Chico said:
First, a follow up:
My buddy came over with his ODB-II tool, but told me the 95 is OBD-I only.
Oh well. So, he pulled the codes via the key. Got out, removed the air
cleaner, and it started right up. Both 43s went away.
Next day, was driving around and steam came out from over the hood. Long
story short, when they write TIGHT they mean TIGHT on the radiator cap.
Fortunately, I caught it early and the car did not overheat to shutdown.
Seems back to 100% after 1 2/3 gallons of 50/50 mix.
Curious indeed! Since the air cleaner and ducting is in the
general vicinity of the ignition coil pack, it's entirely
possible that something got nudged back into place.
The 3.5 is a very robust engine, you can literally cook the hell
out of them and not blow a head gasket.
I hope you are not insulted if I ask why?
Absolutely not. 8^)
Are they crap in general or only
on the 3.5 or ???
The design of the Bosch Platinums in general are not condusive to
working well on DIS (distributorless ignition systems), also,
Bosch tends to lump many heat ranges into one part number which
can and does pose a performance/driveability problem on engines
equipped with knock sensors (which yours has), and then there's
the issue often seen with the fragile center electrode wire (to
name a few).
I thought I had read about a recall, and since I last had the plugs
replaced at Green Chrysler 2 years ago, I trusted what they had gapped to.
Further research would be in order, but if there was a recall
that changed the sparkplug gap spec, Green Chrysler should have
put an updated VECI label on the car advising as such.
The only motivation was routine maintenace. I *used* to have a very rough
idle for about 3-4 months until I had the intake manifold gasket replaced.
Ah... been done already.
No idea where the old gasket failed though.
99% of the time, it's at #5 intake port between the lower plenum
and the cylinder head.
The plenum gasket was solid and
not sealed with RTV (or other goop). No audible air leaks or poor
performace. In fact, slightly better now. Before the plugs replacement, I
used to get the MIL at highway speed on warm days. I attributed it to the
code 32. Before I replaced the plugs, I got 12 32 55. Now, the MIL hasn't
come on at highway speed (although it has been 45-60F outside lately).
The code 32 is strictly an EGR valve functional check failure,
sparkplugs would be unrelated to it unless a conector or vacuum
hose got knocked off and then replaced in the course of doing the
plug change. Code 32 and EGR failures are fairly common across
the entire product line on D-C vehicles, you can almost set yur
watch by them. The back-pressure transducer can be easily taken
apart and inspected for a cracked diaphram, which is usually what
fails first. If the BP diaphram is cracked, it's highly
adviseable to replace the EGR assembly (only way it's sold), left
untreated, eventually hot exhaust gas will find its way to the
EGR solenoid and its electrical connector and melt them.
Bingo! It was the 4 wire connector. Don't remember disconnecting it, but
now to always check it now.
Yup, easy enough to snag a shirt sleeve on the connector latch
and bump it loose. Let's hope it stays gone.
So, what is 12 then? I know you say ignore it, but I'm curious.
A code 12 when extracted via the key cycle method means
"beginning of fault code report." It is the book end to a code
55 which means "end off fault code report."
A code 12 when extracted via a scan tool means that the battery
has been disconnected. Though somewhat confusing, Chrysler had a
reason for doing it the way they did, it traces back to the 80s
and the diagnostic strategies used when diagnosing certain
ignition sensor problems.
Wish Haynes did a better job of explaining and pointing directions.
Probably could have got it myself if their text made more sense to me.
But, I have a unique perspective: I have actually created fault codes in
vehicle software (yes, I work for a manufacturer) and had to be somewhat
vague in code description because of the means of detection and future
refactoring.
BTW, SAE SPN and FMI codes are of limited use also.
Chrysler themselves are not vague when it comes to fault code
descriptions, when I switched from working in a GM shop to a
Chrysler shop (actually went Chrysler>GM>Ford> Chrysler), it
became very apparent that Chrysler had their game together over
GM on what the OBD could do and where it would point you towards
a problem. Chrysler had bi-direstional control of sub-systems
*years* before GM introduced it on their vehicles.
It's Haynes and the other information suppliers that choke when
it comes to being thorough, it's almost like their technical
writers are limited to XX number of words. 8-(
Fortunately, we didn't need it. Now, to look for a good OBD-I tool!
E-bay. Snap-On MT-2500 or OTC Monitor 4000 can be had for very
low prices. If you have a lap top, the Ease software is
excellent, and you can buy just the software you need for a
particular vehicle brand without spending extra $$ on stuff that
works on vehicles you don't own.
