was out in california and this happened not sure last week, ended up being a vacuum line !
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Signs of bad headgasket ? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter 40thSagePearl
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Check the simple stuff like vacuum lines. If they are good then next on my list would be the idle control valve.
inkpot
SILVER Star
Check timing and Idle Air Control Valve.
Any codes about a misfire? Losing a cylinder, even for a moment could cause the stumble and it to drop below normal idle.
Email or call Blackstone and they'll send you a kit to send a sample in. It's cheap and relatively fast. Easier and cheaper and waaaay more informative than a coolant test kit. I'd be willing to bet they find potassium in your oil. That comes from antifreeze.
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In cold season most cars or anything with combustion will smoke ,it's just steam . Why don't you go to autozone and get a tester that test out your coolant to see if there's oil present . If your truck runs hot and the reservoir is boiling that's a sign of exhaust heat cooking the coolant and blowing it back out . The coolant usually flow one way and if you have a crack somewhere like the hg or a crack cylinder wall it will pressurize the coolant back out the opposite way of the flow of the water pump . I usually just check my plugs and if there clean and white it's having some coolant burning and coating the plugs. One other thing is when you crank up your car and if it's blowing smoke put a napkin by the tail pipe to see if it try to suck it . Itll usually idle fairly rough.
Check for blow by coming out of the valve cover or dipstick tube. If you see excessive smoke coming from either while the engine is running you have a ring issue. Do a leak down test to check that all of your cylinders are good. If all check out then I'd look into cleaning your throttle body really well and doing some propane enrichment to check for vacuum leaks. Also take into account we're on winter blend fuel this time of year and it can do funny things to your vehicle. Just fixed a 2006 Ford exploder that was having some idle issues, stumbling etc... throwing codes that didn't make much sense. I checked them out and did some fiddling around and drained the fuel tank. Got maybe 4 gallons out of the tank 3/4 a gallon of which was water. Asked when they first started noticing the issue and it was around the time fuel stations around here started receiving winter blend fuels.
A cracked intake tube is the same as any other vacuum leak in the system. It can cause erradic idle, cause the vehicle to go into limp mode, if it's big enough it can cause it to flat out die...but it would have to be substantial. Insufficient EGR flow can be a number of things. The EGR valves themselves not opening or being open and clogged, the exhaust inlet completely clogged with carbon the inlet tube being clogged, a bad vacuum line going to the EGR valves a bad vacuum valve...or a completely unrelated issue throwing a the ECU for a whirl. I once had a 03 3.5l Altima burned out in an abandonded parking lot...hard launch. The thing died and the CEL came on. Had to tow it home and couldn't get it started for nearly a week of after work diagnostics. Had timing control solenoid code, had timing advance to far out, had knock, had evap system codes etc... I snapped a ground wire.
I took off all the plastic splash guards and found I had pulled a ground free of its attachment. Plugged it in and crossed my fingers and cranked it and it started and ran perfect after a few seconds. Moral of the story... never fully trust an engine code always do a full diagnosis.
Dave 2000
Not all Land Rovers are useless!
I would check the plug leads/dizzy cap to start with. It is common for a slightly fouled plug to force a plug lead to leak to earth, when on the move the plug cleans up and the misfire disappears, simple stuff first.
regards
Dave
regards
Dave
a crack in the intake hose can cause rough idle. definitely check that.
if your intake is coming off, you should look at the short segment of the wiring harness that wraps between the egr and the head/intake. That is notorious for getting hot,a nd compromising the insulation inside the harness. If the wire insulation is ok, wrap some heat resistant tape around the harness.
vacuum lines can also be cracked, and cause air to get in. Mr T uses metric vac lines, so your mileage may vary getting a roll of auto parts store vac line. There are vac lines under the intake. as well
Folks have tried throwing everything at the p0401 code, with various degrees of success.
Do a search in the classifieds for trollhole's factory service manuals. they are worth EVERY penny you pay for them. If you spend time reading the FSM, youll get to a point where you wont give your green to the mechanic...
if your intake is coming off, you should look at the short segment of the wiring harness that wraps between the egr and the head/intake. That is notorious for getting hot,a nd compromising the insulation inside the harness. If the wire insulation is ok, wrap some heat resistant tape around the harness.
vacuum lines can also be cracked, and cause air to get in. Mr T uses metric vac lines, so your mileage may vary getting a roll of auto parts store vac line. There are vac lines under the intake. as well
Folks have tried throwing everything at the p0401 code, with various degrees of success.
