SABOTAGE!?!?!?

[robertisaar]

originally had it on w-body, but twice the help is better:

here goes:

yesterday: the front left tire on the GP went COMPLETELY flat overnight, as in, it almost lost the bead. the day before it had 30psi in it. this morning, it still had ~30psi. looks kind of low, but apparently it isn't.

this morning ~7AM: go to start the car, idleing unusually high, even for the temperature. hook up the laptop, and it's showing the TPS at 2.35% MINIMUM. voltage was .61, so it makes sense. that was a fun drive to drop off my sister-in-law at school. had to choose between neutral dropping the tranny or burning the brakes... i decided brakes were cheaper and my superior driving skill will make up for the safety the tranny explosion would cause.

now, both of these things are COMPLETELY unrelated and unexpected. i was also told by my father-in-law to "expect trouble" a few days ago, since one of the asshole neighbors was walking up the street with a notebook and taking down information about us.

now: since the GP has survived colder mornings without issue, i can't blame it on the cold.

is there anything that could have been done while we were sleeping to cause throttle issues? and can i just file down the little screw looking thing that stops the thrrotle to regain a completely closed condition? i can't see a head on the other side of it, which makes no sense, but i figured i could grind it far enough for the throttle to close...

....more disturbing information.

two of my donuts went missing. and the caramel frosting from one of them somehow made it's way on to the keyboard of my desktop. i left the donuts at home, and the dogs didn't get them since they can't reach on top of the desk, the box wasn't completely destroyed and they don't have 4 different kinds of frosting in their fur.

seriously, if i stop posting all of a sudden, feel free to guess why.

[SappySE107]

Do not modify your throttle body. .61 is fine, but the ecm needs to be reset. There is no good reason for this to have happened however. I would get a camera to record your property.

[robertisaar]

sonofabitch...

i just loaded another log from 6 days ago at a 20*F start and the TPS is showing .61 volts and 0%.... ~74 IAC Steps at like 80*F

the log i got when it was dead cold is showing a 22*F start, TPS is .61 and 2.35%..... 74 IAC Steps at 68*F

so the throttle is actually completely closed.....

but it's revving the shit out of itself?

is this all from transitioning from idle spark to main spark?

[bszopi]

Its from all that sugar in the gas tank...

[60dgrzbelow0]

originally had it on w-body, but twice the help is better:

here goes:

yesterday: the front left tire on the GP went COMPLETELY flat overnight, as in, it almost lost the bead. the day before it had 30psi in it. this morning, it still had ~30psi. looks kind of low, but apparently it isn't.

this morning ~7AM: go to start the car, idleing unusually high, even for the temperature. hook up the laptop, and it's showing the TPS at 2.35% MINIMUM. voltage was .61, so it makes sense. that was a fun drive to drop off my sister-in-law at school. had to choose between neutral dropping the tranny or burning the brakes... i decided brakes were cheaper and my superior driving skill will make up for the safety the tranny explosion would cause.

now, both of these things are COMPLETELY unrelated and unexpected. i was also told by my father-in-law to "expect trouble" a few days ago, since one of the asshole neighbors was walking up the street with a notebook and taking down information about us.

now: since the GP has survived colder mornings without issue, i can't blame it on the cold.

is there anything that could have been done while we were sleeping to cause throttle issues? and can i just file down the little screw looking thing that stops the throttle to regain a completely closed condition? i can't see a head on the other side of it, which makes no sense, but i figured i could grind it far enough for the throttle to close...

....more disturbing information.

two of my donuts went missing. and the caramel frosting from one of them somehow made it's way on to the keyboard of my desktop. i left the donuts at home, and the dogs didn't get them since they can't reach on top of the desk, the box wasn't completely destroyed and they don't have 4 different kinds of frosting in their fur.

seriously, if i stop posting all of a sudden, feel free to guess why.

Robert...

