3vze starts, wont run OR idle
 

Okay I recently purchased a 89 pickup with 4wd and a 3vze in it. It has 128kmiles on it. Truck is in overall pretty decent shape. Ive been doing some maintenece to it since i aquired it from the old owner who didnt know anything about taking care of an engine.

It has a check engine light ive been trying to diagnose by fixing things.

I recently changed the spark plugs and when i did this i sprayed a little seafoam into the cylinder to clean it a bit. Ive seafoamed it before and it worked amazing. When i did this i also wanted to clean the AFM which i didnt realize u werent supposed to unscrew from the housing. I accidently ripped the plug out and the internals of the AFM, so i sautered the little sensors back on (the three middle ones that dont get wires to them, they just touch the chip.

So i re-install all this and the truck will no just crank over and die after a few seconds. I tryed giving it gas and it just dies out faster when i do that. I tryed holding the ignition on (so cranking) while gasing it and that allowed me to get the engine to run at 4k RPM for about 10 seconds then i let off and it died again. I thought maybe it was the seafoam but it shouldnt have an affect like this i dont think. Also the sea foam at for a few days in there because i couldnt get it to start....

Whats my problem? It was running rough but okay before all this started.

Fuel Injector issue maybe, did u check the oil and make sure it wasnt low?

Sounds like you screwed up the A/F meter. I've never heard of anyone spraying Seafoam directly into the cylinders, but I don't think that would cause your problem (although I don't think that's a good thing to do).

thanks or the help guys. Anyone else thinks it could be something differnt?

i havnt heard of anyone using that either..did the product say thats what it is used for??
usually if u have replace the plugs and with good wires and ignition,, the new plugs will burn and clean the cylinders just by them selfs..water in the engine possibly? that may have condensed in the fuel tank? was it sitting for a while? because if it is sitting for a while and there is ethanol in the gas that ethanol will turn into water..if it still does it and you cant figure it out get it diagnosed by a certified/professional mechanic the computers will tell you the problem

also when was the timing belt/chain last replaced??..and how many miles ago? because if the timing belt is worn and loses a tooth..the engine will be so out of time its not even funny,and it will barely run if at all..because it obviously hasnt snapped or else it wudnt run and the valves would be broken or bent..and that only happens about 1 out of 10 times..not very likely..for example my mom had ran 115K on her 2000 Camry and it never broke..she got lucky but it still didnt snap..gotta tell you tho i was always worried when i drove it hhaaha..

keep us posted..good luck..also how much you paid for it will tell you if the previous owner new there was something wrong with it, and didnt want to pay for it so they sold it..

It has 128k miles on. The previous owner has only put 7k miles on it since 2007 because they lived litterally less than 1/2 a mile from work. It is a friend of mine i bought it from for $600, and it was running fine when i got it. It was just after i messed up the afm that its been out of wack. Ive got a new VAFM off of ebay on the way so well see how that works!

Well today i gave it some more attention and took off the intake hoses up to the TB ect and cleaned them and made sure they didnt have any water built up, didnt find much in them but they were a little dirty.

Also i found that when the VAFM was unplugged it would idle up to normal idle and then die after a few seconds.

When the vafm was plugged in it died very qucikly after going up to idle, much faster than when un-plugged. So if im correct it is indeed the VAFM and not anything else crazy.

I dont see why the timing ect would be off when the truck was running fine before i messed up the vafm plug. Ill just wait for the new one to come in and see what happens

okaa cool..yeaa just keep us posted

goodluck

The VAFM uses sensors that vary resistance. Even a super soldering job can add resistance which would send the wrong signal to the computer. I'm betting that the used VAFM you're getting will fix the no run problem. There are a few threads about people taking them apart to adjust them and buying new or new to them units because they tore them apart like you did on accident. At least we don't have to worry about the sensors getting clogged with dirt, hair, oil, or anything else.

Swap afm.

Sounds like it was fine till you ripped it apart?

Yep. You definitely jacked the AFM (been there, done it). Will need to be swapped.

Check your MAF. Mass Air Flow Sensor!

Well i got a 7mge VAFM and ordered and ebay ISR kit ($30 shipped for the isr and its not a bad piece.) Its installed, the truck runs now so it was the vafm, needs a bit of tuning to get it to idle correct but shouldnt be too bad. Thanks for the help guys, will post when shes idling strong!

Will crimp on connectors work for re wiring