Newbie, few questions, where to start?

Hi guys, I have 736/2000. I haven't really been a car guy so I probably have some stupid questions here. I've read through the vfaqs etc. I'd like to do some maintenance etc to keep this thing going / get it running better. I have a number of issues here, any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I hooked up a buzzer to my diag port, is it possible to read multiple error codes at once? I get SLLLSLSL on the buzzer 31 and 11, seems like O2 sensor & knock sensor would this be right? If so should I try to find new ones or could it be something else? (like is it saying that the knock sensor is bad or is it saying I have knock?)

The car seems like it has little to no boost, I guess I haven't really noticed because its been a gradual decline. When I first got the car it would shove me back in my seat when the turbo spooled but now not so much. Could this be related to the O2/Knock lights?

When driving on the interstate there's a shake in the front end, only above say 65-70mph. Any ideas on what to look at that could cause this?

One last thing, sorry for all the questions. I have a problem with the wheel camber on one of my rear wheels causing the tires to wear extremely unevenly wearing out the inside edge. Is there an adjustment somewhere where I can fix this?

thanks,

Justin

 

[mikus]

We'll see if I can post before somebody that really knows what they're talking about beats me to it. If this is under their response, ignore

1) welcome! maintenence is a good start for these... and finish, and ongoing.
2) beats me on diag codes, never tried it that way
3) do you have a boost gauge? If not, get one at least for diagnostic. You may be losing boost, maybe timing advance. Your on the right track but we need more info.
4) shaking and your worn wheel are quite likely the same issue, unbalanced/uneven tires cause all sorts of shakign/noise at speed. Do you have aftermarket suspension of any sort? On that note, what's this car all about, what are the relevant mods for these q's?

 

I don't have a boost gauge beyond the normal lights on the dash. No aftermarket suspension, no mods on anything that I know of. Car is pretty much bone stock.

 

Which o2 sensor should I buy to replace the broken one? I see a ton of different options when I go online to order a new one.

 

[Olson]

Go to orileys and pick up a boush one. as for the codes i dont know

 

[DR1665]

This is just a shot at theory, so take it with a grain of salt.

If the O2 craps out, the air-fuel ratio is going to be out of whack. I suspect the ECU switches to some preset default "safety" fuel map to prevent the engine from blowing up on you. In that case, you might see some knock, in which case the ECU is going to pull (retard) ignition timing on you under boost. This feels like the thrill is gone, something's not right, all it's doing is making more noise when I floor it.

I'd start with the O2 sensor too. If you've never changed it and don't know how long it's been in there, it certainly can't hurt you. Oh, yeah, and a bum O2 sensor is likely to cause crappy gas mileage too.

 

Got the O2 replaced. Still need to do the knock sensor. The check engine light is still on for knock sensor but it stopped complaining about the O2. I was able to borrow a compression gauge this weekend too, I got 160, 145, 150, 150.

Still not much power and sometimes a slight squeel when the turbo spools.

I also found some service receipts indicating that the timing belt broke and the car had the head rebuilt about 60,000 miles ago.

 

couple pics


missing piece grr.

 

[Diego]

Justin I never asked when talkin to you, but where did you find her and what did you pay?.

 

My parents had it like 10 years ago, not sure where they got it then. I got it from them.

 

I took some stuff apart today. Anyone have any advice for changing the knock sensor? I can't seem to figure out how to get at the damn thing. I followed the post in the howto forum but I finally gave up trying to get a wrench on it from the passenger side.

While I was in there i pulled the pipe off my turbo and checked it out. seems to spin freely and the bearings feel good. there was oil on the cold side, does that mean anything?

 

[AnotherNewb]

Your knock sensor problems can be solved by persistance, its a pain in the ass to get to but just try different angles and worse comes to worse, you may have to customize a wrench to get to it. As far as the oil on the compressor side of the turbo it is normal to see a build up of residue. It comes from the hose off of the valve cover that is plumbed into the intake tube.

 

Does the squeal from the turbo sound like a RFL belt squeal? If so, not good.
I had one of those, and didn't love it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

If you look at the fuse block under your dash, the very bottom right hand corner fuse is the ECU fuse. Pull it out for about 30 seconds and reinstall it. That resets the ECU and now you need to drive it and report back please.

 

Welp. Check engine lights are all gone now. Finally got the knock sensor sorted out, I barely had enough swearing in me to get that done. Hope I never have to do that again.

I guess next i'll be making a boost leak tester.

 

I hate to say it but you better stock up on those cuss words /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

front drivers side tire had a ton of slop in it, the tie rod end was totally fubar. I changed that out today, its better but the wheel still has quite alot of play in it. I haven't been out on the hiway yet to see how much better the shake is.

Whats next in line to be f'ed up? the whole steering rack? =(

 

[broxma]

Just the single wheel has slop? Wheel bearing? Is the opposite wheel moving when you shake the other? Steering wheel turning a bit?

Might also be the lower ball joint.

/brox

 

[Mark LaVallee]

Mitsubishi sources the lower ball joint as complete in the lower control arm. Expensive. Moog sells the balljoint separately. MUCH cheaper.

The struts can cause a shimmy if you hit a bump and they are SHOT.

 

[BoostedAWD91]

you can also purchase a complete control arm with ball joint installed for $100 from autozone.