Partycrash

Hi, my 92 first gen has been running like a top. I did a full tuneup to it 6 months/about 5k miles ago: waterpump, t-belt, all new hoses and belts, plugs, wires, caps, rotors, all fluids, etc and had no issues at all.
I was outta the country for a month and when my wife went to drive it, the battery was dead. So I had my neighbor put my charger on it for a few hours and it started fine.
But when my wife went to drive it, she said it had a miss and idled poorly. So I told her to drive it for 30 miles or so and see if it would clear up, thinking the ECU would need to reset itself for drivabilty. No help. I got home today and sure enough, idles crappy and feels like it has a miss at cruise.

My question is: is this just a coincidence or could it be battery related? The car had not been driven in 3 weeks before she got in and found the battery dead but it sure acts like a wire or fuel problem and can't imagine it being a battery or ECU problem..
I'll rip into it if I need to but wanted a few thoughts from you guys first. It hasn't put out any codes although the CEL came on breifly today when I took it out.

vaughn37

Hi was it low on gas? maybe bad gas?
If the engine light came on and even though it went off that should mean there is a code stored?

These cars are old they do weird things

Partycrash

I'll check and see if I had a code stored vaughn, thx for the input..it has 1/2 a tank but running a bottle of octane boost may not be a bad idea..

amcdonal86

I think you need an Italian tuneup.

Partycrash

what's that?

stanleyCa

i was thinking maybe the gas was old...drain the gas thats in there and put some fresh gas in...

lexuslspro

Doubt it. He had done a good tuneup already of the most common components that need to be replaced.

For those asking what an Italian Tuneup is....It's usually regarded as one of the most thorough tuneups. It will help bring the car back to like new performance.

Google is your friend!

Partycrash

Sorry, I thought he was being funny, ie: chinese blueprint or 4X60 air conditioning and didn't think to google Italian tuneup!
I've got a can of Chemtool injector cleaner it now with 1/2 can seafoam in 1/2 tank of gas so I'll run it down and refill the tank with 93 again...If I can find a track to run the dog crap out of it then I will but 75 is about tops around here to stay outta trouble..

trukn1

First pull the code to limit your search area. Could be a number of things. First gens are not OBDII compliant so you will have to do it the old fashioned way,,
http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html

Bad battery would not cause the crappy idle situation; car would just die and your dash would light up like a christmas tree shortly before it passes out.

Partycrash

pulled codes this morning and I got a 25 and 26 (lean/rich mixture malfunction) so I've been focusing on a clogged injector only because I've changed everything in the tuneup that might cause an electrical problem except for the coils..could be a vac leak too but it's a steady miss at all speeds and it seems that an injector is the culprit. But hell, I've been wrong too many times to count. I ran seafoam through the brake booster too but still the same problem. I've replaced previously 2 out of 4 O2 sensors so I don't think thats the problem..

trukn1

Check your MAF sensor,,, could have gone bad.

Partycrash

will do, thx..

killsnake

I would go further with those injectors. One of those injectors doesn't sound like it's working. If you have a llean bank and rich bank. Just a thought.

Partycrash

I'll ohm them out and see if I have a bad one after checking the MAF sensor, thx..

killsnake

The only thing with that method is a clogged injector can pass an ohm test. another

few methods could be a mechanics stehscope or inline fuel injection cleaning(no in tank

fuel injection cleaner)