fixinto

Try checking your long term fuel trim and c where its at, if you have a vacuum leak or a funky sensor it will spray the crap out of fuel to try to compensate for the "lean" mix. I rock a decent 20ish MPG hwy and im happy with that for an suv. its a 96 SE VG33e. bone stock as far as i know and still has all the emissions do dads on it. even the EVAP. So ya when u said 10 - 12 i think i threw up a little in my mouth.

Ya i feel ur pain there, im just getting started on a lot of much needed stuff on mine.

I have only had my 96 pathy for hmm i guess going on five years. In that time "until recently" the only thing i did to it was put a battery on it, it starts and runs and does a good job at it, every single time i turn the key. If i need 4x4, then pull the stick and ur there. Really have enjoyed my pathy, and it has 184k miles on it. Im planning to enjoy it for many more yrs.

ah your pathy does calm down after warm, well i would be sure that the (FIC) mark for the warmup was properly set. that will probably fix u right up =) wish i would have saw that lil bit before i posted my ass off on the subject. feel a lil.....well..

OK let me share my experience with you on the whole, "changed valve cover gaskets and cant get it to come down to normal idle thing" hope this helps u man. OK, changed the valve cover gaskets, plugs, wires, rotor, button, and when i got it back together i could tell it ran smoother and "better" however, the idle would not come down for anything. it started up and the idle would be 1800ish, "warm cold no matter" crappy idle. While i as doing the V cover gaskets i cleaned the throttle body with deep creep sea foam spray and throttle body cleaner. I personally believe this is where the problem began. "the ecu was adjusted to the crud build up in the throttle body" it wasn't sticking or anything so i should have let it alone, but .../shrug. Anywho back to the topic. After monkey butting around with it and the Haynes manual i couldnt get it to do the iac relearn thing. so i threw the manual in the back of the pathy and poked around under the hood to c what i could c so to speak. there is a "thermal element" attached to the throttle body and has a "rod" that pushes out when the pathy warms up. this brings the idle down to normal. Well needless to say it was not working. So instead of ordering one online for over 130 bones, i "zip tied it up out of the way so the throttle linkage can return to the warm idle spot." there is a "FIC" with a spring under your normal throttle and cruise cable on the side of the throttle body. Part of that linkage rest against the "rod" on the thermo element. the way u tell if urs is working or out of adjustment is there are 2, lines on the cam of the fast idle cam. I <~~~~ like that hehe. the one closest to your throttle cable linkage is for fast idle. after the vehicle warms up the "rod from the thermol element" pushes on the bracket on the FIC and turns it to the second line toward the front of ur pathy. this allows the truck to idle down at warm temps. so after i used a hose clamp, and 3 zip ties linked together to get to the air intake clamp screw and secured it there it idles normal because i lined up the 2nd mark on the fic to the lining posion on the thingy above it. now that being said, i used the idle air adjustment screw on the rear side of the intake manifold to get my idle where it needed to be. and reset my tps to where it should be "cause i jacked with that trying to get the idle down to begin with". "easy way to do the tps on the 96 is thus. instead of jacking with ur tps, unplug the throttle closed / open one above it. take an ohm meter "multi meter" or w/e and ohm out the top 2 pins of that plug with the throttle close. It should read close to zero ohms. then done. if it doesnt read close to zero ohms losen the 2 screws on the side of the throttle body and adjust it and measure till it does read zero ohms. then that is the indication ur throttle is completely closed. after that just tighten the screws back up on the side of the sensor and check ur idle. if your idle is still high refer to the idle adjustment screw on your intake manifold it will be at the back under the bpt canister for your egr valve. "easier to see and get to if u take out the 2, 10mm bolts and just pull that out of the way while ur adjusting it." hopefully by doing this u can get ur idle where it needs to be. After you finally get your idle there, u want to turn the pathy off. turn the key on for at least one second,"without starting it" then off for 10 seconds. then start the ride. let it idle for a while making sure the temp gauge indicates ur pathy is completely warmed up. then turn it off again, wait 10seconds, turn the key on for a few seconds again without starting it, and then off for 10seconds. start then start the engine. let the engine idle for 30ish seconds, unplug the TPS and then plug it back in within 5 seconds. "dont worry the jumping or searching rpm is normal for a bit" let it idle for a few mins then turn it off. should be good to go bud. OK if all that wasn't overly confusing and i didn't miss speak too many times that should be bout it. Hope this helps u out man, because i was goin nuts lookin into this for the past week or so. tools possibly needed include. long flat head screw driver "pry back the (FIC) assy" 10mm wrench or socket "for the 10mm bolts on the bracket of the bpt" small phillips head screw driver, "i fondly refer to as nubby" thats to adjust the idle air screw in the back of the intake on the drivers side as mentioned above. zip ties, hose clamps, paper clips, bungy cords, bubble gum, chicken wire or whatever u wanna use to tie back the fic linkage to get the idle down to where it should be. A crap ton of patients, and understanding for your pathy and her age. "note also that i am no mechanic, so this may or may not be the best solution available" i simply took everything that i have read over the past.......week and 1/2 i guess. and some basic understanding of mechanical devices and lined out my problem. ok bud this should about cover that. i hope that i have helped u out on this. My MPG is back up to around 20-21 and my pathy purrs like a kitten again. hope u have similar luck.

