Chevy - Malibu :: 2003 V6 3.1 - Coolant Loss / Loud Knock / Loss Of Power And Misfire?
Nov 10, 2014
I have a 2003 Chevy Malibu, V6, 3.1, auto, 140k miles. Car started out with code 0420 with no noticeable symptoms, but then added code 0303 (miss fire cyl #3) with loud knock (mostly after warmup) and loss of power under load. Now internal loss of coolant (no puddles or external drips). Changed plugs and wires - no change - all plugs looked good with no sign of contamination. Questions - if this is a valve/piston/lifter problem (which would explain the knock, miss-fire and loss of power), why would I get the loss in coolant? If the loss of coolant is fouling plug #3 (which would explain the coolant loss, miss fire and loss of power), could that give me the loud knocking? I don't see how a valve/piston/lifter issue would cause a leak in coolant but I also don't see how a coolant leak into cyl #3 would give me such a loud knock. Do I have two different problems? If it is a leak into cyl #3, is there any way to tell if it is the intake manifold gasket (which leaked before and was replaced five-six years ago and which I could do again if I had to) or a blown head gasket (which I don't think I could fix or afford to get fixed)? Engine will occasionally get hot (but not overheat).
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Replaced the spark plugs and wires a couple months ago. Started skipping yesterday throwing the #4 misfire code so I replaced the coil pack, reset the check engine light but it's since came back on and has a rough idle and loss of power. By the way, it's a 97 F150 4.6L 4x4 with 200,000 miles.
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Pulled out of the restaurant I ate dinner at tonight and I lost most power and there's a loud air sucking sound. I felt around all the boots and didn't feel any air, but it was really hot and couldn't feel a whole bunch. It's a 2003 7.3 with 295k. There is a little smoke/soot coming from the turbo area, any chance that's related? I'm perplexed...
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I am trying to figure out the problem with my 2002 ford 7.3 Engine.
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It has a lost of engine coolant. The oil is 100% clean with no signs of Coolant. No chocolate milk effect. Also it makes a Odd thumping noise at idle. I think it is coming from the Exhaust Manifold.
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So I have a 2003 6.0 king ranch w/ 164k on it.. EGR delete, high pressure oil pump, coolant filter and SCT tuning. A couple months back I had a coolant flush done. After about a week the coolant tank was empty.. Engine heated up due to loss of coolant.. I flushed system again and put ford gold coolant back into the tank. (5 gallons). A couple days later and coolant was very low and engine heated up?? There are no signs of leaks anywhere...Added water and it cooled back down. I'm lost. EGR is deleted but no studs done.....
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My 99 F150 4x4, 5.4 triton all of a sudden got very loud and has a loss of power. To me, it sounds like a cylinder is straight open to the atmosphere. I at first thought a spark plug blew out or an injector somehow came dislodged but I checked and everything seems ok. It's coming from the passenger side somewhere but is so loud under the hood I can't tell exactly where.
I took the valve cover off to see if a valve is stuck open or something, but I don't really know what I'm looking at as far as internal engine goes. I turned the crank by hand with a ratchet and the valves seem to follow the cams, but I've never inspected valves before so don't really know what to look for. What could be causing this loss of power and incredibly loud noise?
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2002 7.3, losing coolant. Occasional whiff of antifreeze, not in oil. I use my truck to tow a food trailer that's only about 4500lbs, some highway, most city driving. 173K clicks, bout Jan 2016 with 130K, first time this has happened...
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Loss of coolant! I have a 2003 6.0 diesel with 200,000 miles. I put in a new oil cooler and ipr egr delete two years ago also flush the system and added a coolant filter. I filed it back up with the red antifreeze. Now the problem I have never lost any coolant since then and my deltas are about 5 degrees. But the other day I pulled a heavy load the first one since I did the repairs (coolant got up to 220 degrees and would drop back down) when I got home the coolant tank was about a inch low. I let the truck sit about 3 hours and checked it again and it was back at the full mark. Drove it the next day and it's back low about a inch, Any clue what's going on.
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I recently had the high and low pressure tubes on my power steering fail causing a total loss of fluid. After about a week of living with manual steering, I brought it in and had the tubing replaced. Everything worked fine, though the steering felt a bit sloppy to me. Today, on my way home from a 100 mile trip, the car decided that turning left just wasn't something it wanted to do.
So to turn left, I would have to back up and turn the wheels to the right. Not exactly an efficient way to drive in traffic. Do I try to get the car back into my mechanics place to see if he can fix it for a reasonable amount, or should just bite the bullet and look for a newer car? BTW when I had brought the car in for the tubing replacement, they showed me where the bracket holding the strut on the left had begun to crack, probably from driving without the power steering. 1998 Malibu LS ....
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I have a 04.5 GLI 1.8t, performance mods include, cone filter on the end of my maf, silicone TIP, Forge splitter, 3in custom tbe and unitronics stage 2
I started noticing this problem on the day I got the car tuned, I hadn't noticed it before hand. I replaced the spark plugs and it worked a little, but it continues to do it.
