idle problems (spuddering)

[brainwashed]

ok so i've had my 99 vx for a while now. i bought it in 02 with 19000 miles on it. it's run like a dream ever since. i've never had any problems with it minus a new starter and some brake issues.
however yesterday i drove to get some gas for the lawn mower. it drove fine and there weren't any problems. about 3 hours later i was going to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things. when i started it up it started fine. as i put it in reverse it sounded like it was sputtering a little. but i didnt think anything of it. as i was about a mile down the road i noticed it was running very rough. it sounded like it was sputtering and struggling to keep going. i turned round and went home to see if anything had come loose of what.
about a month ago i had my starter replaced and the guy that did it for me said that there was a vacuum hose that was hanging down there. he couldn't figure out where it went. i didn't think much of it cause it was running fine and i haven't had any problems with it until now. i looked under and saw the hose just hanging there. i cant figure out where it goes to. i did follow it up and it ended near the airfilter housing with it connected to nothing. it doesn't look like that end has ever been connected to anything before. so i figure it's some sort of overflow thing or something like that.

any info on this would be great!

[brainwashed]

also! my check engine light is flashing on and off at me. i've never seen it do that beore.

[Ldub]

also! my check engine light is flashing on and off at me. i've never seen it do that beore.

Take it to O'Rillies or somewhere that will read your OBD code & find out why it's flashing.

A check engine light isn't a major concern....UNTIL IT STARTS FLASHING.

[WormGod]

Ditto what Dub said.

If it is "flashing", that is NOT a good sign. The only time I would drive on that would be to get it to the shop.

The airbox doesn't have a drain so that is fishy. The only other close plumbing I can think of that runs to that is from the intake that runs to your passenger valve cover. That needs to breather, so if it is getting "too much" breathing without a line/filter, it will run rough.

[brainwashed]

ok i figured these pics would help out more. i live 30 miles from town and we don't have an o'rillies anywhere close. i don't want to drive it in to town with the risk of permanent damage to my baby.

alright this is the hose i was talking about. it comes up by the air filter housing which is on the left. the windshield washer fluid reservoir is the bottom right and the power steering fluid reservoir is on the top. i have no idea what this hose is for. but when i followed it down...(next pic)


it led down to this. i have no idea where this is supposed to connect to. it was connected to something. but i can't find it or see where it goes. i have a feeling this could be my problem.



also this is all on the drivers side.

[MSHardeman]

I think that is the breather tube for the front axle, but you may want to wait for others to confirm that. I don't think that that being disconnected would have anything to do with you sputtering. I don't know what the flashing check engine light is all about, but have you ever changed your fuel filter or fuel pressure regulator? If either of those is bad that could cause the sputtering. Also, have you changed your PCV valve (it tends to get clogged), or cleaned your EGR? All of these could contribute to sputtering, but you'll probably have to have the engine code read to find out why the CEL is flashing.

[tom4bren]

That loop in the hose made me think the same thing ... axle breather. Since I still don't have the VX in the driveway yet, I can't check for sure.

[brainwashed]

ahh alright you guys were right. the hose was the axle breather. after feeling around on the axle i found the hole it went into. as much as i was hoping that would have been the problem it certainly wasn't. major bummer for me. but i'll try replacing the fuel filter and pcv valve and see what else i can do. it also kinda smells like gas while it's running too. so maybe there is a leak somewhere or something. i'll figure it out somehow haha.

[Buffy]

I would vote for and EGR issue. I had a new truck suffer the same symptoms and it turned ou to be a bad EGR valve.

[circmand]

would suggest the fuel pressure regulator. If the pressure is backing up fuel may be leaking out and causing the odor mentioned. On the bright side none of these is expensive, fatal or difficult. Spend the weekend taking out and cleaning or replacing.

[brainwashed]

would suggest the fuel pressure regulator. If the pressure is backing up fuel may be leaking out and causing the odor mentioned. On the bright side none of these is expensive, fatal or difficult. Spend the weekend taking out and cleaning or replacing.

i'm actually going to be doing that this weekend. i'm gonna start with the fuel filter and pcv valve and work my way up. hopefully those will cure my lady and her and i can go drive off into the sunset! it will be romantic...

[MSHardeman]

Don't know if you saw this, or not:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...pr+replacement
Great write up on FPR replacement. PCV and EGR are easy to get to. The fuel filter is in an awkward position, but it's not hard to replace. The hardest part for me was getting the fuel lines off of the old one as they where sort of fused on there.

[brainwashed]

Don't know if you saw this, or not:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...pr+replacement
Great write up on FPR replacement. PCV and EGR are easy to get to. The fuel filter is in an awkward position, but it's not hard to replace. The hardest part for me was getting the fuel lines off of the old one as they where sort of fused on there.

i did see that earlier.
at the moment i am soaked in gas while eating dinner. the lines were fused on there but i cut them off since i had a little room to play with. i cut myself in the process and a little gas got in there and it stings like a mother right now haha. one of these days i'll learn how to do things the easy way.

[brainwashed]

ahh ok i put in the new fuel filter and pcv valve. still no luck. i will say that putting the new fuel filter i probably one of the biggest pains i've ever had to deal with. there isn't much i can do now since i'm stranded at the moment. i guess monday i'll try taking it somewhere and seeing if they can figure it out.

i will say that after being a member on this site for a few years now and just recently starting to post. i'm very glad this site exists! i surfed around on here for a while last night and came up with some really cool ideas for what i'd like to do to it next. the wheels i've got on it right now are ox off road wheels and the finish has pretty much been eaten away from all the salt from the roads(before i lived in florida). i never saw anyone else with the same wheels before until yesterday when i saw there were two vx's with the same set up. also a 3rd set up that i think were painted sinc eit looks almost the exact same but only painted. i'll post some pics in another thread of my set up now andwhat i'de like to do with them after i fix this stupid problem.

[jdm monkey]

Check your spark plugs/coilpacks. It seems that yours is misfiring bad. It happened to me when coolant filled the spark plug hole grounding the spark.