Do a search in the classifieds for trollhole's factory service manuals. they are worth EVERY penny you pay for them. If you spend time reading the FSM, youll get to a point where you wont give your green to the mechanic...
Dave 2000
Not all Land Rovers are useless!
Pressure differentials over the sensors caused by a misfire can bring up P0401, also known as insufficient flow. That particular code is not specific to your car, and I see it at least a couple of times a month, everything from a tiny hole in a gasket thru to the aforementioned misfire.
PITA to track down, re the crack in the inlet hose @stevezero mentioned, that is a good call as well. One trick I have is to use a spray can of engine starter ether. Have an extinguisher at your side although I doubt you will need it. With the engine idling give short squirts around different areas of the engine, inlet hose. inlet manifold, vac lines etc. If the engine ingests any of the ether the engine note will change, it will show up a blocked port if you remove a pipe and squirt a little, don't go mad though. The extinguisher is for any electrical short from a plug/lead/cap or whatever, all capable of igniting the ether.
regards
Dave
PITA to track down, re the crack in the inlet hose @stevezero mentioned, that is a good call as well. One trick I have is to use a spray can of engine starter ether. Have an extinguisher at your side although I doubt you will need it. With the engine idling give short squirts around different areas of the engine, inlet hose. inlet manifold, vac lines etc. If the engine ingests any of the ether the engine note will change, it will show up a blocked port if you remove a pipe and squirt a little, don't go mad though. The extinguisher is for any electrical short from a plug/lead/cap or whatever, all capable of igniting the ether.
regards
Dave
How long has this stumble been going on for? You're in NY, I would start off by throwing some heet in your fuel tank. Stumble on idle was something I had to deal with when I lived in MA with a few cars. Tossed in heet and it was good to go afterwards. Something to look into at least.
Hornd
SILVER Star
I think that 10% Federally mandated Ethanol has pretty much ended the issue of water in gas as it bonds with the water and moves it thru the system. I rarely ever hear of fuel line freeze up since Ethanol has been required.
Hornd
SILVER Star
If you think it's Head Gasket go to Autozone and get the kit:
Formulaonehd
NWZ - The storm is here
#40thSagePearl said: ↑
My 96 LX450 has 173,500 miles on it and i just replaced the entire exhaust finally after its original one went 20 years later. I was having this issue about 2 weeks ago aswell and it seems persistant. When the car is in drive at a red light the rpm's will drop below normal and the truck will shake at times. Driving it is perfect when on the pedal. Also my mechanic said there is a smell in the engine somewhat of a burning but that was before we had changed the exhaust which could be that. Coolant fluid is free of bubbles and pressure. White smoke only on cold start ups then goes away. Any ideas ? Please help guys ! Thanks ! the truck does not drop or shake at idle in park by the way.
Im having the exact same issue. So worried its a HG. I have had some idle issues a while back but always seemed to go away. First time threw some fuel cleaner and cleared up almost instantly, second time was after the rad replacement and multiple engine flushes.
I now have the exact same issue as SagePearl and the car is almost stalling at a stand still. two puffs of white smoke when i took off and runs fine on the road but splutters at 200-300rpm and no power at idle. 98000miles on the clock so wouldnt have thought HG but not ruling it out
My 96 LX450 has 173,500 miles on it and i just replaced the entire exhaust finally after its original one went 20 years later. I was having this issue about 2 weeks ago aswell and it seems persistant. When the car is in drive at a red light the rpm's will drop below normal and the truck will shake at times. Driving it is perfect when on the pedal. Also my mechanic said there is a smell in the engine somewhat of a burning but that was before we had changed the exhaust which could be that. Coolant fluid is free of bubbles and pressure. White smoke only on cold start ups then goes away. Any ideas ? Please help guys ! Thanks ! the truck does not drop or shake at idle in park by the way.
Im having the exact same issue. So worried its a HG. I have had some idle issues a while back but always seemed to go away. First time threw some fuel cleaner and cleared up almost instantly, second time was after the rad replacement and multiple engine flushes.
I now have the exact same issue as SagePearl and the car is almost stalling at a stand still. two puffs of white smoke when i took off and runs fine on the road but splutters at 200-300rpm and no power at idle. 98000miles on the clock so wouldnt have thought HG but not ruling it out
