gmb96gt

Test drove the car a few days ago and again tonight before buying it. It seemed strong and didn't notice anything wrong so I bought it. On the 30ish mile trip home the CEL comes on. The car came with an sct programmer so I hooked it up to check the codes.

p1036
p0141
p0300
p0306
p0308
p0171
p0174
p1000

I looked at the description and the main things I remember are o2 sensors, cylinder 6 and 8 misfire, and a lean condition. Needless to say I'm a little concerned. Any ideas what could be going on?

Looks like I got screwed.

JC316

Vacuum leaks from hell or a bad fuel pump. Most of those codes can be caused by the same stuff.

petrock

p1000 is very interesting. It means that someone cleared the codes and reset the computer and it hasn’t been driven enough to re-learn the motor and run its diagnostics. Thats an old and very dishonest trick a lot of used car dealers use before selling a vehicle. No-one is going to buy a car with a CEL on, so they clear it and hope someone buys it before it comes back on. It is pretty dishonest of the seller to do something like that. So as you were driving home, some of the tests had completed, and it found some problems which triggered the CEL. Since it still hasn’t finished running its diagnostics, you could get more codes as you continue drive it.

I’d take the car back and get your money back, or get some of your money back because he/she sold you a lemon.

p1036 & p0141 are related. It means the computer detected a problem with the bank-1 post-cat O2 sensor. It may be unplugged, damaged or the wires to it are damaged/broken.

I agree with JC316 that most of these problems can boil down to a vacuum leak between the MAF sensor and the cylinders or an exhaust leak between the block and the pre-cat O2 sensor. Unmetered air is getting into the fuel/air mix. I doubt, however, that it is a fuel pump issue. Other symptoms and/or codes would come up in that case.

Here are some useful links on those codes.

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0141
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0300
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0306
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0308
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0171
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0174
http://www.obd-codes.com/p1000

cliffyk

You can see what the factory shop manual says about those codes here...

gmb96gt

Now I've got white(could possibly be blu-ish, very hard to tell) smoke from the exhaust.

I've talked to several people and everyone has mentioned that the intake manifold could have a leak. And yes I was thinking the guy had probably cleared the codes. I bought it from a private seller so I can't take the car back.

Is it possible it could be a gasket problem? Heads or intake? Or is this engine failure? I am completely broke(which is why I haven't taken it to a shop) and pretty upset over this, but I guess the car is my problem now and there's nothing to do but fix it. What is the next step?

Thanks for the replies.

uberstang1

Prob just needs a good tune up, plugs/wires/maybe coil packs, check the vacum lines, fuel filter fresh gas and go from there.

gmb96gt

This was my plan but it's smoking pretty bad. I mean it's not making a cloud or anything but it looks like constant steam...like when you first crank up in the morning.

cliffyk

The first step before buying any parts is to verify the engine is mechanically sound. You can first monitor the manifold vacuum (HF has a vacuum test kit for $13) and compare the observations to this chart.

Next perform a compression test. The lowest cylinder should not be less than 135 psi, and not less than 75% of the highest cylinder. If one or more are particularly low do a "wet" compression test by dumping a couple tablespoons of motor oil in through the sparkplug bore, and then retesting the compression. If the pressure rises the rings are most likely shot, if not it is a leaky valve issue.

Post your findings here and we can all work on it...

gmb96gt

I would think a shop wouldn't charge much for just those tests, but I may be wrong. I think there's a shop that may cut me a slight break...maybe...I deliver parts ( lol)..they gave me some advice earlier...mostly about the intake manifold.

If it's expensive I'll do it myself. Guess I could ask for a quote tomorrow.

btw, I just drove the car and it's feels strong. It's stock other than an x pipe and mufflers (i took the tune back to stock before driving it, just to see how it acted). It's kind of hard to believe it could be engine failure, but it sure looks like it to me. I bought the car knowing it had a few problems and it was a gamble but there was no smoke and the oil wasn't milky so I thought it was solid enough. This is honestly embarrassing.

cliffyk

The engine may be OK, the vacuum and compression tests will tell and you can go from there...