mbra66, Good job man, keep up the good work. Thats the way to stick with it and recheck tried and true methods. Again good job. Enjoy ur pathy, i sure do

yep i just did it this weekend. i know the hose your talkin about a real pita man, couldnt even really get ur hand in there to give it a good wiggle. soooooo a fold out locking razor knife and a new hose 3 second fix. =) the hose is like what a couple of bux a foot at auto zone. but word to the wise, the 2 on the driver side dont need to be removed and they r special order if u do "break or cut" them. the sharp angle makes the want to mash together in the middle when u just get normal hose to replace them. its the Coolant hose under ur vent screw in ur intake on the driver side and the pcv hose right beside it. so leave em on if they r good. after u cut that hose in the back there r 2 electrical connectors in the back of the plenum, one gray the other kindof orange. "cant see the orangish brown one from the back but i managed to Lift up on the front of the plenum with everything else unhooked and prop it up with a 2x4 layin longways across the engine bay. reached back there with a screw driver to "gently" push the release tab and pull it off. i think the hoses were the original 1996 hoses cause they were pretty much glued to the fittings when i got it out of there, was no getting them off. and be sure u plug everything else up and save that pita for last when reinstalling. the pipe that it went on in mine had a bit of corrosion on it so i scotched brighted it using wd40 as a lube. cleaned up decent but the left over corrosion as little as it is, acts like barbs when u try to pull it off again. so save that for the very very last lol. have fun, i know i did.

didnt notice oil, noticed oil smoke. sorry for the mix up been a long day

I had an oil leak on my 96 3.3 it started smallish and got bigger and bigger till one day on a cold morning i was filling up with gas and noticed oil coming from under the passenger side of the hood. Popped the hood and looky there oil on my exhaust manifold. so i sacked up and did the valve cover gaskets. while i was at it i did all new hoses on the intake, and changed the pcv valve and plugs wires distributor cap and button. flushed the cooling system ect... that was all last weekend. looks like "most" of the oil leak is gone if its not all together gone. giving it a couple of days before i pay close attention to it. had oil in the same spot. half of the alt, and a wiring plug near it right under it. "maybe something to do with ac" and all under my oil pan ect... so ya, the valve cover gaskets were like hardend pastic instead of rubber when i got down to them. i would probably start there, pretty cheap repair and just takes some time and effort. word to the wise tho. if you pcv valve hose and the coolant hose right beside it under the "air vent" on top of the manifold are good, dont replace them unless u wanna wait a week for specially ordered hose, or fab something up urself. but far as the oil leak goes. lookin good so far. hope this helps

yes it should help with this issue, as the knock sensor dials back timing and gas to the engine when it detects a knock. up hill power loss, and lagging 0 to 60 r common. probably a million yrs late on the subject but oh well hehe.

x2, my 96 manual trans se has never unlocked on me that i know of. no bang even when hard on the gas. "shrug"

Oil filter relocation kit is for the win!! =)

to keep the smoke from coming in your cab just turn on inside air re-circulation. that's what i had to do on mine till payday and i can buy all the stuff to fix er up.

i would like a lift soonish too, i already run 31 x 10.5 tires, i dont have any clearance issues at all, note profile pic. i would like a lift and maybe some 33's some day tho. sigh....

I am not sure what could be causing your crappy mpg. but to answer your first question. I have a 1996 SE manual 5speed. and when i start its 1200rpm for several seconds then down to 700ish. U say after the initial 2200rpm idle after it warms up it seems to run normal but crappy MPG. Im not sure if clogged cats would cause that. hmmm about anything i say i would be guessing so i will not speculate, sorry bud.

When ever you turn on you AC, if you have an electric fan, it automatically turns on your electric fan. "im guessing this is because the engine is under more load so to ensure it stays cool" not sure tho. but i do know on most models with an electric fan that your ac will kick ur fan on for sure. hmmm by the date on this post looks like im a day late and dollar short. sorry =(

ya i have an oil leak too, will have to do the baby powder trick. Good idea, thanks for sharing.

=) yah thats a bit off in the future, gotta get the normal daily drive stuff in order before i can justify "playin" with it. =) thanks for your comment.

Good looking work on her so far. Long way from where you first got it. Keep up the good work. Along with the pics and maybe some how too vids hehe.

Hey just stopping in to say howdy. I "lurked about" for a while before i signed up. I must say there are some VERY helpful how to videos, post with pics, and discussions going on in this forum. I bought my pathy coming up on 4 yrs ago. So far the only thing i had to do to is was replace the battery. That's not to say that it doesn't need other stuff, i just haven't had the time or means to do so. But now I am starting to get the time, and the means is approaching fast. Needless to say i will probably be undertaking some basic repair maintenance projects on pretty soon. I will try to post pics and or videos of the jobs i get completed with as much detail as i can muster while doing the job. Here is a list of the things i'm going to end up having to do within the next 6ish months or so. My pathy is a 1996 SE 4x4 31 x 10.5" AT tires. VG33e, 5speed. No mods that i'm aware of. 1. Spark plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, and valve cover gaskets 2. Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, cam seals, and crank seal, hoses, belts. 3. Shocks struts and brakes. Rotors and pads front, drum rear. (may convert to disk in rear) not sure yet. 4. Clutch, pressure plate, throw out bearing replacement. (possibly more depending on the noise that i hear when depressing pedal sometimes) 5. Exhaust manifold / cat replacement both sides. (may be developing the dreaded crack in manifold on passenger side.) 6. Oil filter relocation kit. (although not a hi priority, it would make changing the filter way less of a pain in the bum.) 6. Custom bumpers, home made by yours truly. (this project may be as much or more than a yr off, being that i have to buy Everything and funds r limited) O.K. i think that about does it for now. may modify, delete or add to later. yet to be seen. Anyways hi everyone good to see ya.