The problem: When I get on it at WOT under full boost, around 2500 rpms, the car loses all torque, misfires spits and sputters throughout the rpm range until about 5300 rpms then it all of a sudden has torque and pulls great.
I don't have any boost leaks that I know of along with vaccum leaks. There is no flashing cel or misfire code for my coil packs. Can this be a faulty n75 valve? if so what could fix it?
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So, I have a 2000 Hyundai Accent that has had the CEL light on ever since I have owned it (about 7 months). I was told it was the O2 sensor and did not have it scanned. Occasionally, it would lose power and the CEL would blink. After I would take my foot off of the pedal and baby it for a sec it would usually go solid again and drive okay. About 2 weeks ago it started blinking constantly and it sputters and drives like sh*t. Now, I know that I should take it to Autozone or someplace so that they can tell me which cylinder is misfiring and all, but it is really sketchy to drive. I put NGK spark plugs in it today with no change. I ordered plug wires and a coil pack to see if that straightens out the problem. If it doesn't then I am going to lean towards intake gasket or perhaps a missing or bad o-ring at an injector. So, does this sound like a reasonable plan of attack to get rid of the blinking CEL (misfire) and restore my Accent back to all of its craptastic glory?
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On Sunday my son was driving my wife's '03 Passat GLX 2.8 4motion station wagon when he received a "stop engine" warning and noted the temp was climbing past 250. Good lad that he is he stopped immediately and noted much steam and coolant originating at the rear of the engine. My hope is that it's just a hose since there is no coolant or smell in the interior (just went through the nightmare of a heater core on my '96 Jetta!) We had it flatbedded to our home but I haven't had time to make a further investigation and was hoping for some insight from those here as to how I should proceed in diagnosing/repairing this issue.
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I have a 97 Chevy Malibu V6 3.1L with 92k miles on it, a couple weeks ago i started getting a misfire issue. The car would start to misfire when under heavy load such as accelerating up a hill. The local auto parts store diagnosed it with code P0302(cylinder #2 misfire). I started by replacing all of my spark plugs(ACDelco Platnum) and wires. This seemed to fix the issue for a day or so, after that the misfire worsened. I would misfire at random times and when under heavy loads. This caused my transmission to keep shifting up and down followed by the all to familiar hot/melted plastic smell of overheated transmission fluid. This continued on for a few days as it got worse.
The car than started to misfire heavily all the time. I took the car to another auto store and it pulled up codes for Random/multiple misfire. I then took my car to a mechanic for a full diagnostic, their computer said their was a misfire on cylinder #1, as-well as a bad spark plug wire on #1( He found this by getting shocked while wiggling the wires on the coil pack) and told me to replace the bad wire. I replaced all wires again and the problem remained. i took it back up for re-diagnosis and they then said it was a bad coil pack. I replaced the coil packs and the problem still remains.
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THE FREQUENCY: This is a condition that has become progressively worse over the last six months. Initially it occurred once a week and now it is happening almost every day, lasts longer and is more acute.
THE SYMPTOMS: Initially and randomly, while driving at any speed, the car would begin to hesitate as if it might stall but did not- The hesitation was much like a shudder or power loss. At this time the check engine light would blink and stay on for a couple of days. This whole event would last less than a minute and the car would return to normal until the next one.
Now, six months later, it is occurring almost every day. At startup, at low speeds, at stop lights.... A LOT!
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR: After frequent and unsuccessful visits to the Volvo Dealer all the plugs, the wires, the cap, and the rotor have been replaced with no luck.
The dealer says the code indicates a misfire on the #3 cylinder.
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Well, coming home from work Friday and my truck turned on the check engine light. I did not notice any loss of power or other driveability issues. When I got home I pulled the DTC's. I got P0264, P0273, P0276, P0279, P0611, and U0306. The first four being low voltages. The Second FICM. And the last cylinder 6 misfire.
I sent a message to Ed at FICM Repair asking if there was anything to check before I pulled the beast. He said no it needed service no matter what at this point. BUT, I needed to test batteries and alternator. So I spent some time today pulling off my FICM.
I went ahead and pulled the EBP sensor and tube off from the exhaust manifold. The manifold end was very clean. BUT, the sensor end had a noticeable restriction. I would guess a 40% restriction. I cleaned the tube and the sensor and put it back on.
Next I moved to the EGR. I pulled it off and it was dirty but not what I would call restricted. The valve moved freely. I cleaned it anyway and blew out the manifold before I reinstalled it.
I have the batteries on a charger right now. Once they each charge for 12 hours each I will let them sit a day or two before I load test them. They are about four years old, AC Delco 60 month 875CCA batteries. I have had problems the last 6-8 months with staring the truck. If she sits for more than 3-4 weeks without being run she turns over slow and won't start. So I have had to jump start her a few times. And before you ask I have done a parasitic check and only have .05amp draw. So maybe the alternator is getting weak.
