having problems with 94 Geo Tracker.....

Oh, heres the story, my girlfriend has had this 94 tracker since probably march and it has been a very good vehicle, basically trouble free. Well the service engine light has been on since she bought it, and finally I figured out how to check the codes. I had to use the "california" port and according to everything Ive read hers must be a california one because she has the mfi 1.6 liter, not the throttle body injected one, and I read that was only available in a California tracker in 94, and not in federal ones until 95. Anyways the codes that I got were code 13, oxygen sensor no signal change, and a code 51, egr valve. So first thing I did was disconnect the battery, took out what I thought was the EGR valve, its down at the bottom of the motor in the back, actually in the block held in by two bolts, I took that off, cleaned the valve itself the best I could, and the ports in the motor with a q-tip, replace the gasket and put it back together. Well the light is now back on with the same codes again. Also she has started having troubles with it. While driving, especially when accelerating up a hill and such it will be just fine then all of the sudden shake and shutter really bad, then go back to normal. I mean its pretty violent like someone trying to start out in a standard vehicle for the first time, it really shakes and hesitates. It seems like it is either A) losing fuel or B) losing spark. It doesnt really seem to be rpm related, nor gear related or anything. It happens in the city sometimes as well, but worse when like going up a hill and giving it more gas to accelerate, it just jolts and shakes for like 2 seconds then goes back to normal. I dont really know for sure if this is related to the two codes that I got from it, I dont think the egr would have anything to do with it, but I suppose its possible the oxygen sensor would. I just dont understand why the light has been on this entire time, and it just NOW starts to have driveability issues. I think Im going to change the fuel filter and see if that helps at all, and I may also put a timing light on it and check that, but I really dont think that is what it is. It idles smooth as can be, and otherwise runs great. It is a 4 wheel drive 5 speed just to let you guys know. I really appreciate any advice I can get, I am more of a gm man myself and dont know too much about these cars. Oh by the way, I tried running some seafoam through it but it didnt seem to make a difference. Thanks again guys and I look forward to reading your responses!

ttt

i dont know if would have the same problem that mine does but i would say check the spark plugs as another measure mine is 95 lsi 1.6 4x4 and it goes through wires and plugs about every 20k miles just because of the way the engine was made other than that its a great car well that and rust. another thing might be the mass air flow sensor. hope this helps

well I changed the fuel filter and oxygen sensor and it still does it. It is so violent the tires will chirp at like 30mph. We seem to have it narrowed down to between 2000-2500 rpm's. If you keep on it it will clear up around 3k. Im thinking ignition now...

try you timing and also check you throttle cable it might be stuck or sticking

well I changed the fuel filter and oxygen sensor and it still does it. It is so violent the tires will chirp at like 30mph. We seem to have it narrowed down to between 2000-2500 rpm's. If you keep on it it will clear up around 3k. Im thinking ignition now...


does the car stall when you come to a stop sign.that would indicate bad egr valve. or ports.to the egr. does it have a miss in the engine.
i had a problem with the wires going to thefuel pump that caused a miss in the engine
or maybe bad wires or coil. or plugs
also does the check engine light stay on all the time. if it does there is a switch by the left front speaker (behind dash on my 95) i think you turn it on then turn on ignition then turn off switch this should reset the ecm. if that is not the right sequence go to library get chilton manual for tracker they give you the right sequence. my light was on when i bought my tracker
i went to library and got sequence and turn off the light. it come on automatically at 30,000 60,000 90,000.

i dont know if would have the same problem that mine does but i would say check the spark plugs as another measure mine is 95 lsi 1.6 4x4 and it goes through wires and plugs about every 20k miles just because of the way the engine was made other than that its a great car well that and rust. another thing might be the mass air flow sensor. hope this helps


Does it run better once it warms all the way up? My 95 was doing sort of the same as yours and mine was caused by a burnt valve. Once mine warmed up it ran a lot better, but not quite right.

