I usually carry mine in my back pocket... or in some cases a paper clip will work :p

ACTUALLY... I do have an ALDL computer built into my dash... But unfourtunately, there is no code, the computer notices nothing. But I can pick up knock counts all over the place... If I knew what voltages and values certain sensors are supposed to be reading, I might be able to tell if a sensor was bad.

AMEN!

well my car is still missing, but it depends on the day as to how bad it misses. I think it may be an intermittent sensor, because it generally runs very well. The worst problem is occasionally, when I put my foot into it, I will hear a mild pop, i assume is a back fire... I cant imagine thats good for my car. I just dont know which sensors to start checking, or how to test them.

Its not bad fuel, vacuum leak or pcv valve. Not EGR valve. Highly doubtful its a fuel injector, put endless amounts of cleaner through to no avail. I changed my fuel filter. Air filter is good.

Could camshaft position or crankshaft position cause problems like this? Its almost as if my vacuum advance were unplugged if I had a distributor (which i dont)

Hey delta, get some throttle body cleaner and spray it through your MAF sensor. Those are prone to get an oil film on them and cause missing/hesitation and such due to improper air metering. It's more common with oil and gauze type air filters like ours.

Give it a try. I won't guarantee success, but I know it won't hurt either. You can take the MAF off to clean it, or remove the filter and spray with the car running. Just be light on it or the car will stall.

DK

throttle body cleaner, I can spray through the MAF? I was always worried about spraying any sort of chemical in there, cause I wasnt sure if that would wreck it.

Now, when you say throttle body cleaner, is that like the carb cleaner spray, or would the intake and combustion chamber spray do the same job?

If I remove my MAF to clean it, what should I be aware of, or particularly careful not to touch?

Yeah, it's like carb cleaner. Not that different. I'd still use something labelled "throttle body cleaner" or "intake cleaner" to be safe though. It won't hurt the MAF. If you do take off your MAF just be sure not to damage any of the wires in it, as those are what actually measure the airflow. I found good results by spraying cleaner in with the motor running, but I've done it both ways.

DK

So, I did that last night, and cleaned my throttle body all up last night, and the MAF aswell. I noticed the car a little more peppy than usual, but I've still got that miss... I was hoping you were right about the MAF, that made some sense... It did make a bit of a difference, but not to the miss.

AHHH!!! Damn fuel injection, I love it when it works properly, but when things go wrong...

Ok. So, my missing situation is getting worse and worse... Now, everytime I start my car, I hear knocking. Idle misses, light throttle pressure misses, and wide open misses like crazy. But for some reason it doesnt do too badly between 25% and 75% throttle.

What ever the problem is has to do with improper firing of the spark plugs, I'm almost sure. I would swear my timing was way out to lunch, but I dont have a distributor!!!

Nonetheless, I'm going to buy new spark plugs today (even though I inspected all 6 and they look fine). I'd like to test my wires somehow, but dont know how (I'd buy new ones but thats not in my budget this month).

I'm really starting to get worried about this problem, its not getting better... If worse comes to worse, I'll take it in to a shop for a diagnostic... But I cant do that just yet... ($$$)

I found the cause of all my engine problems... I totally lgave up on it and took it to a shop. The guy talked to me for ten or so minutes and said it didnt make sense what I was describing.

He came out to look at it and listened to the knocking for a second and said it wasnt knocking. It was my harmonic balancer. the rubber was completely destroyed. I replaced, and all my problems dissappeared The guy at the shop didnt even offer to replace it for me... He smiled and said talk to you later.

my harmonic balancer went bad too and now its getting ready to do it again cause my tensioner pulley is making the belt too tight...good luck changing it on mine it was a pain in the ass to do.

harmonic balancer

Whats that?

it's a round "weight" on the front of the crankshaft

that went bad on mine..it just knocked like hell, i thought it was my timing chain tensioner again.. but it was the bushing in the balancer.. damn thing

oh god, I know the knocking sound.... I thought my motor was going to blow up!!! Thank god it was just the balancer.