1994 Carina E Issues

December 5, 2004

I have a 1994 Carina E Charisma Plus, which is new to me. Car is in pretty great shape, and only has 71K miles on it. Here are the issues though:

-"Check Engine Light" comes on after about 15-20 minutes of driving...basically when it is fully warmed up. Will go off if I turn car off and back on immediately or later. Tends to come on more quickly when I restart the car after it has not been sitting long. This says to me that it has something to do with the engine being warmed up thoroughly. One time it actually went off on it's own even without turning off engine after driving for another 15-20 minutes of it coming on.

-Possibly related, at a steady 2000 rpms the car jerks as if it wants to stall. if I go more than 100 rpms above or below 2000 rpms it smooths right out.

-I have noticed a smell of petrol after stopping and shutting off the car when the check engine light comes on.

-It also idles a bit slowly and I can see the rpms fluctuating between 1000-1300 or so rpms when idling.

Any input or ideas on some solutions would be greatly appreciated. I am getting the oil changed this week, though not sure if that will help. I do know that it had been sitting in a lot for about 2-3 months prior to me buying it, and barely ever started during that period. it starts fine though, never had to try twice.

December 5, 2004

What kind of Engine? 3S-FE 3S-GE 4A-FE, etc.?

December 5, 2004

Sorry, 4A-FE.

December 6, 2004

Have a look here Carina Diagnostics

This will be a start determining what is wrong with your engine. Information, Courtesy of Carina-e.com

December 6, 2004

Now THAT is a nice feature, to be able to self diagnose the problem. I get error code 21, which is O2 Sensor. According to the article, it points to possibly * Wirings and connectors * O2 sensor * Fuel systems (Injector, fuel pump) * Ignition systems (Spark plugs, ignitor) * Vacuum sensor * ECU (Engine Control Unit)

Pretty broad possibilities. Do issues with any of those look like they fit the symptoms I described in the original post?

Many, many thanks for your help on this!

December 6, 2004

Now THAT is a nice feature, to be able to self diagnose the problem. I get error code 21, which is O2 Sensor. According to the article, it points to possibly * Wirings and connectors * O2 sensor * Fuel systems (Injector, fuel pump) * Ignition systems (Spark plugs, ignitor) * Vacuum sensor * ECU (Engine Control Unit)
Pretty broad possibilities. Do issues with any of those look like they fit the symptoms I described in the original post?
Many, many thanks for your help on this!
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I would say as you are smelling petrol and for safty reasons the fuel system would be the place to start .

December 6, 2004

I spoke with my father, who is very knowledgable about cars, but unfortunately back in the USA, and he seemsto think that it is more than liekly the O2 sensor especially with smelling the petrol, as it is getting the mix of O2 and fuel wrong and not burning all of the fuel in the cylinders.

He also suggested cleaning the fuel injector heads with WD-40, or a similar cleaner. It's too dark to fool with it right now, but I plan on trying cleanign the fuel injectors tomorrow as a first try. If that doesn't work gettting an O2 sensor seems like the next easiest/cheapest thing to try that I can do easily myself.

All input is appreciated though.