my car just runs like crap period
a) too rich
B) slow
c) sick and tired of this headache with the misfire code <br>
LE61T PTE6262 Powered 
Uh oh...I don't like the sounds of any of this :S ....sorry to hear you guys are having so much trouble with your cars. I hope everything works out.
03z24
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When the car is cold it may stall. There isn't much you can do about this except adjust your driving style and get into the habit of warming your car up, which is actually going to be a better thing for your engine in the long run.
As for it stalling while it is warm, I have had this problem in the past. I have found that it's from the way the ecu is reset. The first thing I would recommend is to reset the ecu and do the following:
1. Disconnect the battery for 20 minutes
2. Reconnect the battery
3. Turn ignition into the on position and let sit for 30-45 seconds
4. Start the car, without touching the throttle and let run for 3- 5 minutes
5. Repeat step 4
6. Start the car again, but once it has been running for 20-30 seconds blip the throttle. You may notice the rpms dip low. Continue blipping the throttle until the rpms stop dipping too low.
7. Shut the car down, and repeat step 6.
8. Shut the car down, start it up and take it for a test drive.
I know it's a bit of a long process but that's simply what I have found has worked for me when I have to reset the ecu. I have noticed when doing this that for the first 1-3 days after the car may stumble everynow and then at a light, but it slowly learns to adjust the decay rates.
how long have you had ur stalling problem? has it been since the begining? b/c that would have something that shouldnt have been left out before you sold them. wednesday i'm gonna try ur steps and hope it works. if the problem keeps up i'm going to do it again this weekend and keep a handy tool so i can disconnect the battery no matter where i am. i'll send my cores back when my car runs right.
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
We never had any problems with the test car. I didn't get cams for my car until the middle of November I think it was, and even then I didn't notice any stalling problems until I started screwing with things alot. The drop in temp in December is when I started noticing a tendancy to want to stall when below operating temp.
well tonight after class i took out my car and put some gas in it...didnt get on it at all and rode very nicely and idled very nicely....then i wanted to get on it (to see what happens) so i got on it like 10 times total. the first 2 times it wanted to stall. then i floored it from 30 and magically it idled very good but was kinda high (like 1000rpms) got on it from various gears (from a stop...from 20 mph, 50 mph) like 5 more times and then on the last run it wanted to stall again so i parked it and restarted the car. i had to give it gas to start. so i started it rev'd it 2 times then it dropped to 500 rpms then idled itself. so i went parked it shut it off and it started 3 more times and dropped to 500 rpms and then idled it again. tonight was the best it has ran so far.
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
i am kinda finding it funny that THE only car without problems has been the test car...
sorry to say it but thats obvious, I am still trying to figure crap out
LE61T PTE6262 Powered
i never heard anything wrong with jbp cams....
TraJadY wrote: i'm most likely gettin them installed by a GM mechanic...is there anything they can do to the comp to eliminate the CEL's?
anyone? can they do a reflash or anything?
thats funny my ecotec idles at 900-1000 rpms with a warm engine. my ecotec feels like it will stall if it would idle at 500 rpms. since it started getting cold it has wanted to stall like 3 or 4 times but hasnt but only for a brief second and the cpu adjusts. I also have a hard time starting mine sometimes, have to give it gas. I bought the my 03 cavy from a chevy dealership certified used vehicle. when i seemed interested in this car the salesmen said he did not know if he could sell me the car cause a mechanic wanted to buy it, and did not know if it would pass certification,it was off to the side were the trade ins were also my ecotec seems alot faster than others i raced. I kind of have those same symtoms but never throws any codes idle pretty high if you ask me.I scanned my car before b/c i have an obd2 scanner but nothing.I was thinking about buying these cams and was reading the thread to see if there was a solution. ohh3sunfire mentioned idling at 1000 rpms as abnormal. inever thought someting was wrong with my ecotec cuz it idled high. I got it like that, thought it was normal for these engines hahahah. what is the normal idle for a ecotec?
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i am kinda finding it funny that THE only car without problems has been the test car...
Actually about %40 of the cars running these cams are having no problems. I just refer to the test car becasue it is our control when doing testing. My car is the other control, but is more modified, and constanly being tested on, whereas we leave the original test car alone.
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i never heard anything wrong with jbp cams....
This profile is larger then anything (excluding a custom grind) that jbp sells for the ecotec. JBP and us both us the same company to grind our cams. If you order a stage 1 from jbp, and ordered a stage 1 from us, you would get the exact same cams, ground by the same person.
