Fixing car for a friend...wtf

[The_Dealer]

well my friend asked to see if i can fix her car for her. its a 00 chevy prizm. it had a headgasket changed by some guy and she thinks he aint know what he was doing, although it ran, but makes this aweful ticking sound. heres the kicker. it ran up until recently then it died on her and keeps stalling. i decided to open up the fill cap while it was running to see if i could see something wrong, and it died. so i put my hand on it while she cranked it and there is mad sucking going on(on the car...from the oil filler). so bad it will leave marks on your hand. when u move your hand off it stalls. idle is erratic, everything seems to be plugged in. vacuum lines seem to be in tact. wtf would make it do that? whats some things i can check?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Might check that the cam(s) are timed right.

Dunno about that car in particular, but quite a few four cylinders are interferance. I really, really hope that isn't the ticking sound...

 

[The_Dealer]

im gonna pull the v/c tomorrow or friday and see whats up, ill take some pics. she said the gas mileage was good, and it didnt do anything funny besides the noise, up until it just quit on her. no cel or anything. oil is clean as fawk, i know that the valve seals are shot

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

replace the PCV valve. its stuck wide open. they also make a loud and very rapid ticking noise when they are bad. you can put your finger on it and probably feel it.

plug the vacuum line going to it to verify its causing a running problem

 

[User Name missing]

my car is in a similar situation with a "ticking" sound, but only under acceleration and more loudly when cold. the mechanic says it could be the lifters, in which he said that if I changed the head gasket, put fresh oil in, it could shut up.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

my car is in a similar situation with a "ticking" sound, but only under acceleration and more loudly when cold. the mechanic says it could be the lifters, in which he said that if I changed the head gasket, put fresh oil in, it could shut up.

Changing the headgasket will do nothing for the lifters. Depending on how old your oil is it might help to change it... but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[The_Dealer]

wel there is no pcv valve its a closed system. pulled the v/c and everything looked good. had broken m/m bolts so i fixed that. scanned the codes and got misfire bank 1 and 3, o2, and ignition fault 1 . it runs really bad and shakes. it runs till u try to stop then dies...would the o2 mak e it skip so badly and throw ignition codes?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Didn't they only have four cylinders (one bank) in them?

Also, some of them had variable valve timing, which would complicate timing the engine.

 

[Tiollib]

Clean the O2 sensor. My girlfriends old car had the same problem once. It sounds like its throwing the same codes. Hers was a corolla though. But I think those prizms are based off of the corollas. So try cleaning the O2 sensor and it might clear right up.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

if there is a huge vacuum in the crankcase you need to figure out why. and you're absolutely SURE it has no PCV valve? where does it vent crankcase gases to then?

 

[adsm08]

wel there is no pcv valve its a closed system. pulled the v/c and everything looked good. had broken m/m bolts so i fixed that. scanned the codes and got misfire bank 1 and 3, o2, and ignition fault 1 . it runs really bad and shakes. it runs till u try to stop then dies...would the o2 mak e it skip so badly and throw ignition codes?

I'd bet that the misfires are causing the O2 sensor codes. Those two cylinders are dumping lots of unused oxygen down the exhaust.

 

[The_Dealer]

vacuum system has the cannister, and a couple of solenoids. i do know that some engines stall when u pull the cap. those were the only codes. when i pulled flugs they smelld strongly of fuel(more then normal) just need to get it runing good. has no power whatsoever. tps is non adjustable. codes are bank 1 mis fire, cyl 1 misfire, cyl 3 misfire, ignition malfunction...cant remember if it was cyl 1 and 3 on ignition, and catalyst efficiency low

 

[Snafu]

possibly something to do with ignition module? dunno if those have one on the distributor, or if they even have one. i am basing info off what i did with my truck

 

[badmts]

I only skimed the oiginal post ,but I am sure I read something about "MAD SUCKING going on" and that the car was still not fixed They always make me fix the car FIRST!

 

[The_Dealer]

haha...its got the coil on plugs, so im gonna replace the cop's first and if it dont work gonna do the o2...gotta get this thing running, i told her i'd have it driving by the weekend. it wouldnt even stay running and i got it to where we could drive it to check the codes...which was scary in its own. crazy woman driver+stalling car= i almost shit in my pants. im stumped, i took the valve cover off and took a look, and everything looked in order, no metal chunks or any scoring on the cams. and yes its only got 1 bank, 4cyl. hope i can fix it she's fawkn hot and i dont wanna look stupid

i guess she saw my rig and was like dam if he can get that thing running he can fix anything.