My 96 Tracker is throwing a P0300 code after I have done some extensive and expensive work to it. Recap of problems: Head gasket leaking oil down the back drivers side and front crank seal leaking also.
When head was off I just happened to pull the rotor off the disty shaft when dist was removed from head and low and behold it fits three different ways and I never payed attention to which of the three ways it went on. Don't know the proper relationship between cam sensor pickup and rotor location. I suspect it will only run correctly in one position. I played with that until I got it to run but couldn't set timing. Also has had a long history of bad idle surging up and down just as the engine temp comes up after about five minutes of run time. Ran the Geo up and down the road a few times maybe 100 miles total and engine quit dead. No spark at all. Great. I found a Reman Dist. from A1 Cardone and it looked like it was overhauled with a sledge hammer and no fire after I installed it. Took it back and got another one which then started and ran with the same idle problems. Cleaned the IAC and antifreeze ports. Same problem. Also still can't set the timing.
Found a used ECU on Americas' favorite online auction and bought for $75.00 shipped. Installed the Used ECU and now it idled down smooth as engine came up to temp and also enabled me to adjust timing. Lacked power above 3,000 rpm and kept blowing the EGR valve vacuum control valve pressure hose off when you tried to rev it up. I suspected the Converter was clogged and causing back press. so I took it off and found molten lava inside blocking everything. Now I have replaced the converter and muffler and this little 16v runs strong but at about 2500rpm it jerks when held steady and throws the P0300 code. Is my second reman dist a piece of junk also? Tempted to spend $$$ on a new one but????? Anything else like a ckp sensor that could cause this problem? The engine has 100,000 miles on it and when the head was off I filled the valve ports with brake kleen and found no leakage through the seats and the cyls looked good with no ridge and faint cross hatch. It doesn't use any oil to speak of between changes so I am inclined to spend a few more hours on it doing some troubleshooting but a point in the right direction to get the final trouble code out of it would be great. Thanks in advance. I read the older post on the P0300 code and after the dist was torn apart and reassembled owner stated it ran great. That may be my next step since I have had it long enough to run the warranty out.
the P0300 misfire.
possibles (many)
1- loss of spark dah. ( dizzy or Cas)
2- loss of compression.
3- cam belt slipped ( you didnt Say what engine 1.6v or 1.8v sport so this is a guess)
4- Egr stuck open , destroying a/f mixuture with inert gas.
5- Air leaks in to the induction ( from anywhere to the right of MAF sensor.
your car is unique in that it has 2 CAS sensors,
one in the DIZZY and another seperate one.
I believe the DIZZY sets the drum beat and the real CAS tells the ECU when #1 is firing.
cam angle and crank angle sensors they are....
On this engine , it can tell you WHICH spark plug is misfiring. P0301 = plug 1. and so on.
On this engine , code 300 is general misfire.
so I would suspect #2 #3 or #4 modes and not dizzy after replacing it.
300 means, all cylinders are randomly misfiring.
I'd pound the carbon out of EGR valve and get it closed up and maybe even pull the vacuun line to it and plug this line up.
only to do testing, put back soon.
keep in mind misfire is "crank shaft did not show evidence of a power pulse", or that it did not accelerate while rotating. Each time a cyclinder fires the cark jumps, the ECU measures this jump. No Jump = misfire ( it wont lie to you , trust that )
P0300 fails are FIRST ORDER of Business, (it will kill any cat).
Think in terms if cyclinder mixture and then spark, boom
anything that can foul the mix will stop the boom.
you need a proper manual.
what do you need ,I send. (cas and dizzy?)
