Alrighty guys....For the past week or so I have been getting a really rough start up...I would start the car and then the car would idle rough..and eventually even and smooth out. I haven't gotten to diagnosing that problem....until to day however..but im still unsure....but today..i woke up to go to work...and started my car...still had the same problem...and then drove off to work...on my way to work..i heard this loud *** pop against my firewall..it sounded like an impact pop...like a rock came up and hit my firewall...but anywhoo..it scared the hell out of me...i didn't think much of it..thinking it was a rock or something...until....20 seconds into the drive....the inevitable happens...my CEL came on..I was like WTF!!! I pulled over..checked my oil...all my hoses..etc..everythign was intact...i wasn't leaking under the car...etc.....so went ahead and turned on my car...and drove to work with the CEL....Finally i checked the code with a friend at work..and found out it was CEL 45...which means running too rich or too lean...We checked all of my spark plugs...and they were black around the ring..and brown on the "L" shape arch..not sure what its called...so indicates im running damn rich....which explains the CEL..which then explains why my idle is rough upon startup....Well..i went ahead and changed my fuel filter, and checked my primary o2 sensor...from looking at it..i noticed my threads were stripped....indicating that this would cause my primary o2 sensor to not complete screw into my header, which would make the ECU think i was running lean..since its not getting a clear reading...and thus the ECU will try to adjust and send more fuel to the motor..and thus cause me to run extra rich......my question however is...what the **** caused that damn loud pop??!!! Its freaking scaring me....we reset the ecu...and turned the car back on with that new fuel filter....no CEL..and took it around the block..no problems..we took the car up to 4000rpm..and ran smooth...hopefully there is nothign major to worry about..but please leave your input about this....

Khoi

 

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