My MM is falling apart!

R

robertmee

New member
Well, not really, but it seems to be going through some growing pains. I've only been driving the car about six months since purchasing...the first month went great. I then had some Stainless works headers, borla mufflers, magnaflow x-tube and hi-flow cats installed and took the car to Fastlane motorsports for a new dyno tune. Since that time:

The car has thrown P0420 and P0430 (catalytic left and right) - I'm assuming the tune needs to turn these off for high flow cats.

The car has thrown P0301 (miscellaneous misfire) twice...Seems to be stumbling periodically too. I guess I'll start with a MAF, TB, IAC and TPS clean, maybe new plugs.

The shifting is all screwed up now. I get RPM fluctuations around 2000 RPM when letting off the gas. The RPMs surge up/down before dropping to idle. I also get shifting into/out of overdrive rapidly at semi-WOT whether with O/D turned on/off.

The car inconsistently goes into Reverse. From P to R it does fine. From D to R, the car 25% of the time doesn't actually go into R.

The A/C quit working...Blows hot air only. Actually hasn't worked at all since I bought it, but I had to store it through the winter and this summer is the first time I've actually tried it.

The car has developed a squeak in the suspension....I'll start doing some research, but is there a common cause in MMs for this? Car only has 30K miles on it.

I had a Lidio tune on the car prior to the SW headers with no issues. I know some of the issues like the squeaking, A/C and reverse are not tune related, but I'm thinking of going back to a Lidio tune (tailored for headers) and dumping the custom tune. Or maybe give them another shot at fixing it, as I'm certain the strange shift points and the errant codes are partly from the new tune.

Not venting or wanting sympathy, but any suggestions on where to look on some of these issues would be greatly appreciated. Like, oh yeah, that's a common problem, do this :D This car is my daily driver and I'm currently working 12 hours a day, so my time to work on it is limited but I still need her for transportation.
 
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tbone said:
Go back to Lidio's tune. You don't need a custom tune for headers and exhaust.
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The Lidio tune was for S/C but with standard exhaust manifolds. I was told by several on this board that after getting SW headers I'd need to get a re-tune. That'd be great if I could just dump back my 93 octane tune from Lidio.
 
robertmee said:
The A/C quit working...Blows hot air only. Actually hasn't worked at all since I bought it, but I had to store it through the winter and this summer is the first time I've actually tried it.

The car has developed a squeak in the suspension....I'll start doing some research, but is there a common cause in MMs for this? Car only has 30K miles on it.
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1.) Sounds like either the EAT o-ring problem thats all too common with the Rauder or you're refrigerant system has a leak somewhere.

2.) I know this sounds strange but take a can of spray lube to the hood latch. The squeak you're hearing is quite possibly the hood latch and has nothing to do with the suspension, espeically at only 30k miles.
 
dmjarosz said:
2.) I know this sounds strange but take a can of spray lube to the hood latch. The squeak you're hearing is quite possibly the hood latch and has nothing to do with the suspension, espeically at only 30k miles.
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Was thinking the same....my hood has been 'squeaky' for several months...my temp fix is turning up my stereo...:lol:

Hoping to get around to messing with it when it 'cools off' into the upper 80's later this week...shoulda took care of it back then, but was too busy doing other things to my MM...
 
dmjarosz said:
1.) Sounds like either the EAT o-ring problem thats all too common with the Rauder or you're refrigerant system has a leak somewhere.

2.) I know this sounds strange but take a can of spray lube to the hood latch. The squeak you're hearing is quite possibly the hood latch and has nothing to do with the suspension, espeically at only 30k miles.
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Not the "EATC o-ring problem". Bad o-rings inside the EATC will cause the air to come out the defrost vents. You will still get A/C or heat but it comes thru the defrost vents.
 
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robertmee said:
Well, not really, but it seems to be going through some growing pains. I've only been driving the car about six months since purchasing...the first month went great. I then had some Stainless works headers, borla mufflers, magnaflow x-tube and hi-flow cats installed and took the car to Fastlane motorsports for a new dyno tune. Since that time:

The car has thrown P0420 and P0430 (catalytic left and right) - I'm assuming the tune needs to turn these off for high flow cats.
I'd take it back to Fastlane, I bet they forgot to turn off the monitoring of the 2nd set of cats.

The car has thrown P0301 (miscellaneous misfire) twice...Seems to be stumbling periodically too. I guess I'll start with a MAF, TB, IAC and TPS clean, maybe new plugs and wires.
I'd clean the MAF, TB, IAC & TPS & replace the plugs.

The shifting is all screwed up now. I get RPM fluctuations around 2000 RPM when letting off the gas. The RPMs surge up/down before dropping to idle. I also get shifting into/out of overdrive rapidly at semi-WOT whether with O/D turned on/off.
That sounds like a tune issue. Back to Fastlane.

The car inconsistently goes into Reverse. From P to R it does fine. From D to R, the car 25% of the time doesn't actually go into R.
Could be a problem inside the tranny.... but sounds like the tranny linkage needs to be adjusted.

The A/C quit working...Blows hot air only. Actually hasn't worked at all since I bought it, but I had to store it through the winter and this summer is the first time I've actually tried it.
Could be the blend door or the A/C is leaking freon. See if the compressor is turning.

The car has developed a squeak in the suspension....I'll start doing some research, but is there a common cause in MMs for this? Car only has 30K miles on it.
I bet the hood stops need to be adjusted.

I had a Lidio tune on the car prior to the SW headers with no issues. I know some of the issues like the squeaking, A/C and reverse are not tune related, but I'm thinking of going back to a Lidio tune (tailored for headers) and dumping the custom tune. Or maybe give them another shot at fixing it, as I'm certain the strange shift points and the errant codes are partly from the new tune.