Well, when I found the cat clogged I removed the EGR valve and found it not seated. I cleaned the seat and got it to seal. It was definitely leaking Exaust gas into the intake. This was before I got the P0300 code though. I then decided to adjust the TPS just for giggles and when performing the checkout on it found that it only has continuity in the idle position. All other checks come out OPEN. No full throttle continuity and no off idle continuity. I bought the two volume set of factory Tracker manuals off of E-bay so I will soon have a good set of manuals and will burn the worthless Haynes manual. Soooooo. Bad TPS causing Open Loop condition which destroys the converter???? Where is the CAS that isn't in the dist? Thanks for your insight. I do have a spare dist that is supposed to be in working condition for some troubleshooting. Also a spare MAF and soon a spare TPS. I will check the spare parts against the ones on the vehicle now and compare read outs. I have a Digital Fluke which should work fine on the check outs. The fuel mileage is currently verrrrryyyyy poor.
Kent
Mr. Kent.
Great news: 96, 1.6Liter, 2 bad parts for sure, way to go.
open wiper arm on the TPS POT.
your ECU was mimicing the TPS best it could with MAF readings.
how ever The TPS give Accell , enrichenents when you need power (missing)
also the car is in limp home mode , rich and retarded.
you will love those two , books, shows testing each and every part on and off car.
nothing better, ( you will get yur money back with that set of books!)
I look at the EPC and it has Part ID 26 , Crank postion sensor,
looks like , palm sized chunk of aluminum with connector and I can find location with EPC.
guessing , it goes to bottom side of dizzy.?
I see no place for it on cam or crank? some one here knows.
Limp home mode , 15mpg or worse, after 25 to 27mpg, you will be surprised.
the gas savings is on avg. $600 per year , getting out of this mode !
I will post as soon as I find out how it runs with the working TPS. Hope to end the destruction of Cat. $$$$ expensive. Thanks for all your help. Looking forward to getting some better mileage again.
Kent
bclark, 96 tracker, 16v 1.6L, 2x4, auto, 2 dr soft top. Sounds like the same problems I am having. Starts fine, bogs on acceleration. Cannot set timing (@ 5BTC timing fluctuates bad and truck is really sick). Had crankshaft position sensor code changed ckps but nothing changed. I am going to clean MAP sensor and TPS to see if it helps.
When I bought the truck it had bad gas, I cleaned tank, changed filter, and pump screen. I will watch your post to see if I can get any ideas from you. Good luck
bclark: 96 16v. 8D, BDC. is spec on yours.
When you find your CAS , tell me where it is?
the ECU always changes timing on the fly , unless you can freeze it.
there is a proc. for all cars to do this.
0- tune up is always at the top of this list.
1-EGR stuck. Clean it. get that carbon out of there.
2- induction air leak from any source .
3- TPS , is just a 3-5k ohm pot ( just measure the wiper pin to both ends of pot , IT can never jump or read infinity.
I might add the fsm has all this.
you can always just measure the TPS with key on , in place.
1-2v at idle (not running) and step on gas and voltage will rise to near 5v. if not THAT is a problem, report it.
i will attach the 96 part on timing. next
if your car is lean on a 16v, it will bog , off idle , or when you go up any hill but will get better at real high speed.
16v's hate illegal ingress of any air upstream of the MAF.
upstream means, at MAF looking towards the intake valves.
one quick test of this, as some one here so cleverly said.
remove the MAF and drive.
if car runs better, then you have an air leak.
if it dies, TPS is open , as that is a backup sensor to the MAF.
these are tricks , and do not work on all cars because some have a MAP too. ( yours has a MAP but it is only for EGR testing, stupidly IMHO)
I bought a CAT through the garage I work at part time for around 170.00 and it is a Walker which is the same mfg of the factory equipment I took off. It was ordered through Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts. Also Auto Parts Warehouse.com has some that are around 135.00 in an off brand. I won't have my TPS for a few days. I purchased an Airtex TPS for $118.00 from Rock Auto .com so we will see how it is. I know GM quoted me around $285.00 and they didn't stock it. OUCH! Replaced the muffler and pipe assy. while I was at it.
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1996 Geo Tracker P0300 code 16v coil in dist.
Linear Mode
