CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

TPI with code 44

Under heavy load and cold the O2 sensor will have no impact on how it runs. If it works under those conditions fine, it COULD be the O2 sensor, or something else is going on and it's running lean or rich all the time and the O2 sensor is just doing it's job to try and control what it's seeing once the ECM starts looking at the O2 reading. Of course, it should throw a code if lean or rich outside of parameters, but that doesn't always happen. Exhaust leak will always hurt O2 operation though, if that is questionable, fix the potential leaks first.

I'd guess faulty relay if grabbing it makes it stop. Bad connection shouldn't make it run all the time, exactly the opposite.
 
Well, I swapped out my headers for the spare set I had, and the exhaust is about 6" too short now. So I'll have to get some pipe and weld it in.

I did crank it up with just open headers for fun and there was no backfire, even when I revved it up a couple times. It only ran for a max of 30 seconds though...
 
I can't recall what the parameters are, but there are time limits before it drops into closed loop....there is a cold, warm, and hot threshold. I can't recall what they are off the top of my head, something like 2 minutes, +/-.
 
Well, I ordered some v band kits to replace the collectors on the headers and reducers. The flanges on the reducers are bowed at the bolts from over tightening (I guess I shouldn't have hammered them on with an impact...), so hopefully this will eliminate the collectors from blowing out. I just hope this finally fixes this thing.

This is just a thought. I don't have cats on this thing, would that cause this?

And if fixing the exhaust leaks doesn't fix this issue what is the next thing I should look into? I did have leaks at the header/head on both banks, the left bank was worse than the right but both sides leaked, and the O2 is on the right bank.
 
Have to delve into that when you get there lol.

Even if not the root cause, if there are other problems going on (or potentially going on) it's best to fix those, see what remains, and go after that.

I need to do the same as you, noticed I am getting a part throttle surge and had a brief CEL this last drive, I know my exhaust flanges are not sealing well anymore, had contemplated just welding them, but the V-band kit is a good idea Should work well in that location, lot easier to just cut the flanges off and use the clamp.

Could buy new flanges, but don't feel like welding those on. Really hate investing a bunch of time into these, I am quite certain the problem with exhaust leaks on these trucks is movement in the frame and drivetrain, the exhaust joints are what give when things try to move. End up trying to tighten the hell out of the flanges, which just causes more problems.
 
I got the V band kits today and they look pretty nice. One thing though, the were advertised as mild steel, but in the description it said they were stainless. I figured he was just talking about the band its self, but they are not magnetic, so I'm assuming they're stainless.

I'm going to go ahead and weld them on with my regular MIG wire and hope for the best. FRIZZLEFRY said he welded some onto his headers with regular MIG wire and they worked out ok... I am out of mixed gas though, so I'll have to get some tomorrow, then weld everything up.
 
I run a '92 TPI in my Jeep.....I had a vacuum leak at one of the ports on the throttle body that I had plugged off with a piece of hose and a steel ball. The hose got old and cracked. The only symptom it had was it just idled up too fast, otherwise ran fine and never set a CEL.

One more thing you might check is the CTS (coolant temp sensor) and the connection to it. It's one of the most important sensors on a TPI and can lead you on some wild goose chases when it's not functioning properly. Normally it will set a CEL but I have seen one or two that did not and still gave intermittent issues.
Good Luck with it....!
 
Sounds good. Had not really looked at those clamps before. Fairly pricey, but they seem like a better solution in this regard than the other types of exhaust clamps out there.
 
I got mine for $21 shipped on ebay.

I'll check the throttle body when I get my exhaust finished up. I did block off the ports on it, and the rubber caps do have some dry rot.
 
Being aluminum, what I've done in the past, if I know I won't use a port, is to just tap it and loctite a set screw in place. Easy in the AL.
 
Well, I got the exhaust all buttoned up and now this damn truck won't start... It acts like it wants to fire up, but it won't. I checked to make sure I didn't mix up any of the spark plug wires, but they are all in the right spot. I am getting plenty of fuel, because I can smell it coming out of the exhaust.

The only other thing I did besides the exhaust was replace the oil pressure sending unit from my other thread. So I don't know what's going on now.

I disconnected the batteries when I was welding the exhaust, so I'd think the ECM should be ok. I tried to check for codes, but all I get is a code 12.
 
Code 12 at least means the ECM thinks its ok.

Obviously fixing the exhaust isn't going to affect starting, check everywhere you were working, and everywhere that was affected by your work. Nothing around the oil pressure sending unit got bumped? CTS, etc?
 
Well, it's running now. I don't know what its issue was. It acted like the plugs were fouled out. So while cranking I just held the throttle wide open until it fired up and would idle on its own.

I'm letting it get up to temp now in the driveway, but I just heard a pop from the exhaust as I was typing this... :angry1:
 
A1971Blazer may have been right about the throttle body vacuum leak.

I went back outside and the truck would only pop maybe once every 5 minutes at idle, but when I'd give it throttle and let off it would backfire. While the engine was running I started feeling around the throttle body for a leak (I'm out of brake cleaner), and I just touched one of the caps I had blocking off the vacuum port on the throttle body and it fell apart in my hand. You could hear the vacuum leak over the open air filter right on the throttle body.

I have a hose and maybe a bolt to block off the port, but it started sprinkling and I hadn't put any of my tools away. As soon as I got my welder in my shed it started pouring. So tomorrow I'll check the header bolts to make sure they are still tight and fix the intake leak to see if that has been my issue this whole time.

I sprayed it all down with brake cleaner when this initially started, but since I have an open element filter I tried to be conservative around the throttle body. I guess this is what I get..
 
I plugged off the vacuum port on the throttle body this morning and let it run in the driveway. At idle there were no backfires, so I went out and blipped the throttle a few times and that would give me a few pops.

I decided to drive it around a little bit, so I went and got some gas, then put about 10 miles on it. I didn't have one backfire the entire ride, until I was pulling back in my driveway, then I got a nice loud backfire... Also, the CEL is not on.

Another thing that it's doing, is when I come to a complete stop, the RPM's drop to about 400 for a second, then goes back up to around 600-700. It has been doing that since this backfire issue has come up.
 
Do you have a way of knowing if VSS is working properly? It will affect idle, and that RPM drop coming to a stop is a classic VSS malfunction symptom, but you'd need to know if the ECM is receiving the signal to verify.

I assume you don't have an ALDL cable and can look at this stuff?
 
You're correct, I don't have an ALDL cable and I don't have a way to monitor any of the sensors.
 
If you can justify it, getting an ALDL cable would be pretty handy. Not saying it will solve anything, but at least you can verify some of the sensor operations.
 
I guess if I'm going to play the EFI game I need to get some way of viewing live data or data logging.

I'm guessing you'd suggest something like tunerpro rt? I read eagle marks tutorial on it a couple times, but it's all gibberish to me. I should find a YouTube tutorial on it I guess.
 
I like Tunerpro, it's free (donation if you can afford it) and I've met the guy who made it, and he was a big help to me.

It was a pretty steep learning curve for me, but once you get it hooked up, taking a look at CTS, vehicle speed, TPS, etc is real easy.

The really hard part with any of it is getting connected to the ECM, and understanding exactly what you are looking at once you get a datalog going. But to just look at the current parameters? Pretty simple.
 
Top Bottom