94 sidekick rough idle when cold

hardcore420 · 10-25-2009, 04:44 PM

hey all, new to the forum but not new to the zook.

I recently purchased a 94 sidekick. When i start it it idles rough until warm, also clacks a little well revving up.

any ideas would help

thanks

It is a 94 canadian vehicle 16v 1.6L 2 door manual

kick-fix · 10-25-2009, 11:50 PM

tune up happen any time in the last 100k?

clacks ? , noise for engine. clicking, ticking, knocking, banging.?

, O2 sensor, cracked exh , man. or both.

hardcore420 · 10-27-2009, 09:47 AM

I doubt its had a tune up in awhile. What should I change while doing the tune-up? Are there any little things that I should change like pcv or anything?

Engine light is not on

it sounds like a clicking almost like the valves are out of whack

kick-fix · 10-27-2009, 12:18 PM

lots of issues here,
the ticking is serious , any motor that talks or complains, is serious!
By serious , i mean , ignoring it.

yours is a 16v and is NOT freerunning. if the belt slips a cog or 2 or 3 the valves will smash into the pistons. that will be the end of the valves and can progress to far worse real fast . even total destruction.

or
this could be a bad valve or just forgetting to see the valve lash per the op guide in the glove box.

tune up's on these old cars , are like all distributor (actual) cars.
rotor, caps, wires, plugs ,filters ( fuel and air).
Clean PCV valve or replace , your call. it must breath.
the op guide shows the mileage service points for all subsystems.

95sidekick_owner_manual.zip | FreeDrive.com | Online Storage and Social Utility

Clacking , can be lots of things and a good mech will use a stethoscope to find what corner of the motor its coming from.
top, valves.
bottom? who knows?, takes ears on motor..

you could have pistion slap.
rod knock (double tap)
does knock only happen cold?

does it only happen on accel,or decell or only when you float the motor.(cruise)
only no load , or only with load on motor.
miles:
30k sparks
60k cap rotot , wires.
50k PCV
filters 30k.

the reason we tune a car up is.
1; these parts are short lived ( no 100k + parts)
2: tune up's are cheap and if not replaced , diagnosing a engine and replacing expensive EFI sensors can be real expensive.

We seen people replace coils, ignitors, ECUs and whole distrubutors just to find bad spark wires.
Misfire is the result.

it have the Cam timing checked and the Tbelt replaced if over 60k.
then lash and then a compression test.

one thing to check right away (assumes no one touched it) is the Ignition timing?
if the Ig. timing is off, then the Tbelt HAS slipped.
dont run it, if that is true.

the motor has a IGN timing freeze jumper, you must use this to check timing.
that will be on my Ignition timing page. click 16v when there.

kick-fix · 10-27-2009, 12:20 PM

dont put faith in the CEL lamp. if on , something really bad is happening.
if OUT. it means little.

94 ECU is the OLD stupid ECU's dumb as box of rocks.

sample sched.

hardcore420 · 10-27-2009, 01:24 PM

the clacking happens basically all the time once warmed up it runs awesome but clacks, load or no load. When accelerating it gets worse, no bog no smoke, runs excellent (for now).

you think the rough start might have something to do with the ECU??

kick-fix · 10-27-2009, 02:16 PM

no idea at all what the rough running could actually be, 50 item list. ecu last.

full time clicking. if it is valves , it can be they are set wrong. item 3 on photo? huh?
or the rocker shaft clamp screws were not set right and they go loose allowing the shaft to wiggle.

there are two paths here. , one is convience (rough or not ) and damage.

damage is not a path to ignore.
what else needs saying.?

Richard Craneum · 10-27-2009, 03:04 PM

Do a vacuum test and see if the needle fluctuates. If so, is a valves issue. As an educated guess... If the engine is cold and the clearances are larger giving the clacking sound, the valves are not opening on time giving a rough idle. Once the engine warms up and tolerances are closer, the valves are opening close to the right time.

I will adjust the valves 1st and see what it does. Change the oil to the proper weight, not thicker, no thinner, by the Owner's Manual.

Inspect the Camshaft for wear. For that, you might need a Dial Indicator and spin the camshaft so you can check the lobes.

hardcore420 · 10-27-2009, 07:49 PM

Okay guy thanks alot I have some work to do I will keep you posted

Your input is much appreciated

hardcore420 · 10-27-2009, 09:16 PM

Could i have a dirty egr valve causing the rough starts - where is it and what does it look like