I just recently changed my headlights to the '06 projectors and soon after, I started to have problems with my engine dying after startup. I turn the key and the RPMs go up but then it drops back down to 0. If I give it gas before it drops below 1000 rpm then the engine will maintain idle. I wonder if this had anything to do with the headlight install or was it just coincidental. Could it be a bad battery or mass air sensory??? My warrenty is out and I don't want to go to the stealership and get charged 500 bucks for something I can do myself! Any help would be great. I posted in tech but got no response!

 

Disconnect the battery, disconnect the MAF Sensor, blow in it, check for any dust or anything. Then connect everything back up and try again.

 

Thanks...I'll try that. It only happens when the car is warm and it is sporatic. I just don't want to be driving and my engine cut off at 55 mph.

 

Mines does the same thing ever since i disconnected the battery to work on the stereo. Like he said, it only does it when i start the car when it's already warmed up, but i doubt that'll it stall at 55mph. I'll give that maf sensor a look

 

It may be a coincidence about the headlights. Check the EGR valve.

 

i agree with manwithePlan, problems seem like from EGR valve.

 

What's the EGR valve? Is it connected to the MAF?

 

I don't think VQ's have EGR valves...

https://g35driver.com/forums/showthr...ight=egr+valve

 

Ok.....after searching, having read mutiple threads about stalling on start or idle after warm up.

I've seen posts from headlight mods, stereo mods, air intake, etc. and all are claiming to stall after. Many seem to question the work or mod that's been done to the car. Even more has blamed on aftermarket intakes, plenums, hoses, etc.

Some conclusions were to clean the MAF, throttle body, TPS sensors, etc.
or even a reset on the ECM. But then i asked myself, why the h*ll should it be cleaned if it was working perfectly fine before(maybe as short as 30 minutes ago)???

My conclusion, and may not be 100% correct, the car doesn't do too good of a job re-learning itself after the battery has been disconnected and reconnected. A majority of people who had mods or work done that require a disconnect of the battery may not realize that it's an ECM relearn problem.

Anyone agree??

 

Judging from the info from other people who have had simular problems, the cause is definately disconnecting the battery to work on the car. Don't the dealerships do the same though? They disconnect the battery all the time to work on cars and yet we don't hear of many complaints from other drivers. It could also be related to the 2003 or 2004 model year.

 

Check your vacuum hose connections and such. When you took everything apart, you could have snagged a line, etc.

 

Dealership has the tools/program to force your car to re-learn. As much as i hate the dealership or mechanics, look like no other choice but a dealership fix.

I'll just try to ride out the problem. It's been three weeks since it started doing it, i'm hoping it's just the ECM taking it's dear time learning.

 

The dealership has nothing special to clear out a CEL and have your ECU relearn. You can actually do it yourself by going to Autozone - OBDII scan the car and have it clear it for you. The ECU will automatically go into learning mode.

Doing the battery method - does the same thing, without going to autozone.

The dealers use a Consult-II OBDII unit. It will show all the CEL activity and let them do simple troubleshooting. It's the same unit as at Autozone, however it has more features, like being able to cut cylinders, see other stats like voltages across injectors, etc.

The ECU learning time, is roughly 50-100 miles. If you are a more spirited driver, it has always been deemed best to drive that way for the first 5 miles or so. The first 5 miles of driving after the reset, is where the ECU picks up it's base settings, and then adjusts from there.

If you've done an ECU reset, have no CEL light on, then you are looking at something pretty simple. Like I wrote before - check for air leaks - vacuum, intake tubes, clean the MAF, etc. Test your battery too...things like this happen when they begin to fail as well. Could be a short - so check wiring and related areas form the install of the lights.

Rick

 

Just want to update on the situation. I've read on some other thread to try cleaning the MAF sensor and if not that, the throttle body.

I went ahead and cleaned the MAF sensor with a non-residue electronic cleaner, but it was still stalling after start-up(when warmed-up).

Then i took that throttle body apart and cleaned it...and BAM!, no more stalling.

Throttle body was fairly dirty, almost looks like some carbon build-up. I noticed when on closed throttle(but not fully closed), the dirt has restricted the slight gap for air flow required for idling.

EDIT: by the way, i did both of these things without disconnecting the battery. I know it's always safe to disconnect the battery but i did it carefully when disconnecting any harness. Plus i wanted make sure it wasn't anything related with the ECU or resetting it.

 

i had this same problem where the engine dies out
i just installed a new battery yesterday and today my dad comes home saying that the engine is dying out after it has been warmed up and he try to start it and he has to rev it up to keep it from dying so maybe its a relearning problem