new"er" engine now flashing CEL p0300

[sauvetds]

as you may have seen my previou post "timing belt chang gone wrong" i got the newer motor put in it has 40k and a rebuilt head, so anyway all goes well. had a cam sensor code when i 1st started it but got that taken care of.. the motor i got was complete. all sensors fuel injectors manifolds etc. so i put it in as is. starts and runs great and VERY quiet which is what i wanted .. not im having a flashing cel problem.. basically i took it for its test drive and about 2 miles it came on and flashed.. (didnt actually put a hard code in the computer" as i have a code scanner myself i check it and it showed nothing,. so started back up and of course all is fine. take it down the road and its starts again.. now the car still drives and runs perfect plenty of power.. so i do some researching and look at my service manual.. i figure its got to be a sensor. so i basicall swapped all the sensors from my motor. cam, crank, tps.iac, plug wires. plugs and coil pack. and it still does the same thing.. im like wtf? lol as i read on it could be fuel injectors. so i swap the enitre fuel rails and injectors. after that it actually felt like the motor has more power. but the stupid cel is flashing again.. it seems to mainly do it when im on the gas pedal, if i let off sometimes it will go away,

it still wont leave a hard code, and i cant even get the p0300 soft code(pending code) to come up. but it still will flash. as soon as i shut the car off., and restart its fine again until i drive, it has not missed a beat running during all of this, and has good power and im happy but what else could it be? i just put a fresh tank of gas and the fuel filter is about a year old? could it be this Crank Relearn thing i have read about? should i put my old crank pulley from my motor onto this new one? btw the motor is a 00 model and my car is an 01 if that matters

any help would be great!

[sauvetds]

oh i forgot to add. the motor i put in looks like it never had the new CPS update. (fuse in harness) so i swapped that as well when i did the CPS change.
ive double checked all connections that i made and vacum hoses as well.. oh and i swapped my egr as well seeing that could cause it to.. and my motor before never had one light come on so all should be ok..or so i think

edit!!! 1 more thing my buddy that was helping me wasnt paying attention and gear oil from the trans dripped into the opend exhaust.. so im thinking that screwed up the 02 sensors..but would that be the p0300 code?

[Trey05Woo]

P0300 is a multiple cylinder misfire code. The CEL flashing is a gm warn system alerting you that the catalysts can be in danger. You need to plug in a scan tool with the ability to display engine data, and monitor the data... you will find your problem. If the light is flashing, then you probably have an extremely rich condition which if allowed the time will destroy your catalyctic convertor, reason for the flashing MIL. Your problem lies not in fuel, but in the ignition, or timing circuits.

You need to plug in a scan tool and pay attention to your o2 sensor mv readings, fuel trims, and spark degree readings. You can also remove an ignition wire and check the condition of the spark should arc atleast an inch and be white not blue or orange.

Keep in mind if your engine is off physical timing, then raw fuel will make its way into the exhaust as the valves will be open at the incorrect time. The o2's will detect this and the code will set. if your timing is off just a half tooth, a code will set, even with the engine running strong and not misfiring which is possible with the 1.6l off timing by a half or one tooth...

[sauvetds]

i have a live data scanner on the way. mine isnt currently.. this morning i drove it for 20 minutes not one issue. i had just put my old pulley/balancer on and left the ac belt off. so i thougbt all was well.. so i go to take the car to lunch and bam 3 miles down the road its flashing again.. and you can tell it is rich i can smell gas through the exhaust...

i checked the timing before installing the engine and it looked fine but i will check again once it cools off.

could the oil have clogged or messed with the cat converter at all? i guess im just shooting in the dark right now so i may just bring it to my buddies shop and see what he can find

thanks

[Trey05Woo]

one more thing seeing you had an engine swap. The lanos has two catalytic convertors one which is the down pipe assembly of the exhaust manifold, and one which lies under the vehicle. Was the primary (first cat) replaced along with the engine?

If you look at the mv readings of the o2's the first should fluctuate rapidly from 600-900mv at ilde, the second o2 (after cat o2) should read a steady reading all the time. if it fluctuates along with the first then the catalyst is not doing its job...

[Trey05Woo]

Just reading your reply, then you definitely have a problem in either the ignition circuit/components, a bad cat, or leaky injectors though I doubt in your case since you swapped out for your original injectors. Do you know if maybe the primary cat on the vehicle now is from the salvage engine?

[sauvetds]

the 1st cat is from the new engine. one of my studs stripped on my old one. so i figured i might as well use that. i did look through both and they looke pretty identical. even the light that shows through. even though i dont know if that matters or not, i was reading about a crankshaft variation relearn procedure. that is suppose to be done? should i swap the first cat? the one that hooks to the manifold?

oh and all my ignition components were swapped from my motor, wires, plugs and coil pack. and they were good on my other motor

thanks

*edit*
so i was going to my buddy's house and of course the light was off., so i drove it. for like 20 miles and nothing, i stopped and restarted it about 3 times during that to see if it was a fluke, all was well. it did finally turn on at 35 miles. then i shut it off and restarted, CEL off at the time drove another 5 miles and all was well. so im thinking maybe the cat was clogged with the gear oil? the o2 sensor was covered? since today compared to yesterday its far better?

is it burning everything out the more i drive? and when it does come on. both yesterday and today, its very random. usually just part throttle cruising.

