Good morning, sorry to bother you, but this morning i went to start my car that had been sitting in my garage for a couple of weeks and it started right up but it would hesitate like it needed gas and then died it did it several times and then i saw some blue smoke coming out of the exhaust and then the car started running roughly and everytime i would give it gas it would make a loud explosion, if i let it run it would idle roughly like not working in all 6 cylinders, check engine light started blinking and now its a steady check engine light,does anybody have a clue of what this could be?
One more thing i was forgetting about is that fuel was really low, warning light is already on.
Thank you.

 

It could be many things, you say the tank was very low, maybe the fuel pump sucked deposits from the bottom of the tank? other ideas could be coil packs/spark plugs. I had something similar happened to my car and it turned out to be the coils. The smoke could be normal, but if it keeps smoking maybe you need a new AOS. You need to get the codes read and go from there. If you have missfires most likely it will be the coils/plugs. How many miles do u have in your car? what year is it?

 

I'm not exactly sure, but for the time being, DO NOT start or drive the car.
Let's let some of the engine experts chime in.

Your story wasn't sounding too bad til you got to the part about backfiring and running rough w/ check engine light.

 

Check the air filter. Change the filter or bang the air filter out or blow it out making sure the flow or shock is in the direction it entered the filter. Check vacume lines. All simple to do since its right there.

 

Get or borrow a code reader. Don't try starting or driving especially if the engine is steady and not blinking. GL

 

I'm thinking drain the fuel and put freash stuff in. You may want to give the gas cap area a sniff and see if it smells like rotten gas.

But I must tell you I am no expert, Take this advice at your own risk

 

I had similar problems on another vehicle in the past and it turned out to be bad gas from sitting too long.

 

I am taking apart maf and all components around it, i will try fresh gas as well, i read an article that talked about similar issues when the maf goes bad.
BTW it is a 99 Carrera C2 with 44k miles and it was running just fine when i parked it a couple of weeks ago and it has been sitting in a garage kind of cold though, but not so so cold probably mid 30's to mid 40's temperature wise.
Thanks everybody for the input.

 

I just cleaned the MAF and i am going to let it dry overnight and i will check again

 

I agree to get the codes read, but the steady CEL is drivable...it is the blinking one which is bad. Sounds to me like bad gas...LOL. FWIW you should always leave the tank full when you let it sit so there is no room for condensation to form (I know this is too late, but for next time).

 

You're right...got it backwards!

 

You weren't driving your car for a month or more? Surfs up, weathers beautiful, and plenty of beach to share. Oh well.

If you are parking your car for extended periods use a fuel stabilizer. If you are worried about driving the car once in a while then topping off which would dilute the fuel stabilizer then start with the one year dose then double it after a fill up which would be the two years dose. I would think if water in the fuel was the problem then any condensation in your fuel would of been sucked up during your drive and been evident before th end of the drive. Storing a car it is best to have the fuel topped off to have as little air which means space for condensation to form during temp variations.

Blue smoke like you said is normally running rich conditions which is exactly what a normally asperated engine would do with a choked intake ie clogged filter or such. Maybe even you had the engine flooded causing blue smokish smoke. There is also fuel additives for taing the water out of fuel which is normally an alcohol base solution to thin the water and help it pass the jets. Great right. Run water eliminator and jet cleaner too and don't get to dizzy reading the labels because lots of fuel additives advertise miracle this and that.

My best suggestion is take it to the dealer
They can always make your car run perfect if you have the mulla.

 

What did you use to clean MAF that it has to dry over night?

Was MAF dirty?

If you suspect MAF you can install cleaned (and dry!) MAF and do not connect MAF to wiring harness. Start engine. If symptoms do not appear when they used to then MAF becomes #1 suspect.

Might get CEL from MAF being disconnected. You should be prepared to clear the error code(s) and extinquish the CEL.

Also, *before* you try the above, clear the error codes, even if none. Doing this clears out some learned behavior in the Ecu which if learned from a bad MAF may be in itself a problem. Start with a clean slate so to speak.

Also, I'm a bit leery of self-diagnosis, unless you know what you are doing. The problem may not be a serious one, yet, but prolonged experiementation may give it a chance to become serious.

If you haven't already done so, check for presence of mice (or worse) in car. Look for droppings. Check tops of under body and under engine compartment panels for nest/rodent litter.

Be sure battery fully charged and in good condition. A weak/low battery can result in some weird behavior.

Dump in at least several gallons of fresh premium gasoline. You might try adding a bottle (or a partial bottle) of Swepco gas treatment. Mix in the proper ratio with gas that is in the tank taking into consideration the fresh gas you'll be adding. Add the gas treatment to the gas can before you fill it up. Then give the gas can a bit of a shake before you pour its contents into gas tank.

Observe all safety precautions regarding the handling of gasoline!

Sincerely,

Macster.

 

Er uh uh oh I didn't read you cleaned the MAF

If you cleaned the part on the air intake with something other than what the manufacturer says to do it with you might want to buy another. You aren't supposed to touch that surface

 

What the heck are you talking about... (air filter or maf?) it is certainly OK to clean the maf with electronic cleaner...it won't fix a blown maf, but it can help.