850 wants to stall when cold

Fish1200 · Post by **Fish1200** » 05 Apr 2016, 09:34

Hi all,
I have a 1996 850 na with a manual trans and 98k miles. Lately, it has been acting strange. When I start the car, it will start and idle fine. I can put it in reverse, no problem, but when I shift to first and drive a few feet, the car will drop from whatever RPM it's at and idle very low, like it wants to stall. If i shift to neutral, sometimes it will correct itself, sometimes it won't. If I press the accelerator, nothing happens or it stalls. If I shut the car off and restart it, it will start fine, but still have the same problem. When I let the car warm up a bit, I don't have any problems. Sometimes, it's just a hiccup or sometimes it is very bad. Also, the light on the dash that indicates a burned out bulb flashes randomly during this time (it started doing that first). No lights are out, and if I press the brake pedal, the light shuts off. Once I'm moving down the road for a few seconds, the light goes away. I don't know if they are related or not, just trying to give you as much info as possible. I had it in the shop and they claim they cannot recreate the problem (of course). I cleaned the MAF and the plugs, wires and cap look to be newer (possibly done when it had the timing belt service at 70K, I don't know). The only codes the engine has thrown are for the catalyst and AIR pump, which shouldn't be related to this problem. The mechanic claims it also threw a code for the trans, due to the seal leaking and the fluid running low (which I fixed, along with most of the front end). I don't want to start throwing good money after bad to figure out this problem. Any one else have this issue? Thanks in advance.

Post by **abscate** » 05 Apr 2016, 09:40

MT codes from fluid?? Hmmm.

Let's start with getting the actual and pending codes read, in form P1234

The light bulb stuff is all red herring at the moment, let's focus on the Orcas

Fish1200 · Post by **Fish1200** » 05 Apr 2016, 10:20

Codes read are P0422 and P0410.

I can't vouch for the trans code, since I didn't see it with my own eyes and the mechanic tried at first to tell me that it was an OBD I car, even though my OBD II scanner can read it and it clearly says "OBD II" on the cover above the shifter.

Post by **misha** » 05 Apr 2016, 10:59

Air pump can cause the engine to stall due to vacuum leak from failed sas valve.
It CAN'T cause engine to stall when it's completelly removed and all hoses removed or plugged.
Codes from manual transmission....hmmmm.It's time to replace a mechanic.

Fish1200 · Post by **Fish1200** » 05 Apr 2016, 11:18

I thought the trans code sounded fishy.
Would the air pump cause the intermittent problem and correct itself when the car warms up? I haven't done a stage 0 (I know, I know). I just wish I knew if it were an electrical or fuel issue, so I knew where to start.

Post by **abscate** » 06 Apr 2016, 04:49

That's a cat efficiency and an SAS code. You probably have a vacuum leak or SAS rust out admitting air somewhere it shouldn't. Time for that Stage 0!

Fish1200 · Post by **Fish1200** » 06 Apr 2016, 07:11

I'm planning on it now that the weather here is trying to behave. Still, the air pump shouldn't make it run poorly, should it?

Post by **abscate** » 06 Apr 2016, 07:18

Fish1200 wrote:I'm planning on it now that the weather here is trying to behave. Still, the air pump shouldn't make it run poorly, should it?

on a 20 year old car, if the air system is holed and fubar, it can definitely cause bad running.