CA running bad under load

[da_grey_s13]

the car took a dump on me about 3 months ago due to an electrical short. it turned out that the oxygen sensor melted some wires in the main underhood harness. we repaired all that wiring and the car idles fine and tachs up good. however, when you give the car about 40 or more percent throttle, it falls on its face. also, i can hear the lifters acting up "clack, clack cling" under a load. it literally feels like someone is pulling coilpack plugs one by one until it damn near kills.

what i've done/tested:

fuel filter
fuel pressure regulator
new plugs
checked compression- around 90-100psi
swapped ecu, maf, drop resistor, and ignitor
seems like 2 and 4 act up first


at a loss......i know the oil in the car has gas in it from working the electrical issue out and the misfiring involved. could the gas have messed with the oil viscosity and its making lifters hang up, thus making it misfire under load.? from prior experience, i know these lifters on these cars are crap...


any help appreciated...thanks

[da_grey_s13]

also, i drive the car home today from my friends house tonight and just took it easy. it ran fine but he said it smoked a little?? viscosity issue again??


**EDIT** i neglected to repair the oxygen sensor wires, i've read on here that a non operational oxygen sensor will make the car run like shit between 3-5k due to a flooding condition. i'll fix that tomorrow and see what happens

[da_grey_s13]

ok, even though i feel like i'm talking to no one, i repaired the wiring and nothing happened. could the oxygen sensor have shorted out?

[da_grey_s13]

any ideas?

[Seikenman]

Check all your wiring.

Make sure the knock sensor is wired up correctly.

Check and or replace the coolant sensor(the one with the 2 pinned red plug).

Check all intercooler piping, it could be a simple vac leak.

Also change your oil. Having gas in it will mess up it's lubricating properties.

Check your injector resistor as well.

Finally make sure you have every ground hooked up

Do you know how to check your ecu for codes? Unbolt the ecu from the car(keep it plugged in), turn the ignition to the on position. there's a small hole on in the side of the ecu, put a small flathead in there and turn it all the way clockwise. and wait for red light to blink. It will blink in 2 sets. 1 set of long(or short i don't remember the order) and one set of short(or long, you'll see when you do it). count the number of blinks to get the number. For example, if it blinks 5 long and 5 short, that's 55. make sure you turn the screw back counter-clockwise after you're done.

Also, there can be more than one code. So you will get more that one set of long and short blinks, have a pen and paper ready and either research the codes or post them here if you can't find what they are

[da_grey_s13]

Check all your wiring.

Make sure the knock sensor is wired up correctly.

Check and or replace the coolant sensor(the one with the 2 pinned red plug).

Check all intercooler piping, it could be a simple vac leak.

Also change your oil. Having gas in it will mess up it's lubricating properties.

Check your injector resistor as well.

Finally make sure you have every ground hooked up

Do you know how to check your ecu for codes? Unbolt the ecu from the car(keep it plugged in), turn the ignition to the on position. there's a small hole on in the side of the ecu, put a small flathead in there and turn it all the way clockwise. and wait for red light to blink. It will blink in 2 sets. 1 set of long(or short i don't remember the order) and one set of short(or long, you'll see when you do it). count the number of blinks to get the number. For example, if it blinks 5 long and 5 short, that's 55. make sure you turn the screw back counter-clockwise after you're done.

Also, there can be more than one code. So you will get more that one set of long and short blinks, have a pen and paper ready and either research the codes or post them here if you can't find what they are

the coolant temp sensor? i didn't think about that...does anyone know what this sensor does as far as driveability on the CA? i know on my aunt's saturn, the car wouldn't even run when it cracked.i'll swap it out tomorrow

[da_grey_s13]

i swapped the coolant temp sensor and the oxygen sensor off my friends running CA. No results......

Again, the car will idle and rev up in the driveway all day long but when you drive up the street, it starts to bog and kill cylinders.