The problem isn't with the cams, but with the combinations of mods. The cel is from the engine loping and the ecu thinking the engine is misfiring. This is partially due to the knock sensor readings, and we also suspect due to the crank sensor readings. Intake, exhaust, tb and other breathing mods, all increase the the lope. Differenent set ups will increase the lope different amounts, which is why it is worst for some poeple then others.
Truthfully these cars shouldn't be loping the way they are. The ecu should be compensating for the reduced vacuum at idle, but it's not, or it's not as much as you would expect. I don't know why gm would setup the ecu like this, but I would guess it's to do with emissions. We are working on a solution to increase the vacumm at idle but are still working on it, and still need time to test it. Another possible solution would be to increase the idle, but we are holding back on looking into that until we test out our current idea. As I have always said, we are working very hard to resolve this issue. To the point were it is costing us hundreds of dollars and countless man hours.
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i'm most likely gettin them installed by a GM mechanic...is there anything they can do to the comp to eliminate the CEL's?
I have no idea what they can or will do when they reflash your ecu. I know you can get them to reflash it from an auto to standard with no problems, but I don't know what else they would be willing to do. I called the shop foreman at my dealership and am waiting to hear back from them. I'll let you know what he says.
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what is the normal idle for a ecotec?
I don't know what normal is, but mine idles around 1000 rpm.
will this solution ur working on, be free, to us with these problems?....i called the place that did myine and they said he thought he heard about a recall when it comes tot he fuel pressure regulator. i'm calling gm and finding out.
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
ok well, unless my car magically stops stalling or there is way to find out how to stop the stalling i have to say i regret buying these. power 10 out of 10 but driving ability -10 out of 10. so unless it all stops i am looking to get rid of these...offers will be considered.
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
I am gonna try and send the stage 3's up soon, I finally got a check from school because we paid too much
45 bucks to ship is expensive
LE61T PTE6262 Powered
i c alled j-body performance and they said the'r odb2 reflash would do the trick with our problem 570usd and if u do anymore mods ther 570 will cover it later on i believe
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
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I am gonna try and send the stage 3's up soon, I finally got a check from school because we paid too much
Sounds good, thanks for the heads up. Just let us know when they do ship.
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45 bucks to ship is expensive
Shouldn't cost that much. You may just want to check the US postal service. I would expect them to have a better price.
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i c alled j-body performance and they said the'r odb2 reflash would do the trick with our problem 570usd and if u do anymore mods ther 570 will cover it later on i believe
I didn't know they had the abiltiy to do reflashes. $570 is quite a bit, it would be better to wait for the hptuners software or maybe even the AEM standalone at that price. It'd be about half that to have us detune the profile of the cams, but the goal is to be able to run these big cams happily. I'd also be curious to find out what they would be doing. If they remove the ability for the computer to throw that code, then it's a bad idea becasue you still need the ecu to operate normally, we just need it to be less strict about what it considers normal operation.
I talked to my dealership and they said they wouldn't do it becasue it would void the powertrain warrenty. They didn't say they couldn't do it though so I am going to call around. It's only $100 to have a dealership reflash the ecu, so if I can find someone that will tweak the values then that might be an option.
We will be trying something new starting tonight or tomorrow and I'll let you all know early next week how it goes, but even if it does go well, we will require at least a few weeks to test it thoroughly.
I just had what could be a very very very good idea.... I started monday at a new VW dealership..... its VW and Buick in one building meaning GM scan tools/Equipment....... *ideas race through head*
Livid, how would these cams perform on a built engine, plus on top of that with a stand alone ecu? Im in the market for some cams since my ecotec is being built ground up using some gm race parts and other parts. Still want the car a little bit streetable just in case i want to take a stroll sometime. Its not my main car for driving though.
Craig
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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!
^^^ who did your engine? just buy parts and had it assembled or did you buy the short block complete
also I say you lower the compression, are you going with boost? these caren't exactly forced induction cams, bu then again mabe with some adjustable gear you could kill the overlap and see how that works out
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Livid, how would these cams perform on a built engine, plus on top of that with a stand alone ecu? Im in the market for some cams since my ecotec is being built ground up using some gm race parts and other parts. Still want the car a little bit streetable just in case i want to take a stroll sometime. Its not my main car for driving though.