As a possible rational answer as to what might have occurred (even though your vehicle engine setup is different) ...Please review my post on this dangerous condition here:

http://60degreev6.com/forum/f97/runaway-camaro-tb-stuck-in-wot-t43836

...but failing to answer the problem from a mechanical perspective prompts me to move into my experience as a homicide detective. I have worked Crimes Against Persons cases involving stalkings and death threats...so I know from experience that these things you are encountering can be very real...and very dangerous, too. But to protect yourself and solve the possibility you pose here...you must be thoughtful and very clever. Your best method of protection is a Video Camera... There are stacks of good video equipment and old VHS format equipment sitting around on the shelves of every Pawn Shop in the land. Infrared would be better...but arranging to set up a surveillance camera...recording for hours on end is a fairly easy thing to do. You do not have to be pinpoint...but you will need to be able to identify people's faces so..the position and direction you place your Field of View is critical.

If you trust your neighbors...directly across the street...meet with them surreptitiously...and ask if you can secretly film the areas outside of your home and driveway to capture all foot traffic of folks coming and going. You only need to capture the routine of this (SA) Serious Asshole doing things on camera one time...and then ...without confronting the suspect(s)...bring the media to the police to begin their investigation. Let the authorities handle it from there on. If you need more help on how to do this (off forum) or want to know more professional "Tricks of the Trade" on how to deal with situations like this... email me at: at60dgrzbelow0@yahoo.com

I'll help you to get to the bottom of what is really happening.

[robertisaar]

thanks for the advice Bob, i'm getting about the same suggestions on W-body....

it certainly doesn't seem like it's stuck open at all since i can go and grab the throttle cable and open it and it snaps shut to the stop screw(or whatever the hell it is) instantly, so i already ruled that out. interestingly enough, i thought of that thread while i was considering what could have gone wrong.

as for the asshole: he has a beef with my father-in-law's immediate family, has stolen some of his stuff before, that kind of thing. i will certainly be keeping a watchful eye for him and anyone else roaming around when it's dark....

is it finally time to put some good old fashioned USMC training to use?

just pulled the ECM fuse, going to wait about an hour and then see if the ECM like the TPS any more than it does now...

[60dgrzbelow0]

...is there anything that could have been done while we were sleeping to cause throttle issues? and can i just file down the little screw looking thing that stops the thrrotle to regain a completely closed condition? I can't see a head on the other side of it, which makes no sense, but i figured i could grind it far enough for the throttle to close.

The "Other Side" of the screw (which should be a Torx flavor) is generally hidden on the opposite side of the TB ...behind a small metal cup. Normally, this setting is fixed during the final TB evaluation at the factory and afterward...the cup is just poked into the hole to prevent anyone from trying to "hypnotize the Throttle Body" and making unrecommended adjustments that would hearken back to the days of NA carburetors. I was exploring this same area (from my prior incident on my WOT Runaway thread) by prying out that little cup and then using a flexible shaft screw-driver and the right Torx fitting duct taped to the end of it to dynamically control the idle...engine running and me trying not to over-do my adjustments...either up or down the RPM scale. So avoid filing down anything if you can...and if need be...this other method works at getting the idle back under control. Thank God for your tuning skills at working the balance back! Don't forget to investigate whether or not the plastic doo-dad that rotates inside the TPS Rheostat...hasn't sheered off or cracked and left some debris inside the TB TPS port...

[robertisaar]

i saw the "cup" in place of a torx head and thought: crap, i can't adjust it... i guess it can be pryed out and then adjusted though.... good to know if it ever becomes necessary for any reason.

