Surprise Engine Trouble

[Rognmoe]

Hello, all!

This morning, my 2004 9-5 Aero automatic did something very strange. I came to a stop and it started idling strangely. The next time, the engine lurched and stalled. I figured out that if I'm above 2k RPM, it runs OK, but anything below that, the car shudders, lunges, and eventually dies. The orange engine light comes on and sometimes blinks while driving, too. Last night, everything was fine. No hard idling, didn't hit any bumps or anything.

I would definitely appreciate any input on my problem. I won't be able to take it to a shop for a little while. With Christmas shopping and everything I wasn't expecting my car to go on the blink.

[Shazam]

Take it to Autozone or similar place that can attach an OBD reader. It should be throwing a code. My guess is a misfire, caused by the DIC, but it's hard to tell without checking for codes.

[Rognmoe]

Isn't there a way to check the fault codes through the SID?

[nordwulf]

No, you can only check the code with an OBD reader.

[Rognmoe]

All righty... guess I'll have to try to take it over there tomorrow.

[Brad Lauzze]

Whats happening with this? It may be a little late but, this has happened with both of our '04 Aeros and I've seen it happen a number of times on later cars as well... The PCV check valve that runs between the oil separator box and the throttle body gets brittle with age/heat exposure and breaks off of the molded plastic line that runs down underneath the intake manifold to the oil separator box. Pull the plastic cover off that covers the t/b, intake manifold etc and you should be able to see said PCV check valve clipped to the valve cover. Worth a shot.

[Rognmoe]

Well, haven't had to opportunity or the finances to take it in and have it fixed, yet, but your suggestion, Brad, is an interesting one. If that IS, in fact, the problem, what would be done to repair that?

[Rognmoe]

Resurrecting a dead thread, here. A month ago, I finally got my car fixed. The guy at the shop(the owner, who didn't work on it), said that a hose had blown off underneath the intake manifold, which was connected to the brake booster. That caused the CEL and the really harsh idling.

They replaced the hose and really tightened it down so it wouldn't come off again, cleared the codes, and also checked everything for my 75k mile service. I only got charged $100, so I was happy.

The shop was clean, the owner was professional and friendly, and the car's been running perfectly since, so I was extremely happy with my experience.

Oh, I was referred to the shop by a couple I work near who've owned Saabs for fifteen years. They took their son's 900 turbo to him to figure out a phantom electrical problem that all the dealers couldn't diagnose or locate. It took this place a week and the car was up and running again.