new owner of a 98 XE

[Frankeenfurter]

Hi everyone, 

 

I just got a 98 XE. It is in really good condition apart from a slight murmur at low rpm. Mechanic said it needs a refurbished ECM. This was after putting in 900 bucks for a fuel injector. So far she drives great, and cosmetically she is in good condition. I am currently having the AC looked at. California can get hot (not bad right now.) Anyone have advice for driving and owning a car this old? I'm a newb, but then again I did not grow up with a lot so I'm learning as I go. The tires are almost 6 years old but I'm trying to get some miles out of them until I can afford new ones. I'm just trying to push her well beyond her 143k miles. I see a lot of them that have gone well beyond that. Thanks. 

[Slartibartfast]

 Looks like a clean rig!

 

When you say a murmur, do you mean a misfire, or is the idle just fluctuating? Any trouble codes? ECM failures aren't common in these, so I'd be curious what led your mechanic to that diagnosis. 

 

You can download the service manual for free here. There may be a diagnostic procedure for the idle, or at least a description of how the idle control is supposed to work. 

 

[Frankeenfurter]

Hey thanks for the reply.

Yeah very clean. And fun to drive even with only 2wd. Sorry I did not see this earlier.  I think I made a duplicate post by accident. So the service engine light is on and they put it through a bunch of tests. They said a refurbished ECM would correct it. Sometimes there is a fluctuation at idle. It isn't always pronounced, but it can be triggered if I put in reverse when backing up in a tight spot. It tends to calm down after a bit of driving. They did not say that anything else was wrong apart from that fuel injector. They told me she was drivable which is what I need her to be. Right now, it is my only vehicle since my Prius catalytic converter was stolen. I still don't have that car back and it has been 5 months.  I've done a lot of business with this shop in the past but they could be wrong. I should probably find a mechanic to get a second opinion I'm just trying not to spend too much. I had to put new tires on last week. Apart from what I have spent I still think she was a steal at 3K. I'm seeing ones 250+K miles that look way worse for wear. 143K is decent I guess. 

[Frankeenfurter]

Thanks again @Slartibartfast

[Slartibartfast]

No worries, easy to double-post. I can understand not wanting to tear into it while you're other car's off the road, sorry to hear about the cat. Did they say what codes they pulled from it? I'm not saying they're wrong, just curious how they got to that diagnosis. 

[Frankeenfurter]

I'm going to ask them that this week. Not sure if they saved that information but I think they just ran through everything else (they had my car for over a week.) It would be nice to know exactly how they came to that conclusion tho. As long as she passed the drivable test. I really need her right now for gig work. I think I saw somewhere that the MPG was 16, but that was when she was new. Current MPG still seems pretty good and new tires now help with that. I'll let you know soon. 

[Frankeenfurter]

Well, I took it in for a refurbished ECM. Was supposed to get it back today but now they say there is a fuel smell in addition to this intermittent misfire. This is my second go around. They put in an older ECM last week and it failed. They were determined they had the correct ECM this time around, but there is a fuel smell now. Not sure if it's a fuel filter or what? I'm letting the mechanics do their thing as they are a big shop and work on everything. Hoping I can see another 100k miles out of her with minimal investment. I will find out tomorrow as they are putting the old ECM back in. I just hope there is no major issues here. Ugh, so frustrating. I should get some more life out of her at 146000 miles?