4AGE 16V Running Poorly

[mic*]

^^^ That was my next q too. Where is intake temp sensor?

[LeeRoy]

My eyes may decieve me but that looks like 2 sensors attached to a bracket on the firewall. If so then maybe thats a start. Also what does the smelly stuff smell like. Does it smell like sulphur (rotten eggs/Mad beer fart), if thats what it smells like then its running rick and will probably kill a cat converter if it hasnt already. My corolla's cat is dead and its taken a good portion of power away from it - sorta like a potatoe in the exhaust.

LeeRoy

[mic*]

My eyes may decieve me but that looks like 2 sensors attached to a bracket on the firewall. If so then maybe thats a start.
LeeRoy

Dont mean to sound silly but do you mean on the strut tower, or the firewall?

And what do mean by "thats a start"?

[beige_bandit]

he means the fire wall

But the one on the left of the head is the map sensor
and the one on the right of the head is the diagnostic connector

There is no problem there

[LeeRoy]

My bad, i meant on the d/s strut. they look like sensors of some sort. By that being a start i meant maybe the start of issues to be resolved.

And shouldnt there be 1 or 2 vac hoses running from the top of the throttle body as well?

LeeRoy

[phrostbyte]

^^^ That was my next q too. Where is intake temp sensor?

The yellow plug on your intake manifold is your intake air temperature sensor.

As suggested by others, get a compression test, you probably should have done that before bothering to changing things etc, someone will have a tester that you could probably borrow for free and it takes like 10 minutes to check all 4. My cousin's engine is running exactly as you say (even the excessive carbon in the exhaust) and after we changed plugs, cables, dizzy, dizzy cap, igniter, coil... we finally did a compression check and it seems he's killed a piston ring...

Love the top-gun 8.8MM cables by the way, my cousin just bought a set for his 4ag and I wish I got them instead of the normal top guns

Kev.

[mic*]

Agreeing with beige about what is on the firewall, but not being really familliar with 4A-GE's, what are the sensors on the strut tower? And how is idle air controlled?

I still say - get the freaking pod away from the coolant hose and the difference will be noticable. I looked at the pic again, and its almost like the pod is being squashed in a bit its pushed up that hard against the coolant hose. Not cool mate - literally!

Can the thread starter give us an update/more detail...

[phrostbyte]

The black things on the strut tower would most likely be some form of emission control that is stock on a JDM 4AGE (think it's a 4AGEU or 4AGELU), they wouldn't be the cause of the problem. It seems the carbon canister is hooked up to the throttle body vacuum inlet and thats the only one that is really needed, there is C, N, R, E, i'm pretty sure, C is for the carbon canister, N needs to be blocked and R and E generally do nothing and don't even need to be blocked.

Idle is controlled by a unit on the bottom of the throttle body that has water pumped through it, as the water gets warmer the valve closes more and more, once it hits running temperature the valve closes completely.

Your backfiring problem would most likely be a TPS that is poorly set. If it thinks it should go into idle mode while the throttle is still open, it will lean out and start misfiring. If you need help setting the TPS, give me a shout and I'll give you a full instruction on how to do it.

Again though, I suggest a compression check.

Edit: One other thing, the air filter being close to a sealed pipe carrying hot water would mean nothing, the amount of heat in an engine bay right infront of the radiator would be far greater than any heat it would get off that pipe. Infact my air filter and my cousins are in the exact same position, my air filter actually sits up against that pipe... If you want to get colder air, you need to get it from outside the engine bay or a completely frontal position (ie. right behind the headlight in the ADM overflow bottle position)

Cheers,
Kev.

[Nim]

As others have said, get the pod away from your engine and the coolant line. Then put it in a box or something to stop it from heating up! Might not fix your problem, but you'll be sucking in nice cold air, and the engine will run better.

[SIC86]

And shouldnt there be 1 or 2 vac hoses running from the top of the throttle body as well?

I have always wondered that. Is there mean't to be to more hose's?
I didn't do or get the engine conversion done. It was done when i bought the car.
Anyone recommend how to pod the pod if a different area?
The cat convertor is only new but the smell doens't smell like rotten eggs.
I'll do a compresion test on my next day off

Cheers

[beige_bandit]

the sensor on the strut tower is more likely gonna be the A/c idle up.
Idle is adjustable from on top of the throttle body just left of your tps there is a
small round reces, inside is a flat head adjuster.
The vacum lines off your throttle body are fine, you'll need one for your cannister, there should be two that work with the A/c idle up(block em up) and the one that already blocked(not sure of its purpose) stays blocked.