I did some reading of the RAVE manual and have an understanding of the O2 sensors now. I believe that the odd voltage is most likely a symptom of what is going wrong in the cylinder.


I forgot to check for arcs last night. Sunset is quite late here at this time of year. I forgot all about it until I was safely tucked away in bed shortly past midnight.

 

I have read a lot on these forums trying to come up with a solution to my rough running and the Ultraguage P0302 code. I've changed the plugs and wires. Done a sea foam induction clean and gasoline treatment. There is no visible arcing at the plugs, wires, or coil packs in the dark.

I'm waiting for the rain to stop and I'll do a coolant flush and change. I made a BIG mistake and topped it up with Dexcool a while back when I broke a coolant hose. There was also a small leak in the coolant system (on the top hose at the bleed screw). I think mixing coolants with Dexcool and adding air to the mixture is even worse. Oops.

After reading about running temperatures on these forums I realized that I'm running way colder. On a hot day, after some freeway driving (172 tops) and then getting into stop and go traffic, it got up to 184 F. But just for a second and went back down to the low 170s. Does that mean I'm running too cold? Is my current thermostat just running wide open?

I re-inspected my old spark plugs. All of them had black carbon build up. The number 2 was way worse than the others.

Gas milage has been poor and I have less power. It is possible that I'm running too cold and as a result the mixture has been too lean and over time this is gumming everything up?

I purchased a new thermostat that I will replace along with some hoses and coolant overflow cap just in case. I can do another sea foam induction clean (that was fun!).


I am taking some good advice that I learned from these forums. It just doesn't make sense to start changing out parts HOPING that one of them is the problem. My shop told me the same thing. In fact, the parts guy was really hesitant to sell me a new set of coils. He says I might be wasting my money and time and insisted that we book it in and let them diagnose the problem with their diagnostic tools and expertise.

I've booked it into the shop on June 3. I'll keep posting here to let everyone know how this turns out. (been reading too many old threads that just die off with no resolutions!).

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions and thoughts!

 

I just went thru something similar with my 04 D2. Was throwing P0305 and sometimes P0300. Tracked it down to the ignition coils as I had spotted a little bit of arcing when I had the hood open in the dead of night. I bought the coils and IM gasket from AB. My normal mech was on vacation so I decided to take the plunge and do it myself. The Rave manual is all you need. The only thing that I did differently was to disconnect the throttle body from the IM, that way I did not have mess wit the coolant hoses. I will grant you that it took me twice as long (6hrs), but I worked very slowly and methodically, labeling each nut/bolt and putting them in magnetic trays, one for the drivers side, one for pax. The only tool that is out of the norm is a torque wrench. Hope that helps.

 

Yeah, I wish everyone would remember to come back and post the resolution, even if there was not one so we would have some kind of answers at the end of the threads. And, after you post a resolution, edit the Thread Title to state "Resolved" and what post # it's resolved in.

 

Thanks Matt and Super Sport.

I'm hoping it is the coils. It is a job that I'm willing to do myself. However, if it's at the shop and they tell me it's the coils, I might just bite the bullet and have them do the job. Being mechanics at a Rover specific shop I'm guessing that they have done this a few times before and can make short work of it. It will depend on the price. I'm guessing 1.5 hours shop time and parts.

 

The job is about three hours according to two mechanics I spoke to. Atlantic British has the coils on sale. There is no need to buy the coil pack, all that is a metal bracket with the coils pre mounted, for a lot more money. The individual coils just unbolt from the original bracket. Buythe coils and IM gasket yourself to save getting a parts mark up.

 

Wow, a BIG difference. Thanks for that info for future use. Will save a bundle if I need to go there some day.

 

I changed out some hoses and the thermostat. Filled with distilled water and took her for a drive.

Now I'm running in the 205 to 220 F range. The old thermostat was dated 99. The truck is a 99.

She is cooling down now and I'll replace the water with coolant.

I also replaced the air filter, and realized that the last dummy (me) to put on that air filter box had done a poor job, and bent the tabs in and allowed the box to sit open with a bit air flow not getting filtered. Dusty. Maybe I should do a second Sea Foam induction clean? Could it hurt? I cleaned the MAF with MAF cleaner.

 

By your temps, it appears you used the standard Thermostat and not the 180 degree thermostat. Is that true? It's been recommended on this forum to run the 180 degree thermo on the Rovers to keep them a little cooler. I run 185-195 most of the time.

 

Yes, I used the regular thermostat. I don't mind running slightly hotter as it provides better heat in the winter. I'm sure that temp will drop a bit when I replace the distilled water with coolant and wetter water.

I was of the impression that running temp was between 200 and 220. Maybe I need to read some more.

I'm thinking that if it was running too cold, the computer would have to compensate for it with mixture and that eventually that running too cold might cause things to gum up a bit.

I'm also like an old granny when I drive. Should I be more aggressive?