So driving my '03 this morning I paused at an intersection, then stepped on the gas and the car sputtered, then the infamous "Cruise not Available" message appeared - and just as quickly disappeared. The Check Engine Light came on, and stayed on. I drove home, restarted, drove around some more, stomped on the gas some more, no more sputtering, but CEL light stays on.

Then I go to the Forum to read up on common causes for CNA/CEL. Most refer to the likelihood of a split hose. I looked carefully at that hose, and all others too, no split hoses. It is the smooth (not ribbed) hose, but appears to be in good shape - not dried up and doesn't look 10 years old. (I do not have an OBD code reader.)

Since I happen to be playing Hooky from work today, I called my local dealer (White Plains), described what happened, and asked if they could look at it. They told me to "just drive it for 100 miles or so, and it is likely to clear itself. It's an emissions issue, it won't harm the car in any way. If it clears itself, it won't cost you anything. If the CEL is still there in a week, then bring it in for us to look at it."

I've never had a dealer decline to make some money by looking at my car before, that seems... downright un-natural - and therefore suspicious. Then again, I've been using this dealership for 4+ years since buying the X, and have found them to be honest and reliable. I also recall starting the car one day about a year ago and it seemed to be running on 3 cylinders - real rough. It didn't display any codes or lights that I remember - just super rough. I immediately shut it down, waited a few seconds, and re-started, and all was well. That seemed weird and made me nervous, but it was an isolated incident that didn't throw any codes, so I eventually forgot about it.

Maybe they are right and it will just clear itself?

What does the hive mind think?

Others threads mention the MAF or cleaning the throttle body. Have to go read up on those now, and maybe go buy a code reader.

 

First of all stop going crazy about the possible causes. A CEL and a hesitation have a wide range of possible causes. 2nd u should always have a cheap code reader, available at any discount autoparts so u can give us the codes and we can help u. We could only try and guess at this point. Maybe bad coil. Dirty or bad maf. O2 sensor etc... but dont go crazy, just get a code reader and read the code to at least have an idea.

What the dealer told u is bull**** because if u have a check engine you have a problem. i u were one of my curtomers i would tell u swing by and i would check it really quick to at least give u peace of mind. the chances of it being a glitch are slim to none...

Best of luck!

 

Meatbag, first off, I have to agree that the dealership telling you that is wrong on so many different levels.

Now, to fix your issue, the split is on the backside of the hose. So, unless you ran your hand over the backside of the hose, a simple visual will make the hose look ok. PUll it off and take a look. Super easy to do.

Next, go to the auto parts store and have them read the code(s) for you. Most will do it for free and give you the 5 character code. Then we can help you some more and give you a much more detailed "this is likely what happened".

With that being said, spend about $10 and get yourself a can of MAF sensor cleaner and Throttlebody cleaner (not carb cleaner). Clean the MAF sensor (downstream of the air filter box on the side towards the driver's wheel) and the throttlebody (remove the intake hose, if you see brown, wash it away, do not forget to use your finger to hold the butterfly valve open so you can get the edge of the butterfly valve too). After the cleaning, you may find the car hard to start since you have essentially flooded it. But, floor the car and then attempt to start and it will start after a few cranks. Once the RPMs start to come up, ease off the gas as needed to keep the engine running.

Lets see what you have at this point and then we can take it from there. With our cars, normally it is the simple stuff that is causing them to act up.

 

So I went and bought a code reader for $60 (been meaning to do that forever anyway), along with a can of Throttle-Body-Cleaner.

Started car up and read codes:

P10171 System too Lean Bank 1
P10174 System too Lean Bank 2
P1111 Mfg specific code Refer to Repair Manual
P1796 Mfg specific code Refer to Repair Manual

I'm hoping someone can tell me what those two Mfg-Specific codes mean.

In addition, while doing this, I noticed it is now displaying the yellow warning light on the dashboard and new messages on the dash:

Gearbox Fault
DSC System Fault

The yellow light and DSC/Gearbox messages were not on this morning.
I moved the car from the driveway into the garage after reading the codes and noticed the transmission was super-mushy (again, different from original situation this morning.)

I'm going to clean the throttle-body and pull the hose off to inspect more carefully ( I only felt around the underside this am.)

I did not clear the codes - should I do that after cleaning the throttle-body?

 

Should have stated mileage - 73,000 miles, and it had the full 60,000-mile service at the dealership last October.

 

Searched the forum and found these two entries in other threads:

P1111 System Check Complete (that sounds innocent enough.)

P1796 means that there is either a wiring fault in the Controller AreaNetwork (CAN)wiring to the Transmission Control Module (TCM), or if yourunlucky, a faulty TCM. (New transmission not required!!) It could well be justa loose or bad wiring connector. The car then defaults to being fixed in 4thgear. (that sounds like it explains the Gearbox Fault and the mushiness I'm feeling in the transmission.)

So, I'm off to clean the ThrotBod and re-jiggle any wires that I might have inadvertently jiggled this morning when I was feeling around the underside of that (insert-name-here) hose to see if there was a split.

As if this wasn't enuf fun for one day, my JTIS won't launch either (upgraded to Win7 a few months back - and I wasted about an hour trying to get that working, downloading the JTIS2 from the Helpful-Links post, and can't get that to run properly either. Is there a new JTIS that works on Windows 7? or do I have to go find an XP machine that still works? Without the JTIS, I'm kind of operating blind here (I don't know where the "CAN wiring to the TCM connector is located.) Pix with labels would sure be helpful.

T.I.A.!

 

So I took the 3" ribbed hose and the 1/2" hose off to inspect them, no cracks whatsoever, they are in good shape. I cleaned out the throttle body as best I could with spray cleaner and a clean rag - including the backside of the butterfly valve and as far inside as I could reach (which wasn't very far - its a tight fit in there.) I didn't find any loose wires. Then I started her up (as you said it would, it started like it was flooded) - and the same whole series of codes and messages re-appeared. So I cleared the codes, turned her off, and re-started her, and now all the codes are gone. I took her for a spin, driving it like I stole it, and all seems good to go.

While cleaning it out, there was some black sooty stuff in there, but it was a very thin coating - mostly around the outer perimeter of the butterfly valve - it's not like it was caked on there or anything. As I was doing it I'm thinking to myself "nah, this isn't dirty-enough to cause a problem" - but maybe it was.

In any case, NOW I can take the @55Hat's advice and 'just leave it be'.

I am still curious where the "Controller Area Network (CAN)wiring to the Transmission Control Module (TCM)" is located if anybunny happens to know - just in case that gremlin reappears.

And what about the JTIS? Is there a new version? Or are we all doomed to going through painful gyrations trying keep that Windows-3.1-looking 8-bit-program running in a 64-bit world?

 

Meatbag,

I’ve read on some of these posts in this forum that the smoothPCV hose has a tendency of collapsing. The “ribbed” hose –reinforced hose is the replacement part for this hose. I would replace that hose regardless of any codes being thrown at this point.

 

Meatbag, keep an eye on the car. It sounds like you are out of the woods. Granted, the P1796 code kinda makes me wonder. Granted, it could be that things were just so twisted up, that the car tried to make sense of what was going on and figured the P1796 code made the most sense.

Did you happen to subject the under side of the car to a lot of water? Also keep in mind that if you have not cleared codes in a long time, that code could have been in the car for a long time and you are simply now finding it. Hard to say as I am not sure when you last cleared all the codes.

As for the amount of gunk to cause issues, it doesn't take much. The clearances inside the throttlebody are pretty tight and even the slightest amount of anything sticky will raise issues. So, keep an eye out and keep the fingers crossed.