Hello all-
I hope this finds you well.
I've joined this forum in an attempt to find help with my very needy 2005 Equinox.
Apologies in advance if this is too much info- and an thank you in advance to anyone who makes it through it.
Quick backstory about me mechanically as my intro into the group:
I'm not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination. I was raised by a guy who was but was not the greatest teacher. After high school I was able to switch the engine and transmission out of an 73' Opel Manta...But had done noting outside of breaks and oil changes on anything modern.
Quick backstory on my 2005 Chevy Equinox:
I've owned it for almost 1 year. Bought it from a friend of a friend who's aunt had been driving it for about 130,000 miles and moved on to a newer make/model.
It sat in a church parking lot for well over a year until I bought it. No idea what it's previous problems were but I've had a few since buying it.
Over the last year I've replaced the front brakes, hubs ( to fix the ABS light indicator on the dash), struts, ac compressor, serpentine belt, tensioner, all the pulleys, the plugs, wiring harness, Cylinder heads, gaskets, a fuel injector, coolant flush and oil change...I think that's it.
But I've still got two problems to deal with:
1) When I hit a bump or pot hole there is a pronounced rattling sound coming from what I believe is the steering column...So I'm going to have to learn a bit about that soon.
2) The big one I am currently struggling with is a misfire in cylinder 4 error code. (P0304)
After researching the code it I did the following:
Tested the spark/electrical connection at the plug/boot connection and got the same result on cylinders 2-4-6... 4 may have been slightly different in color but only slightly and no difference noticed it firing...
Tested the vacuum pressure on the intake manifold where the brake cylinder connects and got a reading of 17-19 hg according to the book I have that passes I believe?
Did a compression check on all 6 cylinders while it was warm. Ran it for about 15 minutes and then removed the plugs/did the test cylinder by cylinder. all registered at 180-183 psi. I think if the engine was warmer it would have tested a little lower, it's winter here and was cold outside so I may have taken too long to get the testing equipment hooked up...
So I removed the upper intake manifold and we checked the electrical resistance on each one of the fuel injectors, and they all tested between 11.6 and 12.8 Ohms...So we thought that they were all working.
***And here was where I noticed a massive screw up on my part when reassembling the engine from replacing the cylinder heads months earlier- I wired the fuel injectors backwards- 1-3-5 had the plugs for 2-4-6, and vice versa. I had probably put 600 miles or more on it, and never got a check engine light. ***
(Hangs head in total shame)
Put her all back together, engine sounded a great deal better, but still throwing the error code and idling at about 850-900 rps. Felt like it was still skipping a beat.
Still a huge amount better than it had been.
At this point I thought that the issue must be the fuel injector malfunctioning. So I bought a new one to put in. Before I could, I attempted to drive the car with the service engine light on.
(Hangs head in more shame)
So while driving it it started to sputter slightly, then the top engine light (reduced power mode) and all power died. It sputtered like hell and there was no response from the gas pedal. Luckily this happened in front of my home as I was getting home, so it could have been worse.
Checked the codes, got 3 this time:
P0304- The same cylinder 4 issue-
P0446- Evaporative Emission System Vent Control Circuit
P0507- Idle Air Control System Rpm Higher than expected
So I replaced the #4 fuel injector, removed the EGR Valve and blew it out with compressed air, cleared the codes, and took her for a test drive.
She worked much better than before idling at about 1100 rpms now and no codes were thrown. Still felt just a little sputtery when I backed her up.
On the second drive I got a check engine light, code reader says P0304. Again.
So she's parked in the driveway now.
At this point I am out of ideas.
Did I forget to test something?
Did I permanently damage it by having the fuel injectors wired backwards for so long?
Could it be the ignition coil pack, even though I was getting a spark?
My wife asked me when I was going to just scrap the damn thing. I'd like to take another shot at fixing if it's possible.
Thanks to anyone with any ideas who made it all the way through this...
:favorites13:
I hope this finds you well.
