NEED HELP URGENTLY!!! Car keeps dying!!

[Cab0oze]

I already posted this on M3F, but nobody is responding so I'm posting here in hope that someone might have some quick ideas of things for me to check.

My idles been a bit rough lately and my filter cleaning is way overdue so I cleaned my SRI filter (simota CF intake). To do this, I removed the whole intake, but left the MAF on. I took the filter off and cleaned it as normal, then oiled it. Reinstalled.

Then i got a call from a guy that wanted to buy my car so I turned the car on, and repositioned it in the garage so it was in the middle. Nothing unusual.

Cleand everything up, washed it (exterior) and then wiped down all of the easy to reach stuff in the engine bay with a damp rag.

Went out for a bit, came back 30 mins before he was supposed to arrive to take the car for latest run to get the rust off the brakes so it wouldn't squeak and whatnot... Car idle was all over the place it was surging then almost dying, etc. I quickly backed it back up and shut it off.

Went to do a quick inspeciton, didn't see anything. Dced and reconnected the battery. Tried again. Car turned on then immediately the idle dropped and it shut off.

First thing i thought of was an over oiled filter. I took the MAF out and cleaned it down good. Tried again. Same thing, instant shut off.

What else can I do/check? I need to get to work tomorrow, its extremely important!!

Thanks in advance for any help! I'm going to do some searching now, but please, in the meatime throw any ideas out that you've got, im really panicking
I have horrible luck the guy was not impressed that it wasn't working, i think that just cost me the sale

Oh, and NO CELs are posting which i find strange
I looked at all the wires, offhand they all looked fine. Is there a way i can check them for continuity?

[Donutz]

Did a CEL pop up? Check all the connections in your intake and make sure all couplings are tight. What in the engine bay did you wash, exactly.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

you're usually supposed to wait a while for the oil to soak into the filter before turning the car on.

you may have coated the MAF to the point where cleaning it won't help. you can try turning the MAF sensor upside down and soaking it for a bit in either electronic contact cleaner or rubbing alcohol to remove any oil.

if you can, put the stock intake back on and see if it does the same thing.

[Cab0oze]

Wow lot more responses than m3f!

Ok - first off, no, no CELs which I found a bit strange. All of the couplings look tight.
I just washed the outside of the car, and wiped down the engine bay afterwards with a damp cloth, nothing that i can think of that would have caused problems.
I have oiled my filter twice before with no problems, so I dont think i over oiled it. I let it dry for a while, should have been fine. I hosed the MAF off with contact cleaner after the first screw up and honestly it looked completely fine, before and after.

I cant imagine it being the intake, its just so simple a thing. Its just a tube and a filter. I can imagine cels and bad idles, but not engine surge/stall
How can i tell if my MAF is broken or not? How can i check to see if the wires are OK? Those are the only two things i can think of causing the problem based on the only things i changed =/

[Mazdy]

check the battery my friend.....might be it...never know but try...

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Wow lot more responses than m3f!

Ok - first off, no, no CELs which I found a bit strange. All of the couplings look tight.
I just washed the outside of the car, and wiped down the engine bay afterwards with a damp cloth, nothing that i can think of that would have caused problems.
I have oiled my filter twice before with no problems, so I dont think i over oiled it. I let it dry for a while, should have been fine. I hosed the MAF off with contact cleaner after the first screw up and honestly it looked completely fine, before and after.

I cant imagine it being the intake, its just so simple a thing. Its just a tube and a filter. I can imagine cels and bad idles, but not engine surge/stall
How can i tell if my MAF is broken or not? How can i check to see if the wires are OK? Those are the only two things i can think of causing the problem based on the only things i changed =/

did you unclip the maf wire loom from the battery box? if so, it may not be a busted MAF wire as there is enough slack to compensate for engine movement after you unclip the wire loom.

however, to check for a busted MAF wire from the harness back, you can cut back the sheath to expose the wires within and look for a tear or a break in one of the wires.

as for the MAF itself, the actual MAF wires are closer to the top of the MAF (the bulbous amber thing you see is an air temp sensor i believe) which is why i suggested turning it upside down and soaking it for a bit to clean them.

[FLIPDADY]

Even with a bad wire a CEL would have come up. Maybe a stetched MAF sensor wire.

[Cab0oze]

Thanks guys, but i found the problem!! My friend who knows nothing about cars solved my problem. he told me to try my spare (unoiled) filter. Apparently something went wrong during the cleaning process cus my spare worked fine! I blew thru both of them, and no air was passing thru the filter i had just cleaned, it was like the oil hardened on it or something :S i'm repeating the cleaning process now to see if it solves the problem. Has anyone heard of this happening?

