Scan codes , what they mean, history of problems, and past mistakes
I couldn't find my make and model above, so I selected Hyundai Accent. Actually, my car is a
2002 Daewoo Lanos, 1.6 L 4 Cylinder. The car
dealer that sold me the car, told me that the engine is made by Hyundai, and the body and chassis is made by Daewoo. That's why I selected Hyundai.
4 scan codes that were found :
P0300, random multiple cylinder misfire detected
P0128, coolant temperature below thermostat regulating temperature.
P0141, oxygen sensor heater circuit malfunction
P0341, camshaft position sensor A Bank 1,
CKT range/performance
One of my neighbors and I have seemed to agree on a few things. The sluggish engine performance ( misfiring ) is because of poor compression, and the poor, or low compression is present, because the seals, gaskets and o rings were blown out because of the overfilling with oil. Does anyone here think that that's a
good guess ? Does anyone think that a compression test would be worthwhile ?
Should the gaskets, seals and o rings all be
replaced with new ones ? What about spark plug wires ? I'm at 95,000, and they've never been changed. I'm definitely going to get new
spark plug wires, water pump and timing belt.
Finally, does anyone out there know if there are more than one oxygen sensor in the car ? I've heard people tell me that there is definitely one
in the emission control system. In any case, if there is more than one, should I just replace them all ?
l. Short history of problems
a. Hard to start, sometimes taking up to 30 or 40 turns of the key, and sometimes it starts up and fires on the first key turn, and when it does finally start it runs sluggish. I don't have a problem driving the car downhill, but going uphill, it
starts to sputter and slows to a stop. I don't hear
noises like pinging, chattering or scraping of metal engine parts, just a chugging sound, so
I'm assuming that I don't have major internal
engine problems.
b. Before the problem with the ignition switch and sluggish performance, the only other problem I was having with the engine sound was
that when the engine was warmed up, and I was
driving through town, and idled the motor at an
intersection, I noticed that the rpms would
change, sounding erratic, higher in volume, as in amplitude. This was an intermittent problem. It would come and go.
c. The shifting of gears ( it's an automatic ) is
slightly rough, but it doesn't make a clucnking
or thudding sound. I've never changed the transmission fluid, because my Daewoo repair
manuel ( that I got online, from Daewoo ) says
that there's no way to change it, no filler cap or
drain plug.
d. Two or three times, since 2004, the cooling system has overheated, but not to the point that
I developed major engine damage. My radiator has a slight leak, but
I don't think that overheating is an issue with
the scan codes. Maybe I'm wrong about that.
2. Past mistakes I have made that may have led to these problems.
a. I don't know what's causing the problem with
the ignition switch, maybe it just dirty, corroded or worn out. Maybe there's something
in the scan code that will tell me, I don't know.
b. A couple of times, in the past year, I overfilled my engine with oil, and that's when I
started to get sluggish engine performance, when I was climbing hills or steep grades. I told some of my neighbors about this problem,
and one of them told me to change my oil and
sparkplugs, which I did, and the car started running a lot better, normally, but I was still getting the engine logo light on my dashboard,
and the ignition switch problem, and the erratic
idling at intersections. Then I overfilled the engine again, and the sluggish performance came back, but this time it is running so badly, that I'm afraid to drive it, fearing that I might
develop major engine damage. I changed the oil again and bought new spark plugs, thinking
that it would run better, but this time it didn't.
c. A couple of years ago, I was coasting downhill in neutral, trying to save gas, and I started going to fast around the curves, so I tried to shift it into drive, but I made a mistake,
and shifted into reverse, but oddly, I didn't hear
the gears grind, the engine stopped, and then I
pulled over on the side of the road, restarted the
motor, and drove off, and the gears shifted OK.
Maybe there's a safety shutoff mechanism.
I do shift gears a lot, to save on the wear and tear
on my brakes, because they're getting pretty thin. This may be why my shifting is slightly rough. The scan codes might help me find the
problem, we'll see.