ashley
:smile:

actually it seems to do it a little worse when it warms up. Since the last post I have done plugs, wires, cap and rotor. So total I have done, plugs, wires , cap, rotor, oxygen sensor, fuel filter and it still does it awful bad. It is to the point where it is getting unsafe to drive, at 2k it just shakes violently and it either losing fuel or spark, but it only does it under load, while driving. You can sit there and rev it all day and it wont do it, unless you are driving. It is getting worse, and I am absolutely stumped. What do these things have for timing control, do they have like a cam position sensor, crank position sensor, things like that? How about ecm, could that cause a problem like this? PLEASE help me guys, I dont know what to do. She is still paying off the car and can barely even drive it, and she doesnt have tons of money to pay someone to fix it. Thanks!

Hi, I am new here and also am experiencing the same problem in my 1996 Tracker. Here is a bump to the top so hopefully someone out there knows a solution.

Thanks,
DG

is yours that violent though? Auto or manual? We've gotta figure this out..

i agree mine stalls sometimes and im not sure why but lately i have been having my check engine light come on for a little while and then it just goes off.
has your check engine light come on?? if so you can take it to some auto parts stores and they will check it for free and give you the code which you can look up in a repair manual. a question i have is does anyone know why they have the tendency to not engage the gear (manual tranny) mine just seems to rev sometimes and wont engage.

the revving part seems like clutch slipping possibly, hard to tell. You the code its giving is egr valve, but I have bypassed that and it still does it just as bad. It isnt stalling, it idles wondering, its when you are acceleration it is very violent, not good at all.

check your motor and transmission mounts to make sure they are sound. also see if your valve cover is leaking on the back of the motor or underneath where the tranny and motor meet. maybe your leaking oil onto your clutch plate. toivo

might it be your mass airflow sensor?

I unplugged the mass air flow sensor and it didnt seem to make a difference...

ok you say it does it when you are driving? if so check the engine compression. also check your cat and muffler as well.

check the clutch for sure

its not clutch related I can tell that, because its the actual motor itself that is cutting out and surging, if it were the clutch the motor wouldnt act the way it did, its not the exhaust either because its at exactly 2k it happens, and if you guys could see how violent it is you'd understand. This thing is likely to give you whiplash. The guy she bought it off of has his own little local car dealer he runs, he has had it since wednesday and has checked things like pickup coil, coil, ignition control module, fuel pressure, and as fas as I know he still hasnt figured it out yet either. I am at a loss here, and my girlfriend works 3 jobs and I work one, and it is getting really hard having to share 1 car. I really need some help...

im at a loss i have never heard anything like that

me neither, dont know what to do!

i can go out on a limb and say have you checked the timing belt and gears?

I thought about that, and no I dont think that has been done yet. If the timing was off, would it idle perfectly and run fine up to a specific rpm? The guy she bought it from still has it now and I guess that he is going through and checking all of the grounds now and making sure they are all good, I dont know all I know is that its hard sharing one vehicle when she has 3 jobs and I have one! I appreciate your guys help, keep the ideas coming, anything helps! Thanks.

something i just thought of your is just 1 year off from mine. have you checked the Ignition Control Module? and the distributor? the icm is just before the coil if its bad that would send a bad signal to the coil other than that i can only think of the electronic control module haveing problems (the computer) but usually it gives a code for that. but if you have a manual give it a try and test the icm out this is what it looks like http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=GPS&mfrpartnumber=115098&parttype=194&ptset=C

I unplugged the mass air flow sensor and it didnt seem to make a difference...
i have a 95 tracker with 215k on it and having the same problem! Idles great and runs super except for cutting out some times, and it mainly happens when the AC is on. Changed dist.cap,plugs and wires, didn't fix a thing. Also cleaned Throtle body which helped it Idle much better and helped mileage. I have no codes, I think I have narrowed problem down to the ICM(ignition control module), ECM(computer)or Pick-up coil in Distributor. The ICM will not put a code in system where the ECM will. Also The ICM will check out fine when at idle because it is not breaking down. Going to try ICM first, and get one from junk yard, new one is 80 to 100 dollars, might be able to get one from yard for 1/2 that.

