J-Protege

Well, recently my alternator went on my Protege.

After a costly repair - the repair shop told me the battery was failing load tests as well.

I swapped in an Orbital deep cycle by Exide. Seems to be the closest thing to Optima I can find around here, about $30 cheaper.

Now my idle is very low when I start the car, or come to a stop light. Seems like it's about to stall but never does.

Yesterday, my check engine light has come on, but I don't have the code yet.

As well, car has some trouble starting when cold, seems to not want to turn over unless I 'convince' it. The battery has lots of amps (alot more than the stock one), I would figure I wouldn't have this problem.

Does anyone know what could be the problem? Oil is new, within 2-3 weeks old, and is synth.

The battery and alt are under warranty, so I might get them checked. Just want to know if it could be anything else before I get it checked by a shop.

KrayzieFox

Check the plugs. Have they been changed recently?

J-Protege

Nope. Probably have about 89000 on them. Good idea to change them I guess.

NGK right? I heard the normal ones were good, and heard good things about the 'Laser Iridiums' NGK as well.

Are the Laser ones worth it, or just spend the $10 on the standard ones from protegegarage?

J-Protege

To add on to my original post.

Now the CEL is off, so no point in trying to get it read.

As for the plugs, should the coils/wires be changed as well?

Also, if new plugs dont fix it, are there any other things I should try? Clean the EGR and IAC maybe?

Really don't want to bring it to a dealer/shop if I don't have to.

KrayzieFox

Rregular NGK plugs will do, and you can change the wires too if you wish. Yet again, nothing fancy is needed ... stock stuff is plenty good. Keep the coils though, unless one of them is bad there's no reason to change them. If the CEL persists, cleaning EGR and IAC would definately be a good start. Let us know what happens.

J-Protege

Will do, going to look into plugs today - will post back tonight or tomorrow.

nicodeemus

Definately check your plugs. I would get the NGK ZFR5F-11 extended reach ones. I wouldn't bother with coils/wires though. The stock ones should last the life of your car. Besides, aftermarket ones are really expensive (heck even OEM ones are expensive). When you changed your oil, did you use 5W30? Make sure you have a lighter weight oil right now cuz it's f**kin cold in Edmonton in the winters and thicker oil will make it more difficult for the car to turn over. Also check to make sure you have a good/tight ground off your battery. If your ground is poor your battery won't perform as well as it should. I'm running the same battery in my car and it works great. It does take some convincing to turn over when it's -20 to -25 out though. Do you have a block heater? Plugging your car in in your climate will also help it start better in the cold.

KrayzieFox

You know where to get and how to install one of those block heaters? I'm very interested ...

J-Protege

Done

Even better, I didn't want to spend the cash if I didn't have to.

Running synthetic oil for the winter. Actually, alot of the problems I've had started when I put the new oil.

You see, the car kept dying, turned out to be the alt. I replaced the alt, battery, and used synth oil for the first time.

The car has never been fully feeling normal since the alt switch. It could be any of those 3 new things above, or none of them, and just a coincidence.

The neg cable looks secure, nothing out of the ordinary. I'll look into it further.

Sigh.. No, the previous owner didn't opt for one when buying the car, and I've yet to put one in. I'm sure it would help.

Update: Now my Cruise won't go on. I don't know how long this has been like that as I don't use it often in the city. Tried it today, it's like the buttons are for show.

Update2: I put in a bottle of Fuel Injector cleaner, just to see. As well, I filled the tank with 91 Octane. Car seems to be a bit smoother. Will drop the plugs in once the weather is OK for it, and see how it goes from there.

KrayzieFox

Exactly how low is your idle? Like 700 .. or 500 .. 300 ? Have you double checked the "new" alternator they put is working correctly?

Roddimus Prime

check the vaccuum lines running to the cruise module...when you replace the alternator that module has to come out and may not have been re-installed properly.

Roddimus Prime

p.s. a vaccuum leak like this could also explain your low idle and starting issues.

J-Protege

Idle is around 500-600, but right after starting it's alot lower.

I will check for damaged or disconnected vacuum lines, although I may not be able to see it/get to it.

Is this line visible or will i have to raise the car and go underneath?

Roddimus Prime

you should be able to see it on the cruise solenoid (big round thing on the passenger side firewall under the strut brace.

nicodeemus

Krayziefox...you can get a block heater at pretty much any auto parts store (Parts Source, Napa, etc) or through the dealer. They're usually about $30 US. You can put it in yourself, but it's messy work. You have to drain all the antifreeze out of your engine. It usually goes into one of the frost plug holes. The end that stays outside of the engine has a place to plug in a cord. You then plug the cord into a timer and have it set to turn on a few hours before you need to start the car. It basically warms up the block so it's easier to start when it's friggin cold.