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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / August 2005Have I blown my vitara's brains out?
I've done many a stupid thing with cars - but I think I've just beat the lot... After driving all over Europe without a problem, I got home and the next day I reversed into a post and smashed the back door on my suzuki vitara jlx (SWB 4x4). Oh poo! (stupid thing to do no 1) So another day gone bashing the bumper (fender) back into shape and ordering a new door. For resons best kept to myself but not unrelated to insurance mileage limits, I felt the desire to remove the instrument panel and when I put it back I.. er... accidentally forgot to reconnect the speedo cable (REALLY stupid thing to do no 2.) After driving it for a few miles the"check engine" warning light came on which I ignored for a short while because of the narrow / remote road I was stuck in - (Yes you guessed it - stupid thing to do number 3) So then the car just stopped working - dead. I towed it home with assistance. SO HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION... I read in the manual that this thing has an ECM (electronic control monitor) computer-thingy which monitors all sorts of things including... speed - measured from the speedometer (uh oh) and also controls the fuel (gas) injection! So now it won't start. There is a spark at the plugs. There is fuel being sent to the fuel injection (TBI) gadget (I pulled the pipe off and it squirted out when the engine turned). So have I messed up its little brain thingy ? How can I reset it. ANY IDEAS??? (yes I've already reconnected the speedo - but seeing as the car doesn't start the speedo is a bit irrelevant at the moment :-( ) Thanks in advance everyone Chris Floatything > I've done many a stupid thing with cars - but I think I've just beat the > lot... [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > IDEAS??? (yes I've already reconnected the speedo - but seeing as the car > doesn't start the speedo is a bit irrelevant at the moment :-( ) Two suggestions: 1. Consider selling your car and taking public transportation. Let them worry about aiming the vehicle properly, paying for insurance and taking care of repairs. Depending on your country, you may have violated more than one law by tampering with the speedometer and you may find it difficult to register the car next time around. 2. If you must drive, have someone who is an experienced mechanic repair the car properly. > > I've done many a stupid thing with cars - but I think I've just beat the > > lot... [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > 2. If you must drive, have someone who is an experienced mechanic > repair the car properly. OK, the post thing, just fix it and move on. Unless it was a big post that you should have seen in your rearview mirror. Consider that the post could have been a small child, kick yourself for not knowing where you are going and move on. Tampering with a speedo is a big NO NO ! You need to read out the trouble code from the check engine and see what it says. > I've done many a stupid thing with cars - but I think I've just beat the > lot... [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > Chris Floatything If you wish to be determined enough and continue diy'ing, try replacing the plugs, which are probably drowned with fuel by now. When it starts, drive it carefully around the neighborhood a few miles and along the open hwy. a couple of miles to relearn--yes reLEARN not TEACH--the computer. HTH & good luck. If this solves your dilemna, donate a little extra to your favorite charity--it may compensate for those naughty odometer thoughts!! s > I've done many a stupid thing with cars - but I think I've just beat the > lot... [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > Chris Floatything Generally with many Japanese vehicles the speedometer in the instrument cluster sends a conditioned speed sensor signal to the ECM (engine computer) so the ECM knows how fast you are driving. Losing this signal will typically affect drivability very little (with the exception of those vehicles equipped with simpler electronically shifted automatic transmissions). Unplugging the cluster could cause this to happen and set a P0500 code (if OBD-II compliant). This should not be the cause of your no start condition. At worst I would think that engine speed would drop to idle faster than normal when decellerating to a stop. Try replacing the plugs as someone else suggested, reconnect the instrument cluster, and finally, remove the negative terminal from the battery for a minute and reconnect it before attempting a restart. Toyota MDT in MO >So now it won't start. There is a spark at the plugs. There is fuel being >sent to the fuel injection (TBI) gadget (I pulled the pipe off and it >squirted out when the engine turned). Pull the plugs out and see if the fuel is being squirted into the cylinders. If so and it still doesn't start, it is probably flooded. On many fuel injected cars you can floor the gas pedal as you crank to clear out a flood condition (disables the injectors temporarily); your owners manual may mention this. Of course, you might have really bad luck and you lost your timing belt - if you have fuel and spark at the correct time, you could only have compression problems. Pull off the oil cap. Can you see the camshaft turn when an assistant cranks the motor? If not, you are in for more trouble besides your insurance premium. |
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