Well, the moment I've dreaded since I've owned the old girl has finally come to fruition....I got a check engine light and 'restricted performance' message. This happened after I changed my spark plugs. I installed the NGK Iridiums that everyone has given great reviews for and I felt that I did a pretty good job.

After I finished I cleaned up and let the car warm up. It would idle just fine no shaking or weird issues, I took it for a drive to the post office, when I got back in the car the car idled funny and shook a little. Once I got home I re-inspected the vehicle and saw that I made a mistake and didn't bolt on the intake hose appropriately at the top of the engine.

Now that I've fixed that and made sure that the plugs were in correctly and everything else is bolted on strong I still have those two messages on. Twice now the message 'restricted performance' has disappeared but the engine light stays on.

Driving to the auto parts store the car seemed to respond just fine and there wasn't anything alerting. Now I'm stressed out and have a slew of P-Codes:

P0301
P0302
P0303
P0305
P0307
P0308
P1316
P0300
P0171
P0174

I did some research but I would greatly appreciate any insight, help, suggestions, or advice. Hopefully these are issues I can fix because there aren't many mechanics near my area and the ones that are around charge an arm and a leg. Thanks in advance!!

 

There should be a link to the diagnostic code reference in the stickies.

Most people will not memorise the codes, so you would do well to transcribe the meanings of each code into your post.

BTW, now that you have a list of the codes, you should clear them and observe which ones come back. Those will be the only relevant codes.

 

All of the 3 codes are miss-fire codes P0300 being multiple miss-fires. p0301 is cylinder 1 miss and so on. clear and see what comes back like plums said

 

Thanks for the quick response quys, as soon as I can make it to an auto parts store to clear it today I post my updates.

By the by how safe is it to drive the vehicle in these conditions?

 

If it is running rough and engine light is flashing it is possicle to damage cat converters if driven. If it is running rough I would advise against driving.

 

p1316 means it is in restricted perf mode and the other 2 are lean codes. Start by looking for a vacuum leak or unmonitored air entering engine. Air intake tube could be loose at air meter or Throttle-body.

 

In that story, you did not mention givingthe engine a bath. Did that happen? Also, mention to us which parts you had to remove / replace while doing thework. nad, in the mean time, Have a CAREFUL look at the full load breather tube, the tube leading from the air plenum to the right side valve cover, for splits.

 

First, get a low cost code reader like the Actron 9125. You can read the codes and erase them. The suggestions about erasing the codes and seeing which ones reappear is good advice. If you had your own code reader, it would be much easier. Be wary of driving too much with your engine not operating properly. If you have to drive, my suggestion would be to drive slowly.

Second, as stated above, recheck your connections, especially around/near the air intake and throttle body. Make sure you don't have any leaks and make especially sure you properly plugged any electrical connects back in tightly without breaking any wires.

Third, you might consider a hard reset -- hold the negative battery cable against the positive post for about 2 minutes. Then restart your car and let the idle settle down before driving. Drive at a calm but normal pace for a while and let your car relearn your driving pattern.

 

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for helping me out and giving me a ton of advice!

I got everything fix, I went back and looked at the intake and noticed that it was slightly cracked and I replaced it. I also got MAF cleaner and cleaned the sensor. Afterwards had the errors cleared and ran the car and *poof* no issues and it drives like a dream.

Once again thanks to everyone that helped and had input it was extremely helpful!

 

Well,...that was easy. We need much bigger challenge!