hey guys, well today my radiator decided to blow on me. so while replacing it i decided to play Richard Simmons and put my car on a diet. i removed the a/c condenser, the a/c compressor, the smog pump (although ive had it unhooked for about 2 months!), and the AIR diverter valve(?) (it was this big, black box with about 3 good size AIR hoses coming out of it, and electrical wires coming out of the bottom.) one of these wires (a white one) went to an electrical sensor (a knock sensor?) on the lower left (as you face the engine looking under the hood) side of the block just above the oil pan. i knew i was in deep dookie when i pulled this wire, but i already had the AIR fizzlefart off so i pulled it anyway. well, when i finished the job and started her up, all sounded well (had to plug one of the bigger hoses that came out of the before mentioned AIR fizzlefart, but after that all was well) i romped on her a few times and it all sounded great so i let her idle for about 20 mins to make sure she wasn't still puking (coolant) and went to spend some "quality time" with the fiancee-actually on this forum! well, about 30 mins later i set off for home. i drove about 1/2 mile to get out of the neighborhood and then romped on her to see what "improvements" i had made. well, i BARELY got on her before what to my young ears should appear? DETONATION LIKE CRAZY!!!! i mean at like, 3000 rpms, so this was very serious. thats what lead me to believe the little sensor at the bottom of the block was a knock sensor. so i swing in to the Chevron up the street and whip out the trusty 'ol timing light. first i check the timing WITH the brown wire hooked up to see what my baby's computer is thinking, i was kinda shocked to see 28 DEGREES ADVANCED!!!! so then i unhooked the brown wire and the timing was still set at 10 degrees advanced (my sig says 14 advanced but im experimenting.). so i decide to set it down just a wee bit. so i set it to about 5 degrees advanced. i hook up the brown wire and take off. this time when i get on it it doesn't detonate but above 3 grand it feels like ive run out of gas (bogging like hell) so i stop again up the road (ironically at ANOTHER Chevron!). again, i first check the timing with brown wire connected, this time timing is at 23 degrees advanced. unhook it, 5 degrees advanced. so i leave the brown wire unhooked and drive it home so now of course it feels dead above 3500-4000. so could someone help me? i want to leave the AIR valve off, so if i can, how do i wire around it? im trying to make my car ZERO EMISSIONS. i know there are people out there not running the AIR system, so how to i fix my baby so she'll be happy again?

 

The diverter valve has nothing to do with your timing or how the engine runs. If you've removed the EGR valve, that could cause predetonation now if you didn't experience it before. Other than that no emissions equipment would cause this.

I think I lost my place a couple times in your post, try some paragraphs in the future. I hope I got to read everything, but it's hard reading a huge block of text this late :\

 

Here's the abbreviated version:

"I ripped up my car without reading a manual and now it doesn't work. Somebody fix it for me."

 

thats harsh dude. im a mechanic, im still learnin TPI though. and, just so youll know, i fixed the problem. somehow i unhooked the knock sensor. plugged it in and voila!!! im not just another dumb@$$ who has never touched a car tryin to sound like i know my ****. thanks for your time...

 

Hey. It could be worse. I was trying to diagnose a VSS problem, got underneath, found a cable off a sensor, plugged it back in, resumed looking for the VSS (I had JUST plugged it in ) and pulled out the Transmission Oil temp sensor, beating the thing up in the process...

Took me three hours to realize what had happened.

 

d@mn that must've really sucked!!! well, luckily my "calamity" wasn't that serious!!

 

I forgot to mention that it drained half the lube out of the tranny, and no place in town can get a transmission oil temperature sensor. It isn't something you normally replace (Haynes doesn't even mention it). I had to put the old one in (it works. ~please~ don't fail )

 

yea i did have something similar to that happen to me. i was having a lot of trouble finding a VSS, so at one of my stops i had to remove the sensor to show the guy what it looked like. well, when i went to put it back in, the threads in the tranny STRIPPED OUT!!! so it wouldn't tighten and leaked like a ****. well, after about a mile or so i quit leakin (as it ran outta fluid ). so i stopped at another store and got a longer bolt which held (PLEASE KEEP HOLDIN BABY!!!).