Not venting or wanting sympathy, but any suggestions on where to look on some of these issues would be greatly appreciated. Like, oh yeah, that's a common problem, do this :D This car is my daily driver and I'm currently working 12 hours a day, so my time to work on it is limited but I still need her for transportation.
Click to expand...

See my observations in red.

You can always stop by and I can check it out.
 
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The squeeking noise usually is the hood stops rubbing on the hood. There are several fixes for it one is just putting some grease on the top of the hood stops. Or putting those chair leg cloth stick ons on the hood. Good luck!
 
Your car is not falling apart.
Replace the O rings to fix ac. Send it out to Fastblackmerc.
The misfire can be a few things & depending on mileage. Check or replace plugs & cops.
As for idle sounds like a vacume leak.
As for shift points sounds like it is in the tune. They screwed up shift schedule. To confirm go back to Lido tune.
 
Thanks everyone for the great advice....I'll start knocking them out one by one...

Could someone confirm the need or non-need to change the tune?

I have a 93 octane Lidio tune for the S/C, but went with the custom tune from a Dyno shop on the suggestion by some that I would need to after adding SW Headers, X-tube and High Flow Cats. If I can go back to the Lidio tune (pre-Headers but S/C) with no ill effects I'd do it yesterday.
 
robertmee said:
Thanks everyone for the great advice....I'll start knocking them out one by one...

Could someone confirm the need or non-need to change the tune?

I have a 93 octane Lidio tune for the S/C, but went with the custom tune from a Dyno shop on the suggestion by some that I would need to after adding SW Headers, X-tube and High Flow Cats. If I can go back to the Lidio tune (pre-Headers but S/C) with no ill effects I'd do it yesterday.
Click to expand...

Did Fastlane load the tune on your tuner? If so you'll have Lidio, stock & Fastlanes tunes to choose from.
 
robertmee said:
Thanks everyone for the great advice....I'll start knocking them out one by one...

Could someone confirm the need or non-need to change the tune?

I have a 93 octane Lidio tune for the S/C, but went with the custom tune from a Dyno shop on the suggestion by some that I would need to after adding SW Headers, X-tube and High Flow Cats. If I can go back to the Lidio tune (pre-Headers but S/C) with no ill effects I'd do it yesterday.
Click to expand...

I'd change the tune back to Lidios to test. I did my shorty headers and didn't change the tune. Don;t see why you'd have to change the tune for long tubes.
 
Why not ask someone who knows more than anyone on the planet about your engine, s/c the tune and tranny problem. Pick up the phone and call Lidio. He will tell you the truth. He developed all of the engine and tranny tunes for the Trilogy kits including yours. Dennis:)
 
fastblackmerc said:
Did Fastlane load the tune on your tuner? If so you'll have Lidio, stock & Fastlanes tunes to choose from.
Click to expand...

Prior to Fastlane, I had two Lidio tunes...a 90 octane with milder shift points and a 93 octane, plus the standard. I'm hoping fastlane overwrote the 90 octane when they loaded theirs and not the 93 octane. I've been out of the country for a month, and when in town working 14 to 16 hours a day, so I haven't even had the chance to really investigate. But I will now that I'm finally home for three weeks!
 
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Hotrauder said:
Why not ask someone who knows more than anyone on the planet about your engine, s/c the tune and tranny problem. Pick up the phone and call Lidio. He will tell you the truth. He developed all of the engine and tranny tunes for the Trilogy kits including yours. Dennis:)
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Sage advice from a 10 year old ;) Honestly, I'm new to the Trilogy and this car, so before I bothered Lidio, I wanted to make sure it wasn't a trivial answer that everyone on here but me knew :D
 
Jim,

And to answer one of your specific questions, no, the AC compressor is not turning or engaged. I suppose I should check:

Low pressure switch (jumper)
Fuse
Harness connected
Tune issue? (Don't tunes turn off the A/C at WOT? what if this new tune is fubared and it's turning off A/C all the time. Is that possible?)...One more reason to reload Lidio's tune.
 
robertmee said:
Jim,

And to answer one of your specific questions, no, the AC compressor is not turning or engaged. I suppose I should check:

Low pressure switch (jumper)
Fuse
Harness connected
Tune issue? (Don't tunes turn off the A/C at WOT? what if this new tune is fubared and it's turning off A/C all the time. Is that possible?)...One more reason to reload Lidio's tune.
Click to expand...

If the compressor isn't turning you can try jumping the low pressure switch if there is one. You can also see if your getting power to the compressor. Worst case is you have no freon and need to get the system repaired.

I believe there is a vacuum switch that turns off the compressor when there is low vacuum / under hard acceleration. I doubt there is a parameter to turn off the A/C all the time in the tune..... I could be wrong.....

I think you were beside me at the light at Tryon & Kildare Farm Road a week or so ago. Was driving the wife's Charger (has a white Mary Kay decal across the back window). You were headed towards Apex.
 
fastblackmerc said:
I think you were beside me at the light at Tryon & Kildare Farm Road a week or so ago. Was driving the wife's Charger (has a white Mary Kay decal across the back window). You were headed towards Apex.
Click to expand...

Quite possible....I take Tryon/64 often to pick up my son in Apex. Had to be a weekend, as I've been out of the Country the past three or four work weeks. Hope I wasn't picking my nose or something equally gross :D Surprised I didn't see you...Always on the prowl for Chargers, Challengers, Mustangs ;)
 
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