well, the guy she bought it from had it for about a week, have it back to her and said that it should be taken care of. All he said was that he took off all of the grounds and sanded them and cleaned them, and he said to keep dry gas in it. He swapped out and test the coil, pick up coil, and a couple of other parts that didnt help it, so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that it stays good, but who knows...

good luck i have asked around and no one i know of has any idea what could be wrong with it

well, the guy she bought it from had it for about a week, have it back to her and said that it should be taken care of. All he said was that he took off all of the grounds and sanded them and cleaned them, and he said to keep dry gas in it. He swapped out and test the coil, pick up coil, and a couple of other parts that didnt help it, so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that it stays good, but who knows...
Hope it works, Should Know pretty quick though, if it does. Let us Know, I haven't changed any parts yet, I'll wait till I hear something from you.

well the car was fine for a day or two, but now it is back to the same thing, not nearly as violent as it was before, but its occuring right at 2500 again and gradually getting worse, going from 1-2 times a day to 10 times a day now, just the same thing that happened in the beginning. So whatever he did helped it out, but its slowly coming back just like it was. Like I said not as violent, but working its way up just like it did before. PLEASE let me know when you try the icm if that helps, the only difference between our problems is the A/C thing, this one doesnt have A/C. Was yours so bad it would lock up the seatbelt and chirp the tires? Well....let me know what you come up with because within a couple of days it looks like we are going to be right back to where we were before....thanks alot!

yes, when my Tracker cuts out it will throw your head back aginst the seat. It's like the ignition is turned off then right back on again but the lights don't go off and raidio doesn't quit. It very seldom cuts out when the A/C isn't on, actually it will cut out when the blower switch is on, come to think of it. I thought that the ignition control module was breaking down under a load. Well I'll start there and see what happens. For sure I'll keep you posted.

I work at autozone, and I looked into it today and come to find out we can test the ignition control module, so tomorrow when I get out of work Im going to take it down there and test it and see what happens. Only thing that makes me somewhat hesitant to think its that is that supposedly when the guy had it he swapped one from another tracker he has and it didnt make a chance, but Im really keeping my fingers crossed and praying that is what it is, because I will be so thrilled to just simply figure out what it is and get it over with, I mean once winter comes this is going to be unsafe to drive, it will most definately cause an accident. How soon will you know if that is your problem? Hopefully I will know soon and I will keep you updated as well, thanks again man!

tested the ignition control module and the coil at work today, I couldnt get either one to test bad. I just drove it for 10 miles around the city TRYING to get it to do it and it could only do it once, its so intermittent now, it could be fine for 20 minutes then do it 10 times in 5 minutes, I just dont know anymore I am so fed up with this thing....

have you tried the computer?

Hi, I have a 94' however, i own the tbi model. I have in the past had the light come on for the EGR valve, took it off, cleaned it out good with carb cleaner, and along with the run that comes to the egr vavle, started the engine with the valve off, so that the engine will push the carbon out of the valve, it will rev load and high, just shut it down before it redlines. Put everything back together, and it last for about a year before having to do it again. To clear the light, it doesn't do any good to disconnect the battery, there is a switch underneath the dash board, remove the panel under the stearing wheel. Mine is to the left of the stearing colum. Flip the switch, and it will turn that light off. that will clear the code.

Hope this helps, i know when my egr valve is acting up, i lose power between 2000 and 3000 rpm, and it idles really slow, almost as if it is chocking. It is now starting to buck, but once i get past 3000 rpms it goes away, but i think i just need to clean the egr vavle again.

