lost power, check engine sometimes

[jake88maro]

First of all, Thanks for welcoming me to the site!
But second is the problem i'm having with my festiva. it's a 1991 5 speed 201k. it started idling rough and not running very well, when i looked into i saw the the valve cover had cracked in the corner nearest driver side fire wall. so no problem there, went to the bone yard and picked one up and put it on. so now it starts up and runs fine both at idle and driving. but now after i did all this it feels like i've lost power somewhere, and the check engine comes on every other time i drive it just about. an input would help! thanks a lot!
p.s. i am going to check the codes soon and i'll post them when i get them. Thanks!

[Pu241]

Yeah, check code(s) first.
But betting on O2 sensor.

What is your MPG.
Keep a log of MPG and you can spot a lot of issues before they get too bad.

[jake88maro]

Yeah, check code(s) first.
But betting on O2 sensor.

What is your MPG.
Keep a log of MPG and you can spot a lot of issues before they get too bad.

i know for sure before all this happened i was getting a strong 38 aproximate mpgs, then after it started happening i was only getting around the 20's. i'm going to get the codes shortly here. thanks a lot for the quick reply!

[litesong]

i know for sure before all this happened i was getting a strong 38 aproximate mpgs, then after it started happening i was only getting around the 20's. i'm going to get the codes shortly here. thanks a lot for the quick reply!

You may want to change your spark plugs & timing belt if that hasn't been done in 60,000+ miles. My mpg went up after changing both.

If you have it available, use 100% ethanol-free gasoline. pure-gas.org has listings & a great zoomable map to the minority(only 10 in every 350) of stations selling 100% pure gasoline. Your mpg will go up significantly & your engine will be smoother, quieter, & less need of shifting down while ascending hills.

[jake88maro]

You may want to change your spark plugs & timing belt if that hasn't been done in 60,000+ miles. My mpg went up after changing both.

If you have it available, use 100% ethanol-free gasoline. pure-gas.org has listings & a great zoomable map to the minority(only 10 in every 350) of stations selling 100% pure gasoline. Your mpg will go up significantly & your engine will be smoother, quieter, & less need of shifting down while ascending hills.

yeah my plugs look old for sure but when i had the valve cover off i took the side cover off and it actually looked okay! but good advice on the plugs! :thumbright:

[FestYboy]

when you removed the valve cover, did you remove the throttle body?

[georgeb]

You know you can get the codes yourself, right?

[jake88maro]

You know you can get the codes yourself, right?

i can't seem to figure out which wire to ground out to get the codes. anyone have a pic? and now it seems like everytime i drive it, it gets a little worse. i took the cat off to see if it was pluggled and welded in a straight pipe for now and still runs terrible. not getting check engine as much though. like now it has awful throttle responce as well as it backfiring too. what do you guys think about maybe the timing belt jumped time? thanks for all the help!!!

[redrocket81]

yeah mine is doing the same...it has been sitting for months now because i got so mad .....the more i drive mine the more the checklight comes on to ....i did code test got code 17 ...tells me nothing...now i start it runs idles like a new one..but you give it gas it almost dies but wont and runs like an old hit an miss motor...keep messing around reving it and it seems to come out of it but then starts agin...i hope you can figure out yours...i have gave up on mine..

[georgeb]

i can't seem to figure out which wire to ground out to get the codes. anyone have a pic? and now it seems like everytime i drive it, it gets a little worse. i took the cat off to see if it was pluggled and welded in a straight pipe for now and still runs terrible. not getting check engine as much though. like now it has awful throttle responce as well as it backfiring too. what do you guys think about maybe the timing belt jumped time? thanks for all the help!!!

The diagnostic plug is a single pin female connector near the brake booster. It's not the one by the coil. Crimp a male connector to one end and an alligator clip to the other end of a piece of wire. Ground to something. Turn key and count flashes. Long flash is 1st digit and short flash is 2nd.

[jake88maro]

The diagnostic plug is a single pin female connector near the brake booster. It's not the one by the coil. Crimp a male connector to one end and an alligator clip to the other end of a piece of wire. Ground to something. Turn key and count flashes. Long flash is 1st digit and short flash is 2nd.

Okay I will look into it later today for sure! Thanks for the help!!!

[jake88maro]

okay so this is what i just did, i advanced my distributor all the way counter clockwise. it now runs beautiful and has all it's power back plus some!
my guess is that the timing belt jumped a tooth, so advancing the distributor makes up for almost all of the timing issue. this weekend i'm still going to replace the timing belt and make sure the cam is in time..
thanks for all who helped! hope this helps other as well!!

[georgeb]

Changing ign timing does not fix bad cam timing.

[jake88maro]

Changing ign timing does not fix bad cam timing.

i understand that, just took the side covers off and the timing belt is tight and looks to have been replaced. also the timing marks line up as if it is still in correct time, any ideas?

[georgeb]

I guess you still haven't retrieved the code?