These will perform very well on a built engine. On our test head I think (don't have a flow sheet in front of me) we increased the flow by 16% with stock cams, and by 22% with our stage 2 cams. We actaully could have gotten more out of it but that requires a custom exhaust header.
As for having a standalone you will be more then fine. Becasue you can control all of the values used for timing and fule you can tune it to run beutiful at idle and just scream in the upper rpm, and of course with the standalone you won't have any pesky lights. One of our cars is running (or will be when it back together) the accel dfi with these cams and we are expecting very big things from it.
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also I say you lower the compression, are you going with boost? these caren't exactly forced induction cams, bu then again mabe with some adjustable gear you could kill the overlap and see how that works out
This is a very good point. The profile is very turbo friendly except for the overlap. We can cut the overlap when we grind them, but with the set up you are talking about i'd really recommend adjustable gears.
if I have acess to a tec2 or tec 3 what exactly can I change
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if I have acess to a tec2 or tec 3 what exactly can I change
Just about everything to do with fuel and spark. You can control individual injectors, you can even add in extra ones. You can changing the timing based on rpm. The list is extensive
This is straight off their site:
Standard features built in to the TEC³:
PC programmable and configurable for 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, cyl. engines and Rotories with a 12 cyl.and 6 cyl dual plug option
Operate in Open or Closed loop
Run True Sequential, Phased Sequential or Simultaneous Injection with individual cylinder trim
Configurable for TBI, MPI, TPI and individual throttle bodies
Additional Injector Output Drivers built-in.. Run Low or High impedance injectors
Full 150 mJ of Spark Energy directly to the plugs without misfire
New Dual Rev Limiters with ‘Triple Smooth Technology’.. 1st step retards timing to a negative -12º degrees.. 2nd step cuts coil current in half.. 3rd step coil current and fuel are cut-off.. all three steps occurring within milliseconds!
Waste Gate (Boost Control), Nitrous Control with up to 4 stage retard available
Four Programmable GPO’s (General Purpose Outputs) to control or activate VTEC, Shift Lights, Water Pumps and Fans, A/C Compressor, Torque Converter and more.
New Programmable Adjustable Electronic Tachometer Output
Uses primarily GM type sensors
Diagnostic monitoring with codes issued through Check Engine Light
Easy to install bolt-on Trigger Wheel and Mag Sensor Kits available for many applications
Made in the USA
New On-Board Data Acquistion Adjustable Sample Rates up to 100 samples per second Simultaneously record data from up to 25 inputs including: Air/fuel Ratios, Injector Duty Cycle and Pulse Width, RPM and Throttle Position, Gear Position, MPH, Boost (manifold pressure) and much more!
Additional configurable Digital and Analog Input Channels View Multiple Data Graphs side by side or Graphs may be overlayed for comparison Graphic Screen Displays may be Printed and
Data may also be exported to a Spreadsheet program for further analysis Data Logging can be started and stopped manually using a switch, or the system can be configured to automatically start and stop via values pre-set by the user
Darkstars: Im doing my own engine. I am a mechanic for a local shop in my area. I have a brand spankin new bare bone block, which I have contacted darton & am ordering my cylinder sleeve's next week. I am having a local machine shop press the sleeve's in for me. I have wiseco 8.9:1 standard bore pistons which Karo has them shipped right now, Eagle H Beam rods, RSM Crank pulley is on the way (lightened but stock size). GM Performance Cam gears & neutral balance shafts are also on the way. I havent ordered the Eagle crankshaft without the timing ring yet as I havent found a place with a decent price on one yet. As for the head, it is currently disassembled at my work awaiting the port & polish. I will have shortly (havent ordered them yet) Ferrea 1mm Oversized intake & exhaust valves, Ferrea dual valve springs & their titanium retainers. I will also be using their spring seat locator to raise the pressure of the springs which utilizes the stock spring seat too that will up the pressure a tad bit. Just looking into cams and a tec 3
that is why I asked. I got a really decent sized tax check thats how I was able to purchase all of this stuff along with using my paycheck I had a blast.. I felt like a kid in a candy store.
Craig
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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!
Also I didnt mention it. But yes I am going with a turbo during spring time. More than likely Hahn Stage 2, If not I will be doing a custom job with the help of my bud Yasmin (Suncavi).
Craig
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2.2 Ecotec Swap Completed!!!
570 to do the the flash and they said if u do any more mods that u send it to them and they will do it for free...so 570 initial payment and if u needed it to be flashed again u get it for free.
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