On that note I pulled the alternator and will get it bench tested this week. While I was there I noticed the top grooved and smooth idler pullies were a little "wobbly" so I yanked them too and will replace. Might as well do the belt while I'm at it. Boy this is going to get expensive real fast.
So, I decided to go ahead and replace the bottom coolant recovery hose and the long hose/pipe heater hose too. Boy it never ends. Oh well. I would rather do it now while I have stuff pulled off and it is easier to get to. Ordered those parts from RockAuto to the tune of 219 dollars. OUCH!!!
I accidentally broke my new engine oil dipstick while I was trying to get to the FICM!!!! CRAP!!!! More money. So......... Is there anything else I might want to look at while I am there?
The truck is 2006 F250 6.0 PSD CC SB 4x4 mid optioned XLT with 108,000+ miles. I have a 4" turbo back exhaust, AFE Cold Air Intake, Blue Spring, Hypertec Power Program 3 on the lowest setting, and an after market intake elbow at the intake manifold and an engine oil bypass filter. Turbo was pulled and de-coked about 18,000 miles back. Otherwise no issues. The 90,000 mile service was done about 10,000 miles ago. She gets regular services.
How about methanol injection? Will that keep the intake clean from the EGR sludge? I'm not thinking about added power, just keeping things cleaner? I plan to do the Atlas 40 when the FICM gets repaired.
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I had plugs and wires changed to try clear code. Car seemed to do some better but while trying to go up a steep hill car started stuttering and jerking. Power went out of car and check engine light started blinking fast. After let the car sit for bout 45mins car started running fine again and light stopped flashing but remained on. Code read cylinder2 misfire again.
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I am not a mechanic by any means, but have picked up a lot of stuff over the years. I drive a 2003 Hyundai Sonata with a 4 cylinder engine. Several days ago while going up a steep hill I lost power and my check engine light came on. This has happened before when my coil went bad so I figured it would be a breeze fixing it. I limped it home and ran the code. Sure enough it came back as cylinder 1 misfire. This vehicle uses 2 coils so I swapped them to try and get the problem to follow, but it did not. I have tried a new spark plug, new wires, and swapped injectors without success. There is still no activity on cylinder 1.
I ran a compression test. I get about 60 PSI on cylinder 1 and between 180-210 on 2-4. This would point to head gasket, so I am told. I do burn about a quart of oil every 500-1000 miles, but I do not seem to have any coolant leaking issues. I have not noticed any smoke from the tailpipe. The spark plugs were generally good looking, except for number 3 which had a hard white substance all over the electrode. There does not appear to be any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. This seems strange to me as everything I have read said that one of those would happen.
Is there anything else I should look into or is my engine toast?
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When i got my 2000 jetta vr6 it has a CEL for misfires. Searched this board and google already. Im thinking injectors (havent checked yet) I noticed something weird the other day. At a light i get the CEL flashing. Then after a bit it will come on and stay on. I plugged in my generic reader and deleted the codes. When the CEL is on I get loss of power and hesitation. When its deleted the car runs better. I get my power back. I looked in the coolant tank and see no bubbles. Could this be the ECM? Im still going to get injectors but want to buy the gasket and anything else I am going to need to put it back together. I already cleaned the MAF, replaced some vac lines, coil pack, wires and checked plugs (gapped at .28) ...
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i have a 2005 expedition with the 5.4 and 100k miles. Rescently it began to missfire badly and lost almost all power to the point where it nearly dies. I have seveal codes that are baffeling me. Bank 1 is rich bank 2 is lean(this may be the other way around, p0300(multiple cyl missfire) and then 4 individual cyl missfire codes. I changed all of the spark plugs with factory motocraft ones from ford as the old ones were shot. Seems to miss just as badly as before and is no where near driveable. What would cause one bank to be rich and one bank lean? I ohmed all of the coils when I had them out and they all are very close to each other with no odd ball ohm readings so I believe they are all ok. Any sugestions as to where to check next?
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I have an 03 Explorer with the 4.0 engine. There is a strong smell of coolant and the reservoir does go down slightly once a week or so. There is No Leak whatsoever that I see, I have checked under the hood, under the vehicle, under the dash, everywhere...nothing. Where is the coolant going? This seems to be a common problem, I work at a quick lube and almost all of these explorers are low on coolant when they come in.
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I have a 2003 Honda Civic and the engine temperature will sporadically raise above normal. Using the heat (even a slight mixture, anything but full cold) seems to worsen the problem.
I've discovered that the coolant is almost always low in these situations, and so I've just been filling the coolant up in the morning before I start the car, but it usually takes about half a liter. There are no puddles or wet spots in the garage or inside the cabin, and I've had the radiator put under pressure for a weekend and it maintained operating pressure, so it seems that there is no leak.
I've had the water pump, timing belt, spark plugs, and O2 sensors replaced. It's been like this for about a year, but it's more frequent in the winter when I use the heat more. Where is my coolant going?
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