I've joined this forum in an attempt to find help with my very needy 2005 Equinox.
Apologies in advance if this is too much info- and an thank you in advance to anyone who makes it through it.
Quick backstory about me mechanically as my intro into the group:
I'm not mechanically inclined by any stretch of the imagination. I was raised by a guy who was but was not the greatest teacher. After high school I was able to switch the engine and transmission out of an 73' Opel Manta...But had done noting outside of breaks and oil changes on anything modern.
Quick backstory on my 2005 Chevy Equinox:
I've owned it for almost 1 year. Bought it from a friend of a friend who's aunt had been driving it for about 130,000 miles and moved on to a newer make/model.
It sat in a church parking lot for well over a year until I bought it. No idea what it's previous problems were but I've had a few since buying it.
Over the last year I've replaced the front brakes, hubs ( to fix the ABS light indicator on the dash), struts, ac compressor, serpentine belt, tensioner, all the pulleys, the plugs, wiring harness, Cylinder heads, gaskets, a fuel injector, coolant flush and oil change...I think that's it.
But I've still got two problems to deal with:
1) When I hit a bump or pot hole there is a pronounced rattling sound coming from what I believe is the steering column...So I'm going to have to learn a bit about that soon.
2) The big one I am currently struggling with is a misfire in cylinder 4 error code. (P0304)
After researching the code it I did the following:
Tested the spark/electrical connection at the plug/boot connection and got the same result on cylinders 2-4-6... 4 may have been slightly different in color but only slightly and no difference noticed it firing...
Tested the vacuum pressure on the intake manifold where the brake cylinder connects and got a reading of 17-19 hg according to the book I have that passes I believe?
Did a compression check on all 6 cylinders while it was warm. Ran it for about 15 minutes and then removed the plugs/did the test cylinder by cylinder. all registered at 180-183 psi. I think if the engine was warmer it would have tested a little lower, it's winter here and was cold outside so I may have taken too long to get the testing equipment hooked up...
So I removed the upper intake manifold and we checked the electrical resistance on each one of the fuel injectors, and they all tested between 11.6 and 12.8 Ohms...So we thought that they were all working.
***And here was where I noticed a massive screw up on my part when reassembling the engine from replacing the cylinder heads months earlier- I wired the fuel injectors backwards- 1-3-5 had the plugs for 2-4-6, and vice versa. I had probably put 600 miles or more on it, and never got a check engine light. ***
(Hangs head in total shame)
Put her all back together, engine sounded a great deal better, but still throwing the error code and idling at about 850-900 rps. Felt like it was still skipping a beat.
Still a huge amount better than it had been.
At this point I thought that the issue must be the fuel injector malfunctioning. So I bought a new one to put in. Before I could, I attempted to drive the car with the service engine light on.
(Hangs head in more shame)
So while driving it it started to sputter slightly, then the top engine light (reduced power mode) and all power died. It sputtered like hell and there was no response from the gas pedal. Luckily this happened in front of my home as I was getting home, so it could have been worse.
Checked the codes, got 3 this time:
P0304- The same cylinder 4 issue-
P0446- Evaporative Emission System Vent Control Circuit
P0507- Idle Air Control System Rpm Higher than expected
So I replaced the #4 fuel injector, removed the EGR Valve and blew it out with compressed air, cleared the codes, and took her for a test drive.
She worked much better than before idling at about 1100 rpms now and no codes were thrown. Still felt just a little sputtery when I backed her up.
On the second drive I got a check engine light, code reader says P0304. Again.
So she's parked in the driveway now.
At this point I am out of ideas.
Did I forget to test something?
Did I permanently damage it by having the fuel injectors wired backwards for so long?
Could it be the ignition coil pack, even though I was getting a spark?
My wife asked me when I was going to just scrap the damn thing. I'd like to take another shot at fixing if it's possible.
Thanks to anyone with any ideas who made it all the way through this...
:favorites13:
