Stalling / Rough Idle / Hesitation / Stumble, Updated: CEL Code 31 Options

[d3monc3lica]

OK, so about a week or so ago i posted a topic about how my car wouldnt start, and i figured out it was to do with my ground wires. Now, something odd is happening.

1. If i start my car, it warms up fine but eventually will just die, stall right out.

2. If i start my car and drive, it will drive a ways (random), then act as if i pulled a terminal off of my battery, it will just have no power AT all as if it is going to stall out, but since i am in gear and still driving it doesnt completely shut off, this will happen over and over again for about....10-15 seconds at a time and then stop. Normally happens once per trip, but its random sometimes..... Any ideas as to what could cause this, i just regrounded 2 grounds on the side near my battery (one big, one small), but i still have no clue what could make my car loose power like that, and only for an instant. I have a SAFC 2 and i dont see any dips in voltage......

This post has been edited by d3monc3lica: Feb 4, 2007 - 1:48 PM

[pure_dx]

sounds like your alternator or battery is going out on you.

[hurley97]

check the connections to the battery. make sure the wires aren't cut or anything and they're making a good connection to the terminals.

something like this happened to me when I first got the car. it would just randomly shut off on me. I thought it was the battery so I had that changed, the car still wouldn't start or anything so they checked my alternator and it was fine. but if I went and moved the battery cable a certain way all the lights would come back on and it was fine. I ended up just having to just change the wires and clean off the terminals so they made a better connection.

I'm not sure if that exactly what you're problem is but its worth a try.

[d3monc3lica]

Yeah but my SAFC doesnt show a dip in voltage when it happens.... And like i said, it seems to happen right as my car begins to warm up, keep in mind i live in Maine and the weather has been sub-zero lately.... I'll look into the battery and alternator though....

[d3monc3lica]

Hmm my CEL came on tonight when it happened, then went away, then came back, im going to check what code it produces when i can find a wire to make the code blink.

[Vissi]

Hmm, lets cover the basics first, use a volt meter on ur battery to check ur voltage, then start it, if ur charing system is working right it should be around 2volts above what it was before(so around 14v).

just an idea, but have you tried another battery, my car used to work fine, and then it would randomly lose all its charge, and it was just a bad cell in the battery.

that CED sounds like a good source of figuring out whats wrong
-dave

[d3monc3lica]

I checked the CEL and it was code 31, im gonna look up what that is. But my volt meter is at 14.3-14.5 when the car is running (unless the stereo is going haha).... so ill look into what CEL Code 31 is and go from there.

[d3monc3lica]

31 Air Flow Meter Signal.

OK so now what do i check?

[d3monc3lica]

OK, so after checking google, and my Haynes manual, there is nothing on my MAP sensor.... So anyone know where it is and what to check...?

[d3monc3lica]

Bump

[JesterDC]

I had this problem, turned out it was ONE FREAKING WIRE, lol, Check the wire going to your distributor, mine got loose and it was very annoying


nvm that^^^, sounds like you need a new Air Flow sensor, or to clean the one you have.

bumbidy bump bump

This post has been edited by JesterDC: Feb 4, 2007 - 3:57 PM

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

^^I also think this is a distributer or coil problem. Just a guess, but maybe the car warms up and the water in the distributer or coil melts enough to cause it to short, but then dries up. This can be caused by a broken distributer or coil. I would check coil first. You might also think about replacing the spark plug wires and the distibuter wire, they should come as a pack. I would really hate to tell you it's a short in the ignition switch because that's really hard to deal with. That happend in my mom's CR-V, and it took me a good long time to rewire that crap. Good luck.

[JesterDC]

^^I also think this is a distributer or coil problem. Just a guess, but maybe the car warms up and the water in the distributer or coil melts enough to cause it to short, but then dries up. This can be caused by a broken distributer or coil. I would check coil first. You might also think about replacing the spark plug wires and the distibuter wire, they should come as a pack. I would really hate to tell you it's a short in the ignition switch because that's really hard to deal with. That happend in my mom's CR-V, and it took me a good long time to rewire that crap. Good luck.

With me I didn't even need a new wire, it was the one going to the distributor, and evey time the car turned, shifted, or shook, it would try to die on me because the wire would loose contact for a split second, and then it would be ok...it was sooo weird...

[Bitter]

OK, so after checking google, and my Haynes manual, there is nothing on my MAP sensor.... So anyone know where it is and what to check...?

its on the firewall with a blue sticker ontop of it, towards the passenger side, has a vac line from the intake manifold going to it that has white markings on it and a wire harness with 2 wires in it.

[d3monc3lica]

Awesome, thanks guys, one more thing. I noticed my Airflow % on my SAFC2 drops to 0% when it shutters and stalls out, so i dont know how it could be the distributor but ill check all of this out. Thanks a bunch!

[Bitter]

it does sound like theres a problem with the map sesnor. the car will run like ass when it doesnt work, the vac line to mine got knocked loose once and it would start but idle VERY poorly and was dumping alot of fuel.

[d3monc3lica]

OK cool, now i have an idea of what it is even though my Haynes manual doesnt say anything about it. Its right on the firewall near the upper passenger side of my car. I'll investigate the vacuum line situation..... I wonder if maybe i got moisture in there somehow...... I just discovered a tear in my intake :-( Im ordering a new filter now, now any idea how to fix the moisture thing if that is the case?

[Bitter]

i dont know, but you can test the sensor. i'm not sure of the procedure, i'll thumb through my book and see if i can find it later.

[d3monc3lica]

I figured out the problem, I turned the cone on my air filter over and it had a hole in it, once I replaced the filter with a new one the problem was fixed.

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

I figured out the problem, I turned the cone on my air filter over and it had a hole in it, once I replaced the filter with a new one the problem was fixed.

That was not the problem. That is just a band-aid to actually fixing it.