My Mx-6 Runs Like S*%#, HELP!!

899 Views 12 Replies 4 Participants Last post by kc-, Sep 30, 2008

kc-

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2008

Okay lets begin the list of problems I had today and previous days as I'm on my long way to school.

*This is an automatic mx-6*

-The car will randomly rev up to various rpms while parked or even stopped in drive.

-After passing cars under wot, cruise speeds tend to sputter and the car loses power right after, I press the pedal and nothing the car will vibrate and slow down.

-When in traffic it's horrid, very scary, I almost rear end other cars because it'll randomly rev up and come close to hitting the car in front I have to slam on the brakes.

-I smell a raw gas smell sometimes in traffic, my exhaust tip inside is completely coated in black...stuff, it's similar to burnt coal.

-It just sputters and acts up when it wants to, city driving without many stops it runs fine, but traffic or when I'm flying on the highway it starts acting up.

I really need help guys, I popped my tps off to look at it and its just a plastic piece with a spring so I just put it back on...the distributor is new as of 5 months ago, spark is fine. This is really dangerous though as I could get into an accident, it sometimes dies while I'm trying to dart out from side streets and I come close to getting t-boned.

Help!! :help:

:tdown:

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bmxfuel007

· #2 · Sep 17, 2008

i vote adjust your tps in diagnostic mode. i had these same symptoms after i replaced my tps because I hadn't adjusted the tps yet. was in some traffic and was like oh crap, forgot to adjust. this was after I almost rear ended the truck in front of me because of the stupid surge. there are guides in the faq on how to adjust your tps in diagnostic mode

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 17, 2008

I've tried to understand those adjustment guides but I'm so clueless without good, clear pictures. So do I just loosen the screws on the tps, click the key to the ON position, then turn the tps slightly? I have no idea, then there are diagrams about voltage meters and I'm just getting so lost.

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bmxfuel007

· #4 · Sep 17, 2008

With the car off, you loosen the screws on the tps, turn it all the way up (meaning turn the thing counter clockwise). Jump the pins GND and TEN in the diagnostics box thing. Start the car. It should idle high and your fans should be on. While these are on, slowly tap that TPS down so it moves little by little until the accessory fans turn off. You want it exactly where it turns off. Then tighten the screws on the TPS without moving it and turn off your car and then disconnect the jumped diagnostic connections. Then if you need, you can do the timing stuff, but for now, I would just leave it and see if your car is any different after this procedure.

oh yeah, after you adjust your tps, i would actually disconnect the battery and reset the ecu by pressing on the brake for 30 seconds. it'll make the car relearn your driving habits and with the tps in the correct position, it might idle correctly without you having to use a timing gun.

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scubasteve_07

· #5 · Sep 17, 2008

the car doesnt need to be running just in the on position

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 29, 2008

Ok TPS has been adjusted by a mechanic, plugs have been changed, throttle body has been cleaned, coolant temp sensor has been changed, no vacuum leaks found.

After all of that it ran fine for a week, today it ran like crap, every time i put my foot down on the gas the revs will drop like it's about to stall and if I give it more gas it just sputters and pops along with black exhaust smoke.

Then when I try to come to a stop it stays at 1,500 rpm and won't decrease, while in park it feels free to rev to 3,400 by itself.

Sometimes these things go away for a bit then reoccur later on, some days I get lucky and it doesn't do it at all. I'm getting really frustrated with this problem, I love the car I just wish it would run properly.

Please, any advice or ideas helps, where are the mx6 pros??? Or members who have experienced and solved this before??

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 29, 2008

Quick question, could it be a faulty VAF sensor?

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bmxfuel007

· #8 · Sep 29, 2008

maybe it's electrical. check all your grounds, etc. i know some people who had problems like this and thought it was their tranny acting up. They did an hei mod and added a msd blaster coil and it solved their problem. even solved the cold start problem

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #9 · Sep 29, 2008

Awesome thanks man, I just tried searching it up but I couldn't find much I only know now that it's a thing that you can buy and that "mod" stands for module in this case not modification lol.

Is it hard to install? What does it do?

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93fourslapper

· #10 · Sep 29, 2008

I'd also check the o2 sensor. this will have a big affect on air fuel ratio, and will cause the black sooty buildup in ur exhaust

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 30, 2008

Will it cause sputtering and loss of power while driving along with black smoke out the exhaust? If so I think that would be the answer to the problem, but which o2 sensor theres two

I'm in for a lot of money.

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bmxfuel007

· #12 · Sep 30, 2008

black smoke is you running really rich. any of the things could be the cause, including your hunch on the vaf. i know my car was running rich like a bastard and i could smell it every time i started the car. i was getting an engine swap anyway so i didn't bother actually fixing the problem but I also know that I had an exhaust leak which is now fixed by headers and a new cat back

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kc-

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 30, 2008

Ya I can watch my money fly out the exhaust, it sucks! What small things can I do in my driveway to try and find the problem? Is there any way of cleaning or rebuilding the vaf sensor or the iac, what about that mysterious iac screw everyone talks about?

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