Alright background:

Just got off deployment and the car was getting started every two weeks to a month until the last month i was gone when the wife let the battery die. Cool get home and replace the battery and put on a grounding kit and aem intake. Car is running fine.

Today. On my way home from VA to PA the car starts sputtering going up a hill at about 65. Finally it loses all power and backfires then dies. The backfire threw out some debris that was on fire which i assume would be some buildup. Car starts back up and drives another to a gas station and i put a bottle of octane boost and fuel injector cleaner and some of the premium fuel supposedly like 93+. I am doing great until i get downtown in my home town no sputtering or backfiring or anything.

Where i am now is the side of the road and i pushed it into a parking lot. Sorry for the long read.

I am assuming but i have heard you can foul up the 02's and with the buildup backfire it would make sense. I have also read about the limp mode. The car as it is right now can start but as soon as you try to put the car in gear and take off it dies.

Any suggestions? I am going to be spending thanksgiving under the car and hope someone can help.

 

Is that aem a dry flow? It may be your maf.

 

No CEL. I had it started for about a min where i held the rev upto 3k and then let it idle and it stayed on then just died.

Could the 02 sensors be worn and causing this?

 

Dry flow. Are you saying if it was oiled it may clog the maf or is there something with dry filters i just dont know?

 

Yeah sorry, wasn't paying attention to what i was typing. It isn't your dry flow filter. :P

Check for any vacuum leaks, although those would throw a code.

 

Ouch good luck.. Damn something was on fire!! Had to be a rat nest or sumtin..

 

I'm hoping the filter didn't start falling apart n that's what was lighting up

 

Where is the car now??

 

Parking lot downtown until I can get some light. Anyone know how to check n o2 sensor?

 

i hope u get it fixed asapp

 

Ok update. Went back this morning and took the intake off. Looked fine.

Checked all the grounds. One was slightly loose but don't think it would effect anything. At this point I start the car and first time it fires up. Drive it to parent in laws while it is cold.

So now I'm at the point where I don't know what else to look at. After turkey day I'm going to pull the o2 sensors. Still don't know what could of caused it. Does anyone know how to check if the o2 sensors are shot?

 

If you had a problem with the O2 sensors you would have the CEL light come on. This is not your problem.

Drive it around the block for a good 20-30 min where you are close enough to your house to limp it home if a problem develops.

My guess with no check engine light you just need to drive it around a little more since its been so long. However, something coming out of the tail pipe burning is NOT NORMAL under any circumstances. You need to find out what came out. If you have mice/rats that built a nest and its clogging your air flow in the exhaust it could cause exces back pressure and really mess up things.

 

Alright update. Took off part of exhaust n nothing noticeable. Put in some seafoam and let her run 20 minutes. Took her for a spin and everything seems fine and power is back. Wondering if it was bad gas that led to backfire and the carbon buildup went out the pipe. Like I said it was sitting around six months. Has me worried since I need to drive six hours back to va soon.

 

glad it worked out and welcome back!