Integra LS - Exhaust Issues - Cat Converter ???

(Integra LS) spake unto the masses in

There is always a little bit in a FWD car. If it's excessive, it's usually
due to low idle or worn engine mounts.

Investigate cause of low idle before turning the idle speed screw.

 

Do you live in San Fransisco?

 

No, a little bit northeast. About 3,000 miles, that is.

I'm in Canada. So are you. Why do you ask?

 

Possibly a bad or failing front lower motor mount or idle out-of-spec??
As for the exhasut vapors... you said it was cold right?? Unless it's
bright white, black, or blue, I wouldn't be too worried about the
exhaust (especially b/c you passed the emissions testing).


HTH

Andrew.
aka neex

 

Possibly a bad or failing front lower motor mount or idle out-of-spec??
As for the exhasut vapors... you said it was cold right?? Unless it's
bright white, black, or blue, I wouldn't be too worried about the
exhaust (especially b/c you passed the emissions testing).


HTH

Andrew.
aka neex

 

Good looking out Andrew ! I'm going with you on the exhaust - that
makes total sense. Now as for idling and motor mounts - how can you
tell it's bad or not ? The idling is not so severe that it appears to
be damaging the car, but I'd like my car to idle smooth as butter when
I first got it. My car has 75K and been pretty well take care of
maintenance wise and is completely stock. Could it possibly be a bad
motor mount ? Seens a little early for that. I want my car is idling I
can see my front license plate shaking along with it. So I'd like to
get the car to at least idle better and get a little better throttle
response. Hope you can solve this one ! Thanks for all your help
everyone !

 

Good looking out Andrew ! I'm going with you on the exhaust - that
makes total sense. Now as for idling and motor mounts - how can you
tell it's bad or not ? The idling is not so severe that it appears to
be damaging the car, but I'd like my car to idle smooth as butter when
I first got it. My car has 75K and been pretty well take care of
maintenance wise and is completely stock. Could it possibly be a bad
motor mount ? Seens a little early for that. I want my car is idling I
can see my front license plate shaking along with it. So I'd like to
get the car to at least idle better and get a little better throttle
response. Hope you can solve this one ! Thanks for all your help
everyone !

 

It's a little easier to check on a manual because there's a 'rocking in
gear' trick you can use (you could maybe do the same thing in 'P'ark in
an auto but I would advise you to unless something goes wrong. Anyway,
it's a good bet that if your idle is within spec 750+/- as I recall
(with no access or lights on after the fan has kicked on indicated car
is at operating temp) and your lic. plates/dash/etc are shaking, your
front lower mount is likely gone or on it's way. If you park and then
go under the hood and physically **pull** and **push** on the
head/valve cover, you will feel and see movemement if the mounts are
bad. Also, if you have someone rev the motor in neutral a little while
you look under the hood, you will see the motor **tilt** a fair bit
when it's under load.

A few questions for you:

Is the idle and timing set properly??

Does the shaking stop when you give the motor a little gas to get the
revs up?

Do cars beside you watch your hood in awe at stop lights because it
shakes so bad?

It isn't uncommon for mounts to go bad at 75k - especially if the car
is driven in a snowbelt area or if it has seen some 'spirited' driving.

Some folks will tell you just to either play with the air trim screw on
the throttle body or tighten the throttle cable. These are not the
first places to go mucking about. You can cause more problems than you
will solve doing this (especially because your ECU uses 'rationality').
Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, your on board diagnostics
will campare results from several inputs to make sense of the situation
(i.e. the fuel injectors are pulsing very fast... but the motor isn't
under load and it's at full operating temperature... I must have a bad
or failing coolant temp sensor...).

What does this have to do with anything?? Nothing except that many of
your 'fears' of a poorly running or problematic vehicle may be
unfounded because they would have been picked up by your ECU because of
how "smart" it is... kind of like Decartes... "I think therefore I
am"... Older ECUs just report based on a preset value comparison...
they didn't compare results using "rationality".

Anyway... let us know what you turn up...



Andrew.

 

It's a little easier to check on a manual because there's a 'rocking in
gear' trick you can use (you could maybe do the same thing in 'P'ark in
an auto but I would advise you to unless something goes wrong. Anyway,
it's a good bet that if your idle is within spec 750+/- as I recall
(with no access or lights on after the fan has kicked on indicated car
is at operating temp) and your lic. plates/dash/etc are shaking, your
front lower mount is likely gone or on it's way. If you park and then
go under the hood and physically **pull** and **push** on the
head/valve cover, you will feel and see movemement if the mounts are
bad. Also, if you have someone rev the motor in neutral a little while
you look under the hood, you will see the motor **tilt** a fair bit
when it's under load.

A few questions for you:

Is the idle and timing set properly??

Does the shaking stop when you give the motor a little gas to get the
revs up?

Do cars beside you watch your hood in awe at stop lights because it
shakes so bad?

It isn't uncommon for mounts to go bad at 75k - especially if the car
is driven in a snowbelt area or if it has seen some 'spirited' driving.

Some folks will tell you just to either play with the air trim screw on
the throttle body or tighten the throttle cable. These are not the
first places to go mucking about. You can cause more problems than you
will solve doing this (especially because your ECU uses 'rationality').
Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, your on board diagnostics
will campare results from several inputs to make sense of the situation
(i.e. the fuel injectors are pulsing very fast... but the motor isn't
under load and it's at full operating temperature... I must have a bad
or failing coolant temp sensor...).

What does this have to do with anything?? Nothing except that many of
your 'fears' of a poorly running or problematic vehicle may be
unfounded because they would have been picked up by your ECU because of
how "smart" it is... kind of like Decartes... "I think therefore I
am"... Older ECUs just report based on a preset value comparison...
they didn't compare results using "rationality".

Anyway... let us know what you turn up...



Andrew.

 

Ok Andrew,

Did the rocking test by hand like you suggested and great news I saved
15% on my car insurance with Geico. Actually, I rocked it and it
seemed perfectly fine, the engine mounts seemed rock solid. But the
car does idle exactly @ 750 - 800 rpms. I didn't do the neutral test
tho.

1. I do believe the idle and timing are set properly because I had the
timing belt replaced last week and the engine seems perfectly fine
driving.

2. Yup the vibrations stop when I start accelerating.

Funny thing I changed out my PVC Valve and the car seemed to run alot
smoother. Weird huh ?

Anyhow let me know what you think. Thanks !

 

Ok Andrew,

Did the rocking test by hand like you suggested and great news I saved
15% on my car insurance with Geico. Actually, I rocked it and it
seemed perfectly fine, the engine mounts seemed rock solid. But the
car does idle exactly @ 750 - 800 rpms. I didn't do the neutral test
tho.

1. I do believe the idle and timing are set properly because I had the
timing belt replaced last week and the engine seems perfectly fine
driving.

2. Yup the vibrations stop when I start accelerating.

Funny thing I changed out my PVC Valve and the car seemed to run alot
smoother. Weird huh ?

Anyhow let me know what you think. Thanks !

 

Not that weird. And when I asked if your sluggishness started after the
timing belt job, I was concerned it was done wrong. I imagine the car would
run if the belt was off by a tooth but I think it could cause hesitation and
a rough idle. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Just something you might
want to verify before you go chasing shadows.

 

Not that weird. And when I asked if your sluggishness started after the
timing belt job, I was concerned it was done wrong. I imagine the car would
run if the belt was off by a tooth but I think it could cause hesitation and
a rough idle. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Just something you might
want to verify before you go chasing shadows.