Ok so the problem.
If I start the car it will start up and idle as normal. In fact I can put it in gear and drive it for about 1 min... after this point it goes into what I call a "rough idle" mode where if I give it any additional gas it'll die. If it's still in gear, it'll die. If the car dies, I can usually restart it immediately and it'll sit there and rough idle seemingly forever, but once I touch the gas it dies. Outside temperature does not seem to affect things one way or another and the car never gets up to running temperature before it enters "rough idle" mode.
At the moment I think it's a bad fuel pressure regulator.... but I would love some feedback as I only have limited time to work on the car since it's not at home in the garage and can only work on it during good weather since it's stuck outside at work.
I disconnected the sensor on the exhaust as was suggested to me by a mechanic where I work because in his experience a clogged up smog pump can cause a similar problem in other vehicles he's worked on. He said it would make the car run loud but if the smog pump was the problem then I could at least drive the car home. This didn't work. It ran the same.
I read on the forums about the MAF and that disconnecting it would allow the car to run if it was the fault... but disconnection caused it to just die immediately (or not start, I forget which). I probably did this check wrong... I was in a hurry that day.
I checked the air filter, it looked clean.
I checked the gas cap, removed it and put it back on.
I replaced the fuel filter Friday (also at the Mechanic's suggestion) and this didn't seem to help. I had never changed the fuel filter the entire time I've owned the car (which I bought used 6 years ago), but it looks like it was changed at one other time before now as there was no tape around the one fuel line connection.
I have searched the forum...
It seems I need to:
Clean the MAF sensor
Clean the throttle body
Check/replace the fuel pressure regulator
Look for vacuum leaks
I live a good 40+ miles from my workplace... so any other ideas on stuff to check is appreciated. If this sounds like something anyone else has had to deal with, I appreciate the feedback. My symptoms didn't exactly match anyone elses I could find on the forum. I found enough stuff close though to build the list above of what to check.
Could it be bad gas or excess water in the tank?
Could it be excess carbon and a fuel cleaner/stabilizer will help?
I have downloaded the 850 zip file full of documents a while back, but I probably need to do so again since I don't have the files at work.
To recount the events that led up to this (if it helps), I was on my way to work the morning this started. I stopped and put about 7 gallons of gas into the tank as it was low. I drove about 35 miles and stopped at a local store to pick up a few 2-liters for work. When I got in the car at the store, the car started but was rough idling and stopped when I pressed the gas. I popped the hood and checked all fluids. Coolant was ok but a little low on the bottle. I added some. Oil was really low... probably 2 1/2 quarts in the engine
... as I added about 2 & 1/2 to get it back up to the full mark. This didn't seem to help at all. When a few guys from work and I came back to get the car with a truck and trailer later in the day, the car started and I was able to drive it up onto the trailer. When we got it to my work place (a few miles down the road), when I started it to back it off the trailer it went into rough idle mode so we ended up pushing it off the trailer ... though later on I was able to start it and park it out of the way.Is it possible the low oil was part of the issue? That was my original thought but I had no issues driving the whole time before that and all temperatures seemed fine engine wise.
It seems odd that it starts and runs fine then it's like it can't handle the fuel flow, gets bogged down and dies. It seems pressure related more than sensor related since I would think a sensor would either work or not work and pressure could build to the point of it running rough (my theory anyway).
I really need to get this car running so I can get it home. I was hoping to get some new tires on it this week due to a good deal through goodyear (my dad is retired from there).
Any feedback is appreciated.
Other issues with this car... I have a leaky heater core which is currently not leaking due to putting some stop-leak in with the coolant. I'm probably due for a timing belt (and related parts) change. SRS light is constantly on (which started shortly after removing carpet as I had to disconnect the sensors in both seats)... and I have taken off (a year ago) and re-soldered the ABS unit (per instructions here) but still sometimes the ABS unit will fail partially (where just the ABS light is illuminated) or it will fully fail (and the abs and brake error lights illuminate and then the speedometer and related components stop functioning). So the car is far from mechanically perfect, though this is the first time the car has given me a serious problem like this.
... I mean Thorttle Body.... and I have carb/throttle body cleaner that's safe for O2 sensors.
