91 S4 auto, Tach wierd, IMS issues (Hammer questions)
02-25-2011, 11:26 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
91 S4 auto, Tach wierd, IMS issues (Hammer questions)
My friend bought a 91S4 - nice car really. It had some issues when purchased - and I am working through them. Paint has been repaired/resprayed. 21,000 dollars approximately in reciepts in just the last several years.
The car has had some electrical issues that are, I believe, related to grounding and maybe some other stuff.
Essentially, when you accelerate, the tach will start jumping vigorously above a certain rpm, maybe 4 or 5k. Wildly jumping.
Possibly related, the ignition monitoring system has tripped after hard running. I have cleaned and reinstalled the grounds for the coils, and cleaned the plugs on the ignition amps. I have also cleaned the injector plugs but have not gotten into the loom ground at the back of the engine under the throttle pulley. I may get to that this weekend.
It seems to have a miss, but not always. It accelerates well, but it seems to have drivability issues on an inconsistent level.
I borrowed a bosch hammer from a very helpful fellow socal lister. I am following the directions and it continually goes into "resynchronizing" and then resets, but does not follow the protocol that is in the directions. It did do SOME of the actuator tests, and it did give me a 1311 code, but more than that, it simply is not operating properly.
1-31 says something about the IMS, but is 1311 different?
Any idea if all these things are related? I think they are.
The car has had some electrical issues that are, I believe, related to grounding and maybe some other stuff.
Essentially, when you accelerate, the tach will start jumping vigorously above a certain rpm, maybe 4 or 5k. Wildly jumping.
Possibly related, the ignition monitoring system has tripped after hard running. I have cleaned and reinstalled the grounds for the coils, and cleaned the plugs on the ignition amps. I have also cleaned the injector plugs but have not gotten into the loom ground at the back of the engine under the throttle pulley. I may get to that this weekend.
It seems to have a miss, but not always. It accelerates well, but it seems to have drivability issues on an inconsistent level.
I borrowed a bosch hammer from a very helpful fellow socal lister. I am following the directions and it continually goes into "resynchronizing" and then resets, but does not follow the protocol that is in the directions. It did do SOME of the actuator tests, and it did give me a 1311 code, but more than that, it simply is not operating properly.
1-31 says something about the IMS, but is 1311 different?
Any idea if all these things are related? I think they are.
Last edited by BC; 04-03-2011 at 05:38 PM.
02-26-2011, 12:13 AM
#2
Archive Gatekeeper
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Brendan-
Rats, the Spanner's still misbehaving? I have had sync issues with it on a few cars (my '90 included), though it works fine on most. Sorry!
If I'm reading the WSM correctly (Chapter 03), code 1311 just refers to the test for firing the fuel injectors, it's not an actual error code.
Bob seemed to have the magic touch with it, here's his description of the timing of following its prompts:
FWIW, if one had a spare pair of PEMs, you could borrow the sharktuner, it would be an excellent diagnostic tool, though you can't clear faults with it.
Rats, the Spanner's still misbehaving? I have had sync issues with it on a few cars (my '90 included), though it works fine on most. Sorry!
If I'm reading the WSM correctly (Chapter 03), code 1311 just refers to the test for firing the fuel injectors, it's not an actual error code.
Bob seemed to have the magic touch with it, here's his description of the timing of following its prompts:
The unit seemed very sensitive to turning the key on PROMPTY when the screen asks for key on. More than a few seconds caused an error display. With a couple seconds only, it worked perfectly. Remember that the unit interprets pulses into messages, so missing a power-on sequence or part of it is possible if the spanner gets tired of waiting for the driver.
02-26-2011, 12:16 AM
#3
Rennlist Member
We experienced tach bounce, and rise / hang >2000 (not running) on 87 S4 with frayed wires at CPS harness. The shield wire may fray as its gathered up and routed through the plug, that's expected, but I think this one also had broken insulation/fray at one or both of the other two wires.
Cannot correlate with tester. We had intermittent no start.
Cannot correlate with tester. We had intermittent no start.
02-26-2011, 01:07 AM
#5
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Thread Starter
It seems to be attempting to work. I just have not used them enough/been around them enough to know what is really going on. I really appreciate your letting me play with the toys for a while. With the 131-1 code and flashing it did mention at one point a "injector short" so I will double check the injectors as well as the loom ground.
Brendan-
Rats, the Spanner's still misbehaving? I have had sync issues with it on a few cars (my '90 included), though it works fine on most. Sorry!
If I'm reading the WSM correctly (Chapter 03), code 1311 just refers to the test for firing the fuel injectors, it's not an actual error code.
Bob seemed to have the magic touch with it, here's his description of the timing of following its prompts:
FWIW, if one had a spare pair of PEMs, you could borrow the sharktuner, it would be an excellent diagnostic tool, though you can't clear faults with it.
Rats, the Spanner's still misbehaving? I have had sync issues with it on a few cars (my '90 included), though it works fine on most. Sorry!
If I'm reading the WSM correctly (Chapter 03), code 1311 just refers to the test for firing the fuel injectors, it's not an actual error code.
