congrats on getting her running the check engine light good be a lot of things let the thing run and get all back to normal and see if it goes away ... although it could be something simple like a bad vacuum line or something on that order... you will have to pull the code and that will give you and idea of whats up... might even be why the thing was stalling in the first place...

 

Thanks for the Congrats. I'm just giddy about it.

I took the car for a little drive and it seems to run just fine. No knock, no stalling, and it's a little premature but I don't think it's leaking either. Clean sweep.

I checked the codes thanks to the how to in the FAQ and came up with a
12 Direct battery input to PCM was disconnected within the last 50 key-on cycles , and a
37 Torque converter clutch solenoid CKT or park/neutral switch failure

12 Makes sense if I understand it correctly
There was a plug that I couldn't find so the 37 is accounted for as well. I do need to find that connection though.

There are a few other odds and ends to sort out but the big stuff is all done. WHEW!
Now it's time to figure out what to do with all that money I saved

 

I was concerned for a bit that I might have gotten air in the torque converter but that didn't seem to matter. I filled it with AFT+4 full synthetic and it shifts just fine. I also ended up going with the TPS sensor I got from the j/y instead of the new one. I don't like bouging out on ordered parts but I couldn't see buying a $90 part when I already have a working one.

I still have what I think is a busted front motor mount and a drivers side window that needs adjustment so the works not done yet.

 

hey it runs and drives thats a good start lol... yeah i'm not one to spend 90 bucks on parts and unless i really need it... or its going to make the car faster or better lol...

 

Things this car still needs

The drivers side window regulator needs lubed and/or adjusted, before it breaks.
The drivers side headlight needs adjusted since it points at the ground right now.
The emergency flasher needs to be changed so they work right
I need to either fix or replace the combination switch so the left hand turn signal works properly.

Once the car is warm it runs and drives fine. It's fun to drive actually. While it's cold though, I get a lot of noise from the HLA's. I might just be able to adjust them but won't know for sure until I take a closer look. I was hoping it was just from sitting so long and would stop once it was being driven.

I also get a groaning noise from the tranny when the car is put in reverse, again when it's cold. I'm kicking myself for not changing the filter when I had the thing apart. Oh well I guess. Maybe that too will get better as the car is driven more.

I still have the CEL's to fix which I referenced earlier in this thread.

 

Okay more useless information.

When I reassembled the transmission and pan, I didn't use a proper gasket as I was told that silicone sealer would be fine and was all that was recommended. A week later and a lot of leaked out tranny fluid, I hot footed it down to the parts house to pick up a tranny filter. Yea, I know I should have changed it the first time around but I just didn't think about it. What I realized was that the filter comes with it's own gasket. Nice. I got everything cleaned up so I could reuse all that expensive tranny fluid I've been poring in there and then made it happen. I made double sure that the gasket surfaces were clean and that I torqued the bolts down to spec. I'm a little nervous about checking it this morning but that will probably be the next thing I do.

This may sound weird but tranny fluid smells kind of good when it's all hot like that.

Oh yea, the CEL light is still on even though I found the last plug. I disconnected the battery since I thought that was supposed to clear the codes but no joy. I'll take a closer look at it later since I don't think it's hurting anything.

 

I checked the oil today and found it to be almost two quarts low. Hrmmmm. It's not leaking oil so it must be burning it. This is not a good development.

 

yeah thats deff not a good thing if its burning that much oil... but then again my dohc burns a bit of oil also... i seem to go threw about 2qts per 3k which is a lil but its also after i switched to 10w30... i know 5w30 is recommended but i don't burn near as much 10w30... i know its not the perfect fix but it works for now i know the motor is getting worn put it runs great and pulls great mpg so i'm not worried... if its starts getting worse i'll start looking for a 2.4 to drop in her...

 

Do you think your fix could be in the top end, valve guides maybe?

 

well with your engine burning oil its one of to thing either the valve guides or the piston rings so its worth a shot in redoing the valve guides.... if nothing else it might reducing the burning down to something far more acceptable...