I hope this information help
Kris

we have now replaced the pick-up coil as well, as told by a mechanic that looked at it, STILL no luck, just dont know what to do anymore....running out of money to waste.

just a suggestion but have you checked the drivetrain like the rear axle i just read the other day that they have problems cracking on the 94 maybe thats it

no you can definately tell its cutting out and losing spark, its rpm related, you can watch the tach jump around, and it doesnt do it all the time.

ok have you tried the exhaust system? i have had a car that did something similar to that before and it was because the cat was clogged. worth a try

just a suggestion but have you checked the drivetrain like the rear axle i just read the other day that they have problems cracking on the 94 maybe thats it

I had teh same problem with my fiero, turned out to be a short between the battery and the started, that may not be the same short in your case, but maybee you need to check for an electrical short?

Well the car has now been to two mechanics, the last one specializes in electric, and still NO idea. I am just begging and crying out for help at this point, anything at all would be great. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far, Im sorry that none of them have worked!!

what about cleaning the terminals and grounds again try adding an extra ground from motor to body. also it could be plugs i know you changed them but my friend had a pickup truck he changed plugs still had the shakes in the motor.took it to a shop they put it on the scope and it showed a couple of plugs were no good under load changed them and truck lost the shakes. just remember he had a v 8 thats 4 extra cylinder it just takes one bad plug on a four cylinder to make it run bad. also can you take off the hood and drive it till you get to 2500 rpm and see if you can see any arcing on the motor from the wires or the coil. .probably does sound like a good idea but you have done everthing else.

well you see it did it before I changed the plugs, and then the same afterwards, so I dont think that is it.

who have you taken the car to?

do you have any oil leaks that could be getiing on the clutch causing the clutch to slip.and is there enough free play in the clutch pedal so that it is not engaged to disengage the presure plate.

the clutch pedal feels fine, there are no oil leaks,it just burns a little bit. I have taken it to a garage that we have taken our cars to for years, and then we took it to a garage in town that specializes in electric, no luck at all.

you know it could be the ecm the computer. that controls everything my car blew the ign coil fuse .i replaced it blew again . replaced it two more time got car home. played with the torque converter relay it did not help the car would run then while driving engine shut off. turn on shut off.for about a second. put relay back on then check speed sensor. but this shows you how much of a pain in the ass the computer is.

if it is your computer there is a guy on ebay that rebuilds them for 50.00 ubder ebay motor car truck parts tracker electrical components trackerrus

i found a problem with my tracker the FI fuse look like it was tight in the fuse panal but the clips holding the fuse in were loose cutting on and off the fuel pump.

i hate to suggest it but maybe you should take it to a chevy dealer that might be your best bet

have you gotten anywhere with the problem yet.

no, just been dealing with it, dont really know what else to do anymore, just not looking forward to dealing with it once winter comes, that is going to be bad.

sorry we couldnt help

hey dont worry about it man, nobody has been able to, I really appreciate everybody trying to help me.

Does this vehicle have a "crank position sensor"? A bad crank position sensor may cause the problems you describe.

cheers,

I have a tbi 94 geo tracker that started with the same problem as yours but now it got so bad it will only idle below 800rpm. I am a Maintenance mechanic Manager for a plastics manufacturer. I was not impressed with the dealers I can't check it bull so this is what I did.
got the chilton manual.
The oxygen sensor is not suppose to be able to kill the engine the book says. The computer operates on a 5 volt dc system.
checked the map sensor 5 volts in from computer. proper volts through sensor and I even fed 0 to 5 volts back with a power supply.
checked the throttle position sensor. 5 volts in from computer 0 to 5 volts back to computer through range of pushing throttle lever.
I then put a volt meter on the throttle body injector to check for 0 to 5 volts from the computer to open a little or a lot of gas into the intake.
THIS WAS THE PROBLEM! THE COMPUTER WAS NOT OPENING THE INJECTOR WITH 1.2 VOLTS AT IDLE OR 4.5 VOLTS AT FULL THROTTLE!
IT WAS ONLY PUTTING OUT .8 VOLTS AND BARELY KEEPING IT IDLEING AT 500 RPM.
I found many references on the internet of the computers going bad on these models early!
All the dam dealer has to do is hook up a cheep voltmeter to the throttle body injector or each of the multi port ones and check for 0 to 5 volts as you push on the gas pedtal. I don't think your money should have been spent to train thier factory trained mechanics so ask for it back or go to small claims court the judge will agree don't build something you can't troubleshoot.
The circuit board guys say leaky capacitor acid corrodes the board and makes the ecm computer erratic and fail.only some can be repaired. time and heat are the enemy.This makes me wary of used parts.Low milage vehicle ok? 1700 DOLLARS CANDIAN FOR NEW ECM. Anyway I will buy a whole spare car or wire in a compatable unit from something else. Used computers range rom 200 us. Leave yours hanging and go buy it and put it in to try it first.You might get a electronic repair before its to late. Good luck.