Bob seemed to have the magic touch with it, here's his description of the timing of following its prompts:
FWIW, if one had a spare pair of PEMs, you could borrow the sharktuner, it would be an excellent diagnostic tool, though you can't clear faults with it.
02-26-2011, 01:17 AM
#6
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Also the fans kept running whenever the key was in the on position. So much so as I was sitting in the car, I killed the battery in about 10 minutes.
02-26-2011, 01:24 AM
#7
Archive Gatekeeper
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Does the '91 have the 'recirc' position on the HVAC head? If so and the slider is there, the HVAC blower fan and the radiator fans will blow full blast. Move the slider to something in the middle.
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02-26-2011, 05:48 AM
#8
Rennlist Member
What you have is an igntion related problem. That's why the tach is jumping around, because the rpm signal from the EZK ECU is intermittant.
If the igntion protection realy is being triggered, it implies that only one side of the twin igntion system is being affected.
What is the state of the igntion leads/rotors/caps ? Any record of them being changed ?
If the igntion protection realy is being triggered, it implies that only one side of the twin igntion system is being affected.
What is the state of the igntion leads/rotors/caps ? Any record of them being changed ?
02-26-2011, 12:14 PM
#9
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Thread Starter
Yes. Receipts of them being replaced 20k ago. Jeez, maybe I should question whether the mechanic was ACTUALLY doing this
02-26-2011, 03:42 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
They should be OK. There could "just" be an intermittant connection somewhere...... but do check where the leads from colils to distributors plug into the coil. They can corrode at the coil end. Unplug each lead and check for corrosion.
02-26-2011, 05:07 PM
#11
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Thread Starter
Did that.
Every time I do something he says it runs better, but I drive it and I can still tell its not running right. Plus with the tach jumping.
The crank sensor has a very weird sheething on it, not rubber - more like a crinkly metalic?
Every time I do something he says it runs better, but I drive it and I can still tell its not running right. Plus with the tach jumping.
The crank sensor has a very weird sheething on it, not rubber - more like a crinkly metalic?
03-19-2011, 11:14 PM
#12
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
This car is going up for sale soon, and I need to get it fixed for my friend. I have cleaned grounds, checked and cleaned the coil wires, checked and cleaned some of the other spark plug wires.
There is still the situation occurring where the green or red light goes on and it goes into IMS limp mode.
I have not gotten so far as to check and clean the injection loom ground at the back of the engine, but I truly believe that it is a condition of the ignition system that is causing this.
Any other suggestions?
There is still the situation occurring where the green or red light goes on and it goes into IMS limp mode.
I have not gotten so far as to check and clean the injection loom ground at the back of the engine, but I truly believe that it is a condition of the ignition system that is causing this.
Any other suggestions?
03-19-2011, 11:22 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
I just pulled mine.....let me know if you need a pic of a good condition sensor.
03-20-2011, 02:33 AM
#14
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My friend bought a 91S4 - nice car really. It had some issues so was purchased for not too much. Paint has been repaired/resprayed. 21,000 dollars approximately in reciepts in just the last several years.
The car has had some electrical issues that are, I believe, related to grounding and maybe some other stuff.
Essentially, when you accelerate, the tach will start jumping vigorously above a certain rpm, maybe 4 or 5k. Wildly jumping.
Possibly related, the ignition monitoring system has tripped after hard running. I have cleaned and reinstalled the grounds for the coils, and cleaned the plugs on the ignition amps. I have also cleaned the injector plugs but have not gotten into the loom ground at the back of the engine under the throttle pulley. I may get to that this weekend.
It seems to have a miss, but not always. It accelerates well, but it seems to have drivability issues on an inconsistent level.
I borrowed a bosch hammer from a very helpful fellow socal lister. I am following the directions and it continually goes into "resynchronizing" and then resets, but does not follow the protocol that is in the directions. It did do SOME of the actuator tests, and it did give me a 1311 code, but more than that, it simply is not operating properly.
1-31 says something about the IMS, but is 1311 different?
Any idea if all these things are related? I think they are.
The car has had some electrical issues that are, I believe, related to grounding and maybe some other stuff.
Essentially, when you accelerate, the tach will start jumping vigorously above a certain rpm, maybe 4 or 5k. Wildly jumping.
Possibly related, the ignition monitoring system has tripped after hard running. I have cleaned and reinstalled the grounds for the coils, and cleaned the plugs on the ignition amps. I have also cleaned the injector plugs but have not gotten into the loom ground at the back of the engine under the throttle pulley. I may get to that this weekend.
It seems to have a miss, but not always. It accelerates well, but it seems to have drivability issues on an inconsistent level.
I borrowed a bosch hammer from a very helpful fellow socal lister. I am following the directions and it continually goes into "resynchronizing" and then resets, but does not follow the protocol that is in the directions. It did do SOME of the actuator tests, and it did give me a 1311 code, but more than that, it simply is not operating properly.
1-31 says something about the IMS, but is 1311 different?
Any idea if all these things are related? I think they are.
I'd replace the crank trigger on this vehicle, to start with.
If that doesn't do it, gently pull back the boots on each injector and make sure that the insulation on the wiring is not cracked and has "strands" of wire touching each other...amazingly common.