Ok so i picked my car up from the shop today, owner who ive known for a while my brothers friend said he got her running good while installing headers new belts making new y pipe and supposedly adjusting timing amont a bunch of other stuff he said he did. I noticed on my way home that when i and stoped idle is a little rough but no longer cuts out on me. I was driving and punched it and ended up with a ses light. I used the paperclip trick and got code 33. I called him up and he said its because ive been putting low grade gas in and i need to run the old gas out and put some decent grade gas in. He said while adjusting timing he kept getting pinging and checked my gas and said it was because i was using cheap gas which i was. And also said that installing headers will cause a ses light because of the 02 sensor. Does this sound accurate? if so will putting higher grade fuel smooth her out and should i do the 02 non foul mod to get rid of ses light. It did smell realy rich like gas when driving.

 

on another note the car feels really shaky when stopped and ideling.

 

None of that sounds accurate. Code 33 is an induction system problem, the grade of fuel you use and O2 sensor have nothing to do with it. The car should be perfectly capable of running just fine on the cheapest 87 octane fuel you can buy, as well. Premium fuel is not required.

 

What the hell i jut paid this guy 900 bucks and still i have to trouble shoot a problem ge said he fixed. This car is costing me so much dam money now trying to get running right again. Im on the verge of selling it for i thought id never say this but a honda :-(

 

I now do not have the money for a new maf sensor if thats the problem and just pain 900 bucks to have a car i have to put in neutral at stop for it to idle solid and still smell like gas when i get out the car because of how rich it is burning. I wish i had a dam lift and more mechanical knowledge. The amount ive dumped into this this since i bought it is already double what i paid and i still need to fully replace all my bushings and whatnot on my front end suspention.

 

Anyone neer ft myerd florida looking to buy an 87 gta? Lol dam i hate saying that :-(

 

Stick with it. May not be anyone's fault. Just old cars have old parts, and they fail. I'm sure if you ask nicely, the business owner will be fair on any additional work. That is if you still have confidence in him. This problem may not have showed up while he had it in the shop. I have to remind my customers that if you drive old cars, you never know what's gonna fail next. Once you get all the "bugs" out of her, it should be fine.

 

Gotta learn to wrench or be able to afford to pay allot for repairs or only drive cars less then 5 years old.

I never found a way around it, help if ya start with those free to $50 cars to make mistakes on.

 

i called him up today and told him whatas wrong he said i have a bad o2 sensor down wind near the cat and replacinit will fix my car not wanting to idel and when she reaks of gas when i dive and he says thats also from the o2 and that o2 problems can cause the car to throw maf codes. He said bring it in and he will install new o2 sensors for free. I got thereand wasnt there but one of his mechanics said sounds like a maf problem not o2 so i dont know what the hell to believe now

 

Find a new mechanic.

 

The worse thing is he builds muscle cars and owned 2 gtas in the past. How could he noy know what the problem is

 

just have him replace the 02 sensor for free that way you know you have a new one and if it doesnt fix it then you already Knew that it was a maf problem and you can change that yourself and see if he can get you a deal on the part, shops usally get parts at cost or a little above

 

Im going to bring it to him tomorrow morning, will the o2 replacements fix the rich issue or what else could cause it to run so rich. When i accelerated today the smell got stronger. Also is brake cleaner best to use the clean the maf? i want to try cleaning it before dropping money on a new one.

 

on these old cars when you start doing/adjusting things and replacing things all at one time your noitice old problems become that much bigger and more obvious. This is just what i have noicted in the 2 that i have had. Im sure others have noiticed the same at one point or another

 

well im prety sure the maf is going to be the issue but is it good to asume the o2 is my problem for running so rich?

 

The o2 sensor may be a problem, but it is not the cause for the code 33 (MAF high value). Have him fix that problem first. The false high MAF value is causing the ECM to dump more fuel.

 

Now high maf value, would that mean that the maf is reading to much air coming in and forcing more fuel to be dumped than is necessary?

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...af-sensor.html
maybe try that electrical cleaner for the maf?

 

Thanks i will pick up some electrical cleaner on my way home from work and use it to clean the maf out. Should i just spray it into the maf from both sides and let it air dry for an hour or so before putting it back on?

 

cant help you there i have never done it I did a search a on google and that link came up try and do another search see what you find? Atleast take it off and give it a lookse, see if its even dirty

 

Yes. Another test you can do is to unplug the MAF sensor and start it. If it runs better, the MAF is probably the culprit.

 

code 33 does not necessarlly mean the maf is bad, most maf sensor problems are caused by a worn out relay.

And yes headers can cause a problem with the o2 sensor or at least it did on my car. I kept getting a lean code, had to wrap the headers and install a heated o2 sensor to make it go away, and even that didn't completely solve the problem.

 

when my car decides to throw a 33 it runs itself into lean misfires with the throttle at any position but closed until I turn it off and restart it


I'd check the relays after cleaning the maf, so long as its the 87 in your sig

 

Correct. May be a relay, frayed wires from the relay to the MAF sensor, or corrosion on the relay or MAF connectors.

 

sure is an 87, where are the relays for the maf and should i tell the mechanic to install heated 02s? i noticed on my way home that when driving at a steady speed at arround 40 the car feels like its slightly jerking foreward like if i was giving it more gas and letting off then it will smooth out and do it again after i reach speed again. Does this sound maf related?

 

Your injectors could be going bad also though I would start with the obvious first.

You did buy a 24 year old car not sure why your complaining in putting money in it, if that scares ya you might want to rethink the honda idea little more.

 

The maf sensor relays are on the firewall near the brake booster, there are three one is for the fuel pump the other two are for the maf sensor. If the relays are original one will say "maf power" in red letters on it, this is the one you want to change.

Also check the condition of the wires on the relay plugs, over time the insulation can slide down exposing the bare wire which can cause other problems. If you see this, wrap some electric tape around EACH wire to insulate them from each other. Don't wrap them in a bundle.

Don't worry about the o2 sensor right now, unless it starts throwing a code 44 (lean)

 

any news?

 

Just got her back today, at first the problem persisted with it kida stumbling at idel. Then after about 10 minutes when i came to a stop idle was rock solid but is at arround 900 and idel in part or neutral is at 1500. Car hes tons of power and throttle responce again but the idle is still to high. When i start her the idle shoots to about 2000 to 2500 then slowly comes down to arround 1500. Ill ad that in the morning and night it is chilly out here now. But if i turn the idle screw now to drop the isle a little will it throw off whatever was done to get it solid? and what could be causing it to shoot up when started and idle so much higher when not in gear.

 

I know i probably have to re adjust minimum ilde speed again and reset my tps but right now shes atleast running and im scared if i do that i will be right back to square 1 with the same problem again. I forgot to add that i drove about 30 minutes earlier to move some stuff and turned the car off for about 20 minutes. When i turned it back on and it shot up to 2k it thru a check engine light but i havent had a chance to jumper it and check the code yet.