[Trey05Woo]

Unfortunately, since you dont have sensor data at the moment, I cannot give you a concrete answer. My advice would be to wait until the scanner arives, and take action based on the provided information. If you swapped all sensors from your old engine to this one however, and the problem persists then your problem lies in the catalysts. There is no other component left which would cause a blinking MIL. Both catalyst are similar but not the same. The primary (smaller) is made up of different metals inside which burn nitrous of oxide. The second (larger) cat under the vehicle is the conventional cat designed to burn any remaning carbon monoxide and left over unburned mixture. If the No2 catalyst is faulty the high level of No2 going to the secondary cat can damage it. Hence the flashing mil as warning there is a problem requiring attention. Maybe the gear oil contaminated the catalyst but how much was spilled? And which cat? Since you swapped everything except the cat that could be it. I would wait for the scanner as the only way to determine if it is working is by monitoring up/down stream o2 sensor readings...

Oh and crank re-learn is only necessary if you have a crank code, hard starting, or rough idle. In your instance not applicable.

[sauvetds]

i swapped the 1st cat (manifold) this morning with my other one. took it for a ride about 15 miles freeway/town driving. etc and it came back on after that time.. i was at an intersection and shut off and restarted. light was out and drove another 10 miles home and it didnt come back on... this is the same as yesterday..

the oil got into the down pipe when the tranny/motor was hanging there. so it would have had to of gotten on the second cat or sensor. as for how much. im not sure, probably not too much as we drained it before lifting.. i wiped out as much as i could but it just coated the pipe....

[sauvetds]

ok i got a snap on solus scanner i was using

right when i 1st started the car (from ambient temp)
880 idle
02 s1 .555v
os s2 .830
load pct 3.5
spark adv. 11.5
tp .4

now i let it warm up i got 50 yards from my house and the light went on (flashing) so i drove back and i got these readings (while flashing cel at idle)
860 idle
o2 s1 was jumping fromn about .270-.690
o2 s2 was pretty constant at .795
map 10hg
spark adv 11.5
ect 199
load pct 3.1

so while the car was still running and scanner still hooked up i checked for codes and of course it didnt bring up hard or pending, so i went and cleared codes anyway, and the flashing cel was gone and these are the readings i got (at idle) again NO FLASHING CEL

o2 s1 jumping from .380-840
o2 s2 was moving but a lot more slowly .225-.760

[sauvetds]

ohi forgot 1 thing the 1st o2 sensor was not from my car orignally, it was on the new motor, is that maybe defective? ts really the only other thing i have not changed?

[Trey05Woo]

Hmm well Im not liking the fact that your down stream o2 is spiking from .200-.900. the secondaries should remain constant and should fluctuate .20-.40 mv at the most under normal operation. Keep in mind that the up and down stream o2s are located at the exhaust manifold and the downpipe respectively so they monitor the efficiency of the primary cat and the contents entering the secondary. If you swapped out the catalyst and the problem persists, this can only indicate that you have raw unburned fuel entering the exhaust. once the cel begins to flash it will not stop unless the ignition is turned off, even if the problem is not present. I do not suspect a faulty o2 as they seem to be reading correctly, and besides would set their own codes respectively. they indicate you have a rich condition which you confirmed earlier by detecting strong fuel smell.

your best bet is to drive the vehicle with the scanner plugged in and monitor your misfire counters. once you get the flashing cel study the counters and see if they are present in all cylinders, or just one or two etc. this will help isolate the problem.

if the scanner reveals misfires at all four cylinders equally then the problem is something affecting the entire engine.

ignition
crank sensor/reluctor wheel
cam timing
injectors/harness
evaporative emissions system
can all be culprits for a rich condition...

[sauvetds]

so a 5k snap on scanner does not support daewoo's (at least snap on tech said) so i just put in 04 Aveo 1.6 lol... to at least get the live data.. anyway i went to my buddies shop and we checked the timing marks. etc. sprayed carb cleaner around intake. TB. etc.. and was watching the fuel trim.. i did a compression check and its 165 for 1,3,4 cyl. and 155 on 2 so thats good. we pulled the egr and it tested bad. was leaking.. he had another one (used) which i put on.. reset the computer., and nocking on wood........i have put 60 miles on it and no light. im hoping that was the problem... ill keep you posted

[Trey05Woo]

really solus does not support daewoo? not even global asian? I have a genysis and it does support daewoo however only engine/transmission. Snap on told me srs and abs will become available in the future...

as for your p0300 lets hope it was. I have seen egr fualts cause multiple cylinder misfires but never flashing mils. I still suspect you have a rich intermitten condition.

[sauvetds]

yeah was told just generic under global ob2. i still cant find the misfire counters i was in global ob2, the legacy program, and under GM aveo... snap on said daewoo and suzuki does not have support other than the generic obd2.

i may have to refrase when i smelled the rich exhaust was when it was flashing only.. other times it was fine.. when i pulled the plugs for the compression check, they looked lean.. but i know you cant really "read" plugs like i do on my quads and mustang..

my buddy had the snap on modis scanner as well, and that didnt even have daewoo...lol i put a 100 miles on it today. and it still has not come back... so im sure hoping that was it.. i'll let you know what comes of it over the weeked.

did you have an idea of how to get the misfire counter up? my scanner should be here tomorrow. but its not close to being a snap on onel....lol