dead galant... ecu? lifter? blown engine????

[zoomzoom7]

Okay I just bought a 1990 Galant LS SOHC for $1500 two days ago... 180K miles.... appearently a new head gasket.... New tranny 1000 miles ago ect.......


It keeps cutting off.... Found out to be the ECU, guy here in DFW fixes them for $25 so Ill go get that done sometime soon if I keep the car...

Some lifter tapping made it sound like a diesel.... ONLY accellerating... if you just cruised it didnt, only with load it was loud!

and it didnt idle worth a flip... I cleaned the little adjuster motor and greased it up.... Then if you turn the key to the on position, it couldnt make up its mind how far in or out it wanted to be....

THE STORY

I just cleaned everything up... replaced plug wires... and tried to fix the idle problem...

Even with that plunger off the motor, and the screw all the way off, it would idle at 1500 and then 800 in drive and shake the car really bad... reverse never shook,smooooth as silk....

Then I went around my block, and it lost power... still ran, just no power... I killed the a/c, and then got the power back fine, then lost power and I tried to turn around and it stalled..... Started it back up with a HUGE struggle... had to floor it... and then it would have any power at all and stall out if I go into gear.... Now it doesnt even start.... Sounds like there isnt any compression... but once it cooled down(was kinda hot 3/4 of the gauge) it would have a chug to it... dunno where to start... It does have spark....

Questions

1. Could the lifter have an effect like this? If I replace only the bad ones will the cam get ate up?

2. Could the ECU have totally died?

3. How long do these SOHC 4g63's last?

4. What was wrong with the idle? I couldnt find a vacume leak(1500 on its own with throttle body closed isnt right... Ill replace the intake gasket and search for something else that could have cause it.... ... I cleaned the throttle body also... The little black vacume canistor that vents to the tank, and then to the a/c idle silonoid... the spot that says CARB is into the open, no hose to hook up in sight...


Well, if you can answer me those questions I would really appreciate it, it would help me on my way... I'll update with any new information or any results...


Thanks, Andrew

[dsmracer]

Questions

1. Could the lifter have an effect like this? If I replace only the bad ones will the cam get ate up?

2. Could the ECU have totally died?

3. How long do these SOHC 4g63's last?

4. What was wrong with the idle? I couldnt find a vacume leak(1500 on its own with throttle body closed isnt right... Ill replace the intake gasket and search for something else that could have cause it.... ... I cleaned the throttle body also... The little black vacume canistor that vents to the tank, and then to the a/c idle silonoid... the spot that says CARB is into the open, no hose to hook up in sight...

My SOHC was having similar problems. The cutting out could be your fuel filter or fuel slosh. My car suffers from it. The lifters shouldn't be affecting the performance that bad, but it's worth a check. They don't usually just go out, but sometimes stick. If the ECU totally died the car would not run at all. The SOHC's last as long as most other 4G63's which can be 200k+ miles. Idle is likely the ISC going out. I have the same problem.

[sho-tyme]

my buddy just had the problem on his integra, i now its not the same car i im not reaaly familar with your car but a bunch of his sensors where bad but it is the exact same thnig as you are dealling with and it sounds to me like you are thinking about it to much just remember K.I.S.S Keep It Simple Stupid, his car would shut off when it got hot then start right back up when it cooled down not really sure what sensors he had done. well good luck

[zoomzoom7]

You wouldnt believe this... but I found the problem...


The lifters are totally dead.... so im buying new ones tomarrow if when I prime them they dont work....


But when the car gets hot the #3 connecting rod STRETCHES...... the piston FLATTENED the gap on the plug....

And the #1 plug was only 2 threads on cross threaded and leaking.....


I pulled off the intake and am going to replace all those gaskets cause most of them have huge cracks through them.... cleaning all the carbon also...


The idle is the vsc... wonder how much it costs, anyone know? (the little motor(which seems very weak) wiggles back and forth with just the key one)


But thanks for the help.... I love the car... Wish it was a vr4 though

oh well, I should enjoy it till the rod gives soon..... the valves were barely opening... the car couldnt get over 70mph floored before the plug got flattened.....


Thanks, Laters, Andrew

[ken inn]

rods dont stretch. it is more likely the timing is off, belt either jumped timing, or was not installed correctly. that would also explain the loss of power. but that would hit the valves before hitting a spark plug. i have never heard of gaskets cracked. it sounds like some bozo changed the head gasket and didnt know his ass from a hole in the ground. possibly even put the wrong gasket on, and the sound you hear is the gasket hitting. if the plug end is really smashed, i bet bozo left something in there. if "fixing" the ecu means just replacing the caps, you are in for a surprise. and i bet that "new" transmission also turns out to be a bozo surprise. 1500 is way too much for a 180k car. if the isc dont stop, it is definetly bad. in the dfw area, lewisville mitsu USED to give us a good discount, but now they suck. parra might be a better choice, but by far your best bet is online, tallahasse mitsu, norco, or mitsubishiparts.cc. did you get kissed? cause you sure got f_%&*d.

[zoomzoom7]

The end was... well flattened...


I replaced all of the hydrolic lifters... they old ones were very worn and squishy... the new ones are nice and solid... Now the valves open alot!!!


Bozo didnt touch the tranny. The guy before me only had one mechanic on the car and he did everything "right"(right into shit creek) Transmission was performed by a company who is still in business....

I really didnt want to pay that much for it, but my nieghbor has wanted me to have it for ever... I want to find a vr4...

I am only going to pay $1500 including parts... so if I need $600 worth of parts, my nieghbor see's $900 cash... so its not that bad... new exhaust is going on



But I need to stop being so long winded...

Ill check to see if bozo left me a nice socket in the combustion chamber, lol...

I just got the rockers back on yesterday, and been scraping the hell out of those cracked gaskets on the intake... half of it sticks really well...

there was also a crack by the distributor in the intake gasket, and it squirted oil all down the back of the block.........

so much fun... it should be running tomarrow... Ill let you know what breaks then...

AIM: RotaryRx7Toy

[zoomzoom7]

okay... smarty pants, you are right....


There is something in the #3 cylinder... It runs a shit load better with all the new stuff... Now I can get it rolling pretty good...

Going to look inside the cylinder with a dentist mirror and get a magnet on a stick and hope I can pull it through the spark plug hole...

Once that problem is taken care of im putting on a new high flow cat, a nice dual tip free flowing muffler that looks like it was stock, and full 2.25" piping all the way back.... already advanced the timing 15* and took off the air box, and put hose over the maf sensor canistor to let the hooks grab and clamp the air filter to.... like a cone filter.... i like it alot... and its not incredibly noisy.....


Thanks for everyones help... Im glad I can almost drive this thing daily...

[zoomzoom7]

Im trying to buy this awd turbo eclipse so I can put the motor into the galant...

I dunno what all I need to do with the manual eclipse ecu for the automatic galant or if it will work together....


Any ideas?

Thanks, Andrew

[ken inn]

why dont you just get a vr4 and save yourself all the hassle? then you get everything.