*update!11-5
so i noticed today. That when i turn my head lights on after starting the car. It will shutter and drop to a lil below 1k revs before starting. Now i do have the HID Kits from hid extra. No problems before with them. THis only happens when the engine is cold and just being started. however today i was driving on the highway for about 7-8 minutes and decided to turn my lights on. same thing! engine shuttered a bit. like the engine had to kick over real quick. also my crusie control turned off immeadiatly. and would not turn back on for another 5 seconds or so. then everything was normal. any ideas on what caused that? maybe im drawing too much power from the battery or altenator?


I've noticed my car behaving oddly the last few weeks but never thought to really ask till today. When starting my car it turns out Real rough and loud. Usually going up to 2krpms slowly drops usually rises again and stays arund 1-2k. thats just idling. at first i thought it was because of the modifactions i made i/h/e/chip. Recently something else has happened. If riding in cruise control for an extended time say 15-20 mins. sometimes the cruise control will just shut off. and wont turn back on for about 2 seconds or so. ITs hard to replicate it just happens. but it has happened twice now. Also sometimes when starting the car it will sound like its about to die. (like if the cai wasn't hooked up right it will start then shutter to a stop.)

So im thinking something may have gotten loose wire wise. maybe where my audio system wires go into the drivers side doors. (subwoofer still pops when turning the car on and off.)

Anybody else have any ideas? I will try to keep my camera on so maybe i can catch things in action.

 

Almost sounds like you have a vacuum leak somewhere. That could explain some of the engine rpm issues, but the cruise issue...not sure, but a tech and a scan tool would help. As for the popping sub, better get an audio tech in here.

 

Vacum leak? well there are no codes to check..

 

Wow, my car actually freaked out in a similar way today. I started it up, it started to shake violently, shot black smoke out of my exhaust, and it would idle (no ____) all the way down to 100 rpms. Disconnect your battery, take your MAF off, clean it, put it back on, make sure its snug, and my car was good to go!

 

All I can suggest is to double-check any wiring that you've done including the Unichip harness. Disconnect the harness, inspect all connectors, spray them with contact cleaner and re-connect. It's possible that you have a weak or wet connection somewhere. GL

^^^ As stated above, the MAS is another possibility.

 

Yeah Sorry, my MAS not MAF.

 

Most people refer to it as the "MAF" so you were not wrong. I just recently decided that "MAS" is a more accurate acronym for it.

 

any specfic contact cleaner i should get?

 

Any electrical contact cleaner should work. Some say you can use this to clean the MAS too but I used MAS cleaner to be safe.

 

reccomendatiosn for brands?

 

I'm not aware of any major differences between brands. Just be sure to get zero-residue electrical contact cleaner and not something like LPS or WD40. IIRC the main cleaning agent is trichloroflourethane or something like that. Any auto parts store should sell it and MAS cleaner.

 

cool i just picked some up. but real quick. exactly what am i spraying?? cause i never done any cleaning like this before

 

You remove your unichip harness and spray the contacts with the elecrical cleaner.

You remove the MAS from the top of the airbox (2 screws) and twist/pull. Spray the MAS cleaner on the part that sits inside the intake and mainly you want to spray up into the MAS where the hot wires are while holding it top-up to allow good drainage.

You should do this over some sort of container and then properly dispose of it but you could dump it into some used oil or whatever you feel envionmentally comfortable with.

 

update!

 

maybe check you grounds?

also you said it never did this before you installed the HIDs. Try taking out the kit and see if this still continues to happen

 

well i've had the HIDs for about 6 months. this has been in the last month its done this.

 

How old is your battery? If you have a OBD2 scan tool or a volt-meter you can check the battery voltage with the engine off and running to get an idea of potential battery or alternator problems. The battery voltage should be ~12.5V and ~14V with engine running.

 

thanks fred i will check that. its a2010 so i guess a few months old. btw can i use that maf cleaner on my unichip contacts or is that bad.

 

I hope you find the problem and that it's minor. AFAIK, MAS cleaner can be used to clean electrical contacts.