[Donutz]

Nope. I'm inclined to think it was over oiled, given the fact that you are able to resolve the issue with a spare filter.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

if you can, put the stock intake back on and see if it does the same thing.


Thanks guys, but i found the problem!! My friend who knows nothing about cars solved my problem. he told me to try my spare (unoiled) filter. Apparently something went wrong during the cleaning process cus my spare worked fine! I blew thru both of them, and no air was passing thru the filter i had just cleaned, it was like the oil hardened on it or something :S i'm repeating the cleaning process now to see if it solves the problem. Has anyone heard of this happening?

funny guy. you never mentioned you had a spare, unmolested filter....although it was suggested that you try something other than the recently oiled filter :P

bottom line, the first filter was over-oiled.

[Cab0oze]

Over oiled though? I barely put any on... and to top it off, I just tried cleaning it again, and i still cant blow throught it. Its like its completely hard. What could cause that?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Over oiled though? I barely put any on... and to top it off, I just tried cleaning it again, and i still cant blow throught it. Its like its completely hard. What could cause that?

what kind of cleaning/oiling kit did you use?

[Cab0oze]

what kind of cleaning/oiling kit did you use?

K&N, used it twice before already. Only difference this time was that I didn't let it dry as long as i normally would, since the guy was coming to see the car.

[Cab0oze]

K&N, used it twice before already. Only difference this time was that I didn't let it dry as long as i normally would, since the guy was coming to see the car.

Oh, and I'm not sure if this is linked or whatnot, but another reason i decided to clean it was because 200km earlier when I was in the middle of a roadtrip I got a 'lean at idle' CEL. Cleared it and didn't have any problems on the way home, but decided to clean the filter just to be safe, especially because it was overdue.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

K&N, used it twice before already. Only difference this time was that I didn't let it dry as long as i normally would, since the guy was coming to see the car.

I used to have a Simota CF intake on my old 3....the blue filter element wasn't cotton gauze but some other media. If yours is the same as the one I had, Simota recommended against using the K&N cleaner and oil. The K&N oil was too heavy for the Simota filter media and they had their own lighter oil.

few years back, there was also a thread on m3f of someone using K&N oil on the Simota filter and the same thing happening to them.

as for your "too lean at idle" CEL, it just meant that the car was ingesting too much air at idle and the Long Term Fuel Trims would've sorted itself out once the Short Term Fuel Trims were written to memory.

[Cab0oze]

I used to have a Simota CF intake on my old 3....the blue filter element wasn't cotton gauze but some other media. If yours is the same as the one I had, Simota recommended against using the K&N cleaner and oil. The K&N oil was too heavy for the Simota filter media and they had their own lighter oil.

few years back, there was also a thread on m3f of someone using K&N oil on the Simota filter and the same thing happening to them.

as for your "too lean at idle" CEL, it just meant that the car was ingesting too much air at idle and the Long Term Fuel Trims would've sorted itself out once the Short Term Fuel Trims were written to memory.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I quickly put my car back together at 6am and got to work on time :)

So i now know what the problem was (or at least i think i do)
The inside of the filter must have still been wet when I oiled it - I left it with the open side down so the water on the inside didn't leave, but i didn't know that. Then i oiled it and put it on the car so it was pretty damp, like a wet rag. obviously not much air goes thru something thats wet. then it was cold in the garage to make matters worse, and water expands as it freezes, which explains why i could start it at first, but then after i let the car sit for a few hours i came back on and it would start for a second, use up all the air that was still in the tubing, then suffocate itself.

I am still going to keep using the K&N cleaner, it wasn't my problem, and Ive used it with zero issues in the past :)

[Deaner11]

I'm having the same problems you are describing, but i never touched my filter... it all happened after i installed my HID lights.

[Cab0oze]

HIDs? ummm..... only thing i can think of is check your battery connections

[n00bMeiSter]

I'm having the same problems you are describing, but i never touched my filter... it all happened after i installed my HID lights.

could be a short somewhere in your wiring.

[Deaner11]

I'll check for shorts and check the battery connection. Its only stalled twice over the past 10 months, but very often while im in traffic and at a slow roll, the car surges, RPM jump up and down from 300 to 1500, jerking the car. Its really frustrating.

[n00bMeiSter]

I'll check for shorts and check the battery connection. Its only stalled twice over the past 10 months, but very often while im in traffic and at a slow roll, the car surges, RPM jump up and down from 300 to 1500, jerking the car. Its really frustrating.

maybe a problem with the computer?

[Deaner11]

maybe a problem with the computer?

So would disconnecting the battery for a few minutes reset the computer?

[Cab0oze]

Yeah for a few minutes. Then after that, put the key in and turn it on (i.e. dont start, just before that) to make sure everything is 100% drained.