"Thank God for your tuning skills at working the balance back"

..... you lost me. balance?

and the crisis of a killer idle has been adverted, but now i still have to deal with the asshole...

ben: if i ever said i was better than you at diagnosis, i would be eating my words right now...

i pulled the ECM fuse, IAC and TPS plugs(BTW: TPS plug is a PITA in this car, wish it was as easy as the MC) waited 20 minutes, went and checked for codes(got IAC oddly enough, but no TPS), thought that the codes would have cleared by now, so i fired up TP v4, cleared the codes, gave everything a watchful eye, open TP V5, connected, everything looked good (all things considered) and saw 0 volts for TPS, so i went out and plugged the TPS and IAC back in, hopped in and saw a TPS voltage of .61, and a % of 0, fired it up and now it idles correctly...

so it wasn't a mechanical issue at all, it was all because of the ECM thinking i didn't want it to idle due to the TPS being misadjusted?

pointless fact: when the TPS is above 4 volts, it considers it 100% even though i can keep it going until something like 4.3-4.5(can't remember)

[60dgrzbelow0]

i saw the "cup" in place of a torx head and thought: crap, i can't adjust it... i guess it can be pryed out and then adjusted though.... good to know if it ever becomes necessary for any reason.

"Thank God for your tuning skills at working the balance back"

..... you lost me. balance?

and the crisis of a killer idle has been adverted...

I pulled the ECM fuse, IAC and TPS plugs (BTW: TPS plug is a PITA in this car, wish it was as easy as the MC) waited 20 minutes, went and checked for codes(got IAC oddly enough, but no TPS), thought that the codes would have cleared by now, so i fired up TP v4, cleared the codes, gave everything a watchful eye, open TP V5, connected, everything looked good (all things considered) and saw 0 volts for TPS, so i went out and plugged the TPS and IAC back in, hopped in and saw a TPS voltage of .61, and a % of 0, fired it up and now it idles correctly...

So it wasn't a mechanical issue at all, it was all because of the ECM thinking I didn't want it to idle due to the TPS being mis-adjusted?

pointless fact: when the TPS is above 4 volts, it considers it 100% even though i can keep it going until something like 4.3-4.5(can't remember)

My Thanks to the Almighty One has been proven in your response to this problem. Everything listed above describing your course(s) of action...demonstrates your skill in getting the engine to behave properly...ergo...

"Back in Balance" (Thinks in terms of it being "Automotive Zen"...)

[robertisaar]

"Back in Balance" (Thinks in terms of it being "Automotive Zen"...)

ahh, that kind of balance

[60dgrzbelow0]

The last four items of safety that might need a gander after this incident... are your brakes... The Universal Laws that govern Thermodynamics maintain that everything you were trying to do to responsibly gain control over that "Runaway Train" means that all that hectic gasoline energy had to be converted very quickly and dramatically from the Kinetic Energy of Motion...into Heat...and Lots and Lots of it... So ...Look them over for anything extreme... such as serious heat cracks or warps in the disks and eyeball the brake pads, too for chipping and loss of pads, too.

[sprucegagt]

I think he just got lucky. Sounds like you had a stuck IAC valve.

[geldartb]

take your iac out and clean it. prob all gummed up if you havent touched it in awhile.

oh and sabotage

[robertisaar]

The last four items of safety that might need a gander after this incident... are your brakes... The Universal Laws that govern Thermodynamics maintain that everything you were trying to do to responsibly gain control over that "Runaway Train" means that all that hectic gasoline energy had to be converted very quickly and dramatically from the Kinetic Energy of Motion...into Heat...and Lots and Lots of it... So ...Look them over for anything extreme... such as serious heat cracks or warps in the disks and eyeball the brake pads, too for chipping and loss of pads, too ...just for drill.

i hate that damn word... and all former and present military members know why...

and i know i gave the brakes a bit of a workout... after the engine was completely warmed, it would shoot up to about 2200RPM in neutral and it was scary to try and neutral drop at that point, so after it got a bit of a roll going on, i threw it in drive and got thrown back anyways... last time i did that. i needed an excuse to play with the rear brakes anyway. the 93(?)-earlier W rear disk setup isn't so great and it's been squeaking a bit lately over some bumps, like the calipers are just rubbing instead of actually braking

[60dgrzbelow0]

I think he just got lucky.

Luck Trumps Skill... Like a S&W beats... Four Aces. Robert is alive to tell us the story... So is my Son. So I'll take Luck... any time I can get it...