Well fixed my tranny mount but I think my cat is dead. I hear a rattling and the car's performance is terrible. Everything vibrates and I just checked my ignition system with a new cap and wires. I couldn't get the rotor off the distrib but that's not my main concern. I drove the car back to Ohio and I was getting crappy performance but I think that has a lot to do with my cat coverter being clogged. Well after a while I was getting a code 42 (ESC problems) and it was hating me. It would go away when I turned the car off and back on. Sometimes it didn't come on until maybe 80+ miles. When the SES light would go on the car would die on me and then if the light kept on flickering on and off the car would just quit and scare me. If the SES light just went on and stayed on I didn't feel a difference, nothing changed until the light went off, then the car would die for a split second. What's going on? I tried using higher octane fuel but that didn't help any, same time ~80 miles on the road at 2800rpm cruising.
Anybody know how to check the ESC to make sure it's still good? Also, does anybody know if the Lo5 from an 89 caprice cop car has the same weatherpack connector (my ESC is a square)?

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, Jon (350 TBI!)
91 Red My website

 

Jon, the exhaust system can definitely play havoc on your engine. About 2 years ago, I had a leak in my exhaust just behind the cats. My car ran badly (so much so the wife even commented about it). I had the exhaust leak fixed and the car ran it's normal smooth self. So do check it out.

Also, I found (when I use to use eproms instead of flash proms), that if I didn't "quite" erase the eprom long enough. I would find that I got some "weird" codes after about 15-25 minutes of driving. Mine was mostly regarding the EGR (Code 32 I think). If I increased the erase time by another 3-5 minutes extra, then I got no codes and my car ran much better. Another thing to think about, especially if you are using eproms.

It was at that point I started to log my "eprom erases" and slowly keep increasing the erase time by 1-2 minutes every 3-4 burns. BTW, when I got those errors, the eprom would read that it was "completely erased" and it compared perfectly to the BIN. But the ECM just didn't like it and giving an extra few minutes on the erase would make everything just fine for the ECM also.

 

Well it's not my cat. I just gutted it and no improvement. My map values are all normal, the car doesn't overheat! Sometimes the car is hard to start, sometimes it starts right up but when it's hard to start it feels like it has too much advance. There is definatly something wrong with my ignition system, I just wish I knew what.
I could also be my injectors or fuel pump/filter. I might end up changing the filter again but I doubt that's the issue since the injectors look like they're working fine and the filter is only 6 months old!
Anybody know what would cause that damn SES code 42 to come on after it performs the self knocking test on the highway!
Could a bad ecm ground cause this?

 

For some reason the ecm isn't receiving the correct results, meaning when it adds the timing for the self test the engine isn't *knocking*, or the signal is being lost.
An open wire from the knock sensor.
The knock sensor itself.
To rich to knock during the test.

A really high octane fuel *might* mask the test, or your just too rich in yur calibration.
You may have been fine, and then with the winter brew fuel it messed you up.