in succession and then one or more short flashes.

last time i had that happen was in 2000 when i pinged while spraying at the track, with 12.5:1 pistons, and absolutely destroyed two spark plugs and melted a few exhaust valves. i drove the thing home on two cylinders with the MIL flashing the entire time.

 

Yes, the code will be stored in the ECU.