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Cars throwing over 16 codes after intake cam install
Since I've never posted on a forum, I'll just start at the beginning. I'm not sure if this has been addressed in the past, I just know I've read hours of forums and nothing fits my particular issue. I'm looking for real experienced insight if possible, because I'm tired of throwing money at this car. I know this forum community seems pretty helpful. I bought a 2008 Cobalt SS/tc with the following mods already on it;
-Hahn racing upper and lower charge pipes
-Hahn cold air intake-megan racing catless downpipe
-Hahn cat-back exhaust -tuned by JUSTRIGHT tuning out of KC, pushing around 21psi boost-dynotuned at 315whp & 345 ft. Lbs.
-everything else was stock motorwise
In a series of misfortune the events, I managed to throw 9 rockers off the cam and break the tips off of several lifters. Fortunately, it didn't destroy too much other than that, except marred up some lobes on the intake cam pretty good. I got a camera scope and checked the pistons. All good. All the damage managed to stay up top.
The fix;
I replaced all the lifters, rockerarms, valve springs, camshaft actuator solenoids and intake cam. This was all done by a certified mechanic. THE ONLY THING DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WAS BEFORE THE DESTRUCTION UNTIL NOW IS THE INTAKE CAM WAS REPLACED WITH A ZZP CAM WITH AN UPGRADED FUEL LOBE INSTEAD OF A FACTORY OEM CAM! That is very pertinent info.
So I get the car back from the mechanic, and it runs great. It would always die on the first startup, but would restart immediately and idle and run fine. This lasted about a week. The mechanic said he ran it to test it out. He said he rolled the throttle to check boost and all the goodies, and everything checked out. The first time I tried to boost it, it starts throwing a CEL. I panicked! Ran codes and it was a cylinder 1 & 3 misfire and multiple cylinder misfire. I thought maybe with the new cam it would need to be retuned? When I bought the cam, it was described as an OEM spec cam with a bigger fuel lobe that has potential of 20% more fuel and up to 8 hp. It said it could be installed and ran without doing anything else. I thought, cool, a potentially more powerful
cam if I want for almost half the price of a factory cam. So I contacted a buddy that runs a performance shop and he hooked it up and took it for a spin. He said it was doing all kinds of crazy fuel related things, but was able to straighten it out. He re-tuned it and told me to put some miles on it and bring it back in and he'd hook it up to the wide band to check it out. That didn't last long, and I was back to the cylinder misfire issue. *the car would run perfect as long as you didn't boost it. As soon as you did, it would cut out as if a revv limiter had kicked in, and it would flash a CEL* I took it back in to the shop and he hooked it back up. I told him to keep it and drive it to make sure it was fixed. He had it for several days and put lots of miles on it and never had an issue. I get it back and a week later, bet you can't guess!
after doing some research between me and the performance shop guys, I replaced the factory plugs with a six heat range iridium plug, replaced all injectors with a used set from an 09 and replaced the fuel rail pressure sensor. I hooked a manual pressure gauge up and tested the in-tank fuel pump (around 63 psi). I also hooked the OBD-II and watched live data on the fuel rail pressure, which is only about 60-70 psi when running or in key on mode. I know it's supposed to be light years more than that. Also, the last time I drove it, it went into REDUCED ENGINE PWR mode, and now it shows 100% throttle on the scan tool no matter what. I have codes and live data video I can post also. Any questions, please ask. I desperately need to get this car running. This has been a year long process. Apparently I can't post videos, but i do have some of the live data from the scan tool. Thanks in advance.
Last edited by TurboTurtle; 07-02-2018 at 12:22 PM.
I would first clear the codes then go drive it, getting it completely warmed up but do no get into boost.
Check for any pending codes.
If no codes, drive it getting into boost then check for any codes, even if the SES light doesn't come on.
The first codes set can be more important then those that set later.
You can then drive it until the SES light comes on and see if any further codes set or if pending codes finally set.
I've reset the codes atleast 20 times during this process via the parts store, 2 different code readers and disconnecting the battery for long periods of time. They come right back as soon as you start the vehicle. Although it does start and run, it's not drivable. Plus, I only have 63psi for rail pressure, and everything I've read says to not run the car hardly at all with that low of pressure. I've read a thread about the ZZP cam I have, and some guys were saying they've had trouble with it. I hope that's not my case, but the only fuel related parts I haven't changed is the HPFP and the solenoid or sensor that is attached to it. Also, the in tank fuel pump is the same, but it checked out good pressure wise. I'm not sure how to test the HPFP.
07-01-2018, 09:06 PM