yeah its seems to me that the ecm's go bad in geos and chevy's except apparently the '95 which makes me happy because thats what i have :) my wife however has a 98 metro and i am almost certain that her ecm has gone bad but it cost 2800 from the dealer and 1700 new after market but luckily i can get one for 250 used. hope the last post helps you fix your problem.

very wierd update for you guys, it has still continued to have the same problem, so we have just been living with it and kind of getting around it by avoiding those rpm's as much as we can. Well this morning my girlfriend gets in to go to work, and within a couple of minutes the temp guage is pegged to H in the redzone, so she shut it off, waited a couple of minutes, started it up and it remained there, so she limped it home and took her moms car to work. Well I go up to her house tonight, change the thermostat, check oil and coolant out, the SECOND we started it the guage was to H, but the engine was ice cold it sat for house, so now I know its not the thermostat, something may be wrong with the temp sending unit. Well on the way to my house while driving, it was bucking alot worse then usual, and you could watch the temp guage go up and down as it did it, almost like the more the guage moved, the worse the car acted, but sometimes the guage would move without the car acting up. What I am wondering is,, is it possible that the temp sending unit for the guage is screwed up, and has been this whole time, but now is just finally going completely, and that maybe this sensor is also the one that tells the computer how hot the engine is, which helps the computer to adjust air and fuel and such, I know the coolant temperature sensor usually does this, but there is also a temperature switch listed for this vehicle, which means that there is both of them on here, but I dont know why becuase usually coolant temp sensors control electric fans in cars, so each one of these sensors in the tracker must have their own job. Is there anyway that the guage problem and the bucking can be related because of one sensor? The bucking was really bad tonight compared to usual, and like I said it was the worse when the guage was jumping . Please help, only other thing I can think of is that the computer has been on its way out this whole time and now is starting to show other symptoms, but I hope thats not it ....

Hi all,
I am still troubleshooting my problem with my 94 geo tracker. I have hooked up a scopemeter and I got some very erratic voltages to the throttle body. I am trying to find a used cheap vehicle that runs for a spare. Until then I am systematically checking the wiring harness and the engine grounding and all the inputs and outputs from the computer.(its only my spare vehicle) But I won't quit until I solve the mystery (or is it Misery?)and post it on this site!!!!!!!! By the way my compresion,fuel pressure, vacumn, timing and spark are all great.

all that stuff is computer related

if it is your computer email jackiegeorge@peoplepc.com he rebuild them for 50.00 plus shipping.

well, after the recent problems with the temp guage and such, we took it back to the mechanic that told us to bring it back if it starts getting worse. It got worse, alot worse. The bucking was awful and uncontrolable. Well, he looked at it and said that he got a wiring diagram for it and got under the dash and unplugged and plugged back in a couple of plugs and it seemed to fix the problem. Well, so far so good, and it has been a few days now. It hasnt bucked at all, the temp guage hasnt acted up, and all is good. All except ever since we took off the tps and tested it its acting up a little, as soon as you let off the gas while driving it starts slowing down real quick, I think it may just need to be adjusted properly, or replaced. Either was I am just thrilled this seems to be fixed, it has been a LONG time now. So to anyone else having simular problems, try something really easy and just get under the dash and unplug and plug some plugs in, one may be slightly loose or dirty, you never know but it has seemed to solve a problem that has been very bad and serious for some time now, so it cant hurt to try!