Effects of running on 5 cylinders

[Cessilia]

If my car, 95 3.4L cutlass supreme was running on 5 cylinders for about a week or two, would that screw my o2 sensor or any other sensors. I find that it is running quite well after replacing the plugs, wires and thermostat, but that it is still eating up the fuel and stalls occasionally if i have been driving for a while and come to a light or something.

Does anybody have any ideas. I don't have a diagnostic computer to check the car computer.

I have got a program to read the computer through the aldl in my blazer. will it work for this car too.

Thanks

[DEI37]

RE: Effects of running on 5 cylinders

It sure could. The unburned fuel could cause O2 sensor damage, cat damage, and all that. Both of those issues will cause excessive fuel consumption, and possible stall scenarios.

[Juglenaut]

RE: Effects of running on 5 cylinders

Can result in premature egine wear, not only does if effect the O2, but a number of things.

Cat will wear out sooner, unspent fuel can pool on the piston and infiltrate through the rings and into the oil and over saturated oil which can cause cylinder scouring and exessive wear. Fuel in oil can in large amounts can damage certain gaskets and seals that tolerate fuel but not resist it. Major thing is viscosity breakdown effect fuel has on heavier petrolium distilates and such.

I have also found ways to cut off fuel to cylinders that are maulfunctioning untill service is obtained, and no not just unplugging the injector it is more indepth than that.

you saw nothing

[Cessilia]

thanks. that being said. After changing the plugs, wires and thermostat; the car is running very well again. Normal to me at least. Can these same issues work them selves out again after a few hundred miles.

I have heard that a computer that has learned to compensate for less than optimal conditions may relearn it's normal operations after some length of time (i heard about one tank of gas should be enough time).

Is any of this true.

[Juglenaut]

Well if you did fix the problem, it will stay away for now, but that doesn't mean other things or the same symtom will reappear down the road.

A number of things can cause a misfire, dry deadfire, or a wet deadfire.
A injector that siezed open can cause a wet dead fire at idle, also can cause a dry dead fire if it is closed usually if the injectors are bad oddly enough the ICM will sometimes throw a fault code, also possible for the MAP, IAC and the o2 to throw codes if injectors are bad.

Misfires in general can have several reason why; like bad coils, bad pod on the ICM, bad wires, improperly gapped plugs, usually a KPS or cam sensor will not just misfire one cylinder it will spread across all cylinders causing intermittent stalls in motion, however there is more reason why a car might stall. feewww sound bad I know but the list does kind of go and go, but as long as you cover the basic and the typical faults on any given car it will run very well for a long time.

If a computer is reset on older cars (pre 99??) the computer has relearn built in and stored parameters, but it is a slow proccess for compensation, the higher the mileage a car has it seems to have better fuel economy only because of compensation. This is a major reason why the KAL pack or EEprom in the computer is needed if you get a new computer as it has stored information about the engine. However the are limits to how much the computer compensates any given parameter.