[Shotimes] Got a problem....totally off the wall Long, so you'll have no follow up questions

[George Fourchy]

Hi All...

Lowrider has a problem.  It doesn't seem to affect its performance, but if I don't
do something about it, there might be permanent engine damage, only because I have
NO idea what is happening.  Since the car is coming around the final turn of its
lifespan, I don't want to ignore this problem and possibly do something to it that
would require a huge amount of repairing.  I'm comparing the potential damage here
to what could have happened if I hadn't caught that EGR tube back in '96 that had
just sprung a leak, and was starting to melt all the cables, speedo, throttle, and
cruise, due to the leaking hot exhaust gas ( I think the situation is
similar....leaking hot gasses somewhere).

It's been sitting for 11 months, as you know, waiting to have the rear third of the
body attached and fully assembled.  It was run periodically during that time, for a
few minutes every couple of weeks or so, just to keep the oil up in the top.  It has
been on the road for the last week, adding another quick thousand miles around town
and on the commute.  I took it to the muffler shop this morning, to get a new hangar
installed in the right rear corner for the right side muffler...the SLO rear end
didn't have any hangars on the right side.  After that was done, it was a lot
quieter (no rattling and buzzing where the muffler was banging against the frame),
and sounded more or less normal.  But then I noticed that whenever I'd give it any
kind of substantial throttle, like I would if accelerating on an on-ramp to the
freeway, it makes a hissing sound that I can hear above the quieter (now that the
rattling exhaust is out of the picture) snarl of the engine.  (I can hear it in the
garage, too...just at idle if I blip the throttle...the sound reflects off the wall
and the other car next to it.)  If I stay on it in 3rd or 4th, to get up to cruising
speed fast, to go directly out to the fast lane, the CE light will come on after 10
or 15 seconds.  ...Yes....this is the first time the CE light has come on for an
unknown reason.....so that proves it was made by humans!  That has happened twice,
just today.  If I stay out of excessive throttle, the CE light doesn't come on, and
if it does come on, it will go out after 5 minutes or so of gentle, city-street
driving.  There is no change of performance of any kind when the light comes on or
goes off.

I went to the FAQ, and looked at the 2 digit codes that the '90 computer can
generate.  There is nothing in the codes that light up the CE light that would go
along with some kind of leak of gasses (the noise I think I hear) that I can see.

I've never had to deal with a CE light, except for the PfH, which was a different
thing entirely....that was a lack of power to the computer and CCRM/IRCM.  So I know
of the procedures to get the codes, but I have never done it...years ago I saw it
done with the paper clip.  I'm going to get one of those code readers the FAQ
recommends, unless someone else has a better recommendation.  It needs to go to the
dealer anyway, to fix the keyless entry.  That quit while it was in my garage, for
no reason....the fuses are good, but it is dead.  But that wasn't going to happen
until the black car comes home, in 10 days or so.  And, like I said, I don't want to
hurt anything by driving it with this noise/leak if I can keep a small problem from
becoming big, like crank cancer gets.   (No, it's not a banging noise, it's a
hissing sound, sort of like a 60s/70s big engine running through a single small
exhaust system....)

If anyone has had something like this happen in the past, I'd appreciate it if you'd
share it with me.  I'm parking it until I can figure it out. 

I have blipped the throttle while leaning over the throttle body (with the hood up).
 I heard extra hissing type noises coming from more or less everywhere; that was the
same noise.  It would be very hard to isolate it, since my engine is a bit more
noisy than most, due to its mileage, even at idle.

Thanks..

George