91 tracker problems

[JNew08]

hi there. i have a 91 geo tracker i bought from a guy. he had it two years and when he got it, it would randomly die on him and start moments later. he replaced the computer. ran good for two years. i bought it from him last week. and it is doing the same thing now. i replaced the computer and it still does it. its like its getting hot and shutting down? temperature gauge doesnt move more than a quarter of the way up? any ideas? all i have to drive is a motorcycle now. and all rain this week. please help

[jtgh]

91
is is 8v or 16v, big diff.

when it dies ,do this?

ok , you need to find out if it is not getting spark or gas.
easy that is , especially on an 8v valve engine.

dummy spark plug will tell you if spark is happening.
looking down throttle bore of an 8v will tell you if you are getting gas,
if 16v , a shot of Instant start in a car or propane will tell you if injection is dead.

my heat gauge does same and it has a new sensor and 190F stat. Normal.

cut the problem in half is the secret of good automotive diagnostics, and in electonics too. Fuel or spark.


but it could be a slipped timing belt. ( Id check timing pronto on spark)
if at 8 deg, before top dead center ,then it is ok. if way off , cam belt is bad.


tell us again , what engine you have.?

[JNew08]

i feel like a dummy when i say this. but i really dont know how to tell if its 8 or 16v. its a 91' 2wd 5spd 1.6L? the temp guage isnt even moving now. since ive unplugged it and plugged it back in. when i unplugged it the engine CEL came on. I plugged it back in. light off. now its on again and the guage isnt moving. what is a dummy plug?

[kelikran]

If it is 16 valve it says so on top of the motor, big letters. Nothing, then it is 8 valve. A dummy plug, is to get, or take out a spark plug, plug it in to a spark plug wire, and ground
the outside of the plug to the engine, then have someone crank the motor, so you can watch to see if there is spark between the electrode and the tip. Do it carefully, make sure
it has ground. This will tell you spark or no spark. Then JTGH will tell you where to proceed from there. He knows these things in and out, forwards and backwards. Follow his inst., answer his questions, you will have a running tracker in no time.
Kelikran.

[JNew08]

it is a 8valve then. isnt there a way to check the CEL codes without gettting a code scanner? Or having to go to a parts store? im not sure the ol' tracker will make it to town. i drove it 2 days before it started doing the dying thing. on my way home from work it died. set 20 mins. it started drove 3 miles. died. set 10 mins. finally made it to the house. put a computer in it. same deal. it really seems as if something is telling it is too hot or something. but when it dies. it just rolls over. no trying to start. but when it cools.. its ready to go. doesnt make any noises. nothing i drove it down the road today. its pretty cool outside. no problems.

[kelikran]

You know, it sounds like the temp. sender which tells the ecm what temp the engine is running at, might be giving bad readings. But, if you go to a posting by JTGH, at the bottom it says, "stuff to read", click on that, and look for CEL. Yes, you can get the codes on an 8 valve without a code reader. You have to short 2 pins on a plug which is located by the battery. but JTGH's information will tell you exactly how to do this. He has tons on information set up, you just have to take the time to look and read thru it.

[JNew08]

ok. i figured it out. and on the page of codes i didnt see the geo tracker codes? which list would a 91 geo tracker be listed under? it threw a 23 and a 51? would any of those cause the tracker to die and start after it cooled? also the test did a 12 at first. then the other codes

[jtgh]

black steel painted valve cover = 8 valves, test sparkplug sorry i shortened it.
any fresh clean plug will do, no special heat range,so long as it plugs into #1 end of spark wire cable. dont get shocked. ground the shell of blug to Valve cover.
so as it dies, always check for spark, any one , any car. always. ( no not a diesel)

23 Intake air temp sensor aka , IAT is bad or wires fell off, see my parts finder.
51 EGR valve is bad, stuck open or clogged. BAD some way.
ignore names, just the fact that it is Suzuki and 2 digits, they are all the same if you look. some might be missing , so look at all 2 digit codes.
a wild guess. (but common on high mile old car like this)
if your ECT decides to go to shorted , this will tell engine it is roasting hot all the time.
the engine may not start , in fact the automatic software chock ( called cold start enrichenment today) will be completely turned off.

If you finally discover that spark is ok then check this sensor.

My ECU sensor page shows how to find and how test test them all.
see , my sig page, says Help pages HERE:

You explaination is clear, ECU is good ,so you have a bad sensor.
the ECT fail like crazy after 10 years, after 300k, they are all toast. reality.

It is the most important sensor , next to the MAP (maps never fail, me thinks)

so take a breath, and check for spark,
always do that. then proceed to the next step
if spark is good.
try a little INSTANTSTARTINACAN ,sold at every car store in the world,
in the winter thy plile the cans in a huge pyramid stake , in my store.
I use propane cuz that is saver,but a 2 second squirt down the air horn or just
pull any vacuum hose and squirt in there for 2 seconds, max.
if car starts, then car WAS staving for fuel.

on this car,this age and this miles, then measure the 2 pins on the ECT.

cold must be 2000 ohms, if you tell me the air time outside , i will tell you the ohms.
or just use this chart.
the left side is in 1000 ohms mag, so 2.5 = 2500 ohms, got that?

here they all are; see?

how-to-find-EFI-parts

let us know how spark is.
let us know how propane or IS spray does, into the air horn.

see my live photos of the air horn, just get it into there some way.
8v car runs fine with air tube removed, NOT ON 16V .
The throttle body is like an electronic carb. see.

[jtgh]

this is a very dumb year for ECU's few codes, dang few.
it is also very insensative , so when it complains, it means business. that
there is something really afoul, extremely bad, hard failure.

newer cars, complain even if the CAT is sluggish, not this beast.

[JNew08]

well. i bought a few used sensors today. i replaced the ECT, IAT, another one im not real sure what it was, it had two rubber lines running to it and it had a electrical plug. mounts by the thermostat housing. snaps into place. and i replaced the temp gauge sensor. i bought a used egr just to see if it helped, but the egr i bought was different from mine. the used one had a type of sensor screwed into it? i took the old one off mine and cleaned it with contact cleaner but its still throwing the code 51.. but the IAT code isnt coming up now. temp guage is working now. it lost connection. it still hasnt died on me.
the valves seem to be ticking a tad. maybe too thin of oil? id say it need changed? or maybe the cheap gas? its not loud.