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[Omegafantasy]

I was thinking the same so I'm clearing the ECU now, disconnected the battery while I eat some food.

Sigh, I'm sick of driving that slow thing now. It saves rubber though 

[Omegafantasy]

I disconnected the battery for an hour or so, hooked it up again and read codes before I even started the engine. Still getting the 136 code. Fired her up, running just like before (as in poor).

Now, could this be that the ECU is fubar? I've never heard of a broken ECU, but with my luck I wouldn't be surprised 

[ttommy]

just a thought have you tried running it with the fuel cap off?

[Omegafantasy]

No I haven't tried that intentionally, but it acts the same way right after fueling and there is no vacuum in the gas tank when opening it.

..starting to wonder if I should do a compression test on the engine 

[Omegafantasy]

Ok, to summarize and clear my head a bit:

Possible causes so far:
- Blocked exhaust (both cats?)
- Restriction in the intake (very unlikely)
- spark plugs (unlikely, they look brand new)
- HT leads (possible, but the error is constant. I think bad HT leads would cause erratic behaviour)
- DIS pack (this is my number one suspect)
- ECU (Gives me an error when reading codes (136))
- Fuel supply (have changed filter and the pump is one year old). I can't notice any difference any way I connect the FPR vacuum. Open air, constant vacuum, pre-plenum vacuum.. No difference at all, but other errors could mask the difference due to poor performance.
- MAF (no error codes on it, but doesn't say it works. Have not tried disconnecting)
- Intake air temp (car can barely drive with it disconnected and gives me an error)
- Knock sensors disconnected once, gives me an error and retards timing to "undriveable"
- TPS not touched yet
- Oxygen sensors not touched yet
- Timing (belt) is spot on
- Camshaft sensor not touched yet
- Crankshaft sensor not touched yet
- Compression test: not done so far, but maybe give it a try?
- Intake leakage? Haven't heard any obvious signs of it, but I will try spraying it (and joints here and there)
- Vacuum mixup? Think it's ok (although FPR is "misplaced" on purpose right now)

Symptoms:
- Starts and idles very very smooth
- Drives ok with light throttle and low to medium revs. Very occasional misfire especially with a bit load, but all V6 I've had did that. Normal?
- Flooring it from standstill (1st gear): Not much of a kick, stutters almost like the TC is restricting (even if it's turned off). Kicks a bit at 4000 rpm. Second gear: Shakes and hesitates below 4000, but giving a punch when the front multi ram opens, although not giving full power. Flats out at 4700 and up (it will rev but not very eager). 5th gear: Ok for maintaining speed, but forget accellerating uphill from 60mph (not very steep).
- Exhaust is very hot (you can't touch the tailpipe). Sounds normal - i think. Cats doesn't glow in the dark and overall seems normal, exhaust should be hot.. My tailpipe on the Cavalier and Carlton melted rear diffusors so not shocked by this.

Oh well, this could be a long read; but this gives me and hopefully other readers a better overall picture of the situation. Sourcing parts in Norway is a pain in the [insert rude word here] so I have to use ebay for most.

If anyone have more clues or things to check they're more than welcome to give me a hint  I'm about to go mad (if I haven't already)..

[Phil B]

Hello there

I had this exact problem with my old Escort, ran nice and smooth and you could rev it fine, but under load it would be gutless and even buck a little. I took the Cat off and peered inside and it looked as though the honeycomb had fractured and rotated sideways. I took it off the car and put a mask on, then bashed it through with a wrecking bar and put it back on.

It sounded rubbish but proved the problem

[Omegafantasy]

Yeah, that sounds rubbish, but it works. Did the same on my Vectra (Cavalier) some years ago. Mine was completely melted and undriveable. Had no air coming out at the end.

My Omega does breathe though, nice hot steam of exhaust, but could be a bit less than normal of course.

I've seen a link to a cat supplier in the UK here and they look somewhat cheap. Any experiences with cheaper cats?

[Omegafantasy]

Looks like I found some neat info on Autodata here. Looking up the fault code I have (136: unknown output error) it says that the possible cause is "ECM internal short to positive". Now how's that? I would have thought a failure like that would give me a constant error light, not only store a code  :-?

[Omegafantasy]

Yet another reply to myself as I make progress.. :p

I finally found my fuel pressure gauge and hooked it up. Idle pressure was 4 bar and no change at all when revving it. This is wrong. Way too high pressure at idle.
Checked the vacuum from the hose on the IACV, almost nothing..

Connected the FPR to the "spare" vacuum for the SAI valve (not in use anymore) and the regulator worked like it should. 2.9 bar at idle rising to almost 4 bar when you floor it.

Can anyone enlighten me a bit regarding the hose from the IACV? It just doesn't make sense..

[lilieyen santos]

This morning, when my nephew take his shower because he is going to school, he saw the leakage in our shower pipe. That is why my father plumb the leakage. This morning, plumbing is the work of my father when I left him to go to work.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Yet another reply to myself as I make progress.. :p

I finally found my fuel pressure gauge and hooked it up. Idle pressure was 4 bar and no change at all when revving it. This is wrong. Way too high pressure at idle.
Checked the vacuum from the hose on the IACV, almost nothing..

Connected the FPR to the "spare" vacuum for the SAI valve (not in use anymore) and the regulator worked like it should. 2.9 bar at idle rising to almost 4 bar when you floor it.

Can anyone enlighten me a bit regarding the hose from the IACV? It just doesn't make sense..

That sounds pretty spot on.

The FPR setup on the omega does not connect to inlet vaccum as its the air filter side of the throttle plates.

As a result you would expect there to be little vac at idle and the vac level would increase as the load increases.

4 Bar is a little high (3 bar was the standard fit regulator and 3.7 on 2.6/3.2's)

[Marks DTM Calib]

Symptoms:
- Starts and idles very very smooth

A good start 

- Drives ok with light throttle and low to medium revs. Very occasional misfire especially with a bit load, but all V6 I've had did that. Normal?

Not at all normal, they are smooth throughout the rev range. Miss fire under larger throttle openings tends to sudgest ignition faults.

- Flooring it from standstill (1st gear): Not much of a kick, stutters almost like the TC is restricting (even if it's turned off). Kicks a bit at 4000 rpm. Second gear: Shakes and hesitates below 4000, but giving a punch when the front multi ram opens, although not giving full power. Flats out at 4700 and up (it will rev but not very eager). 5th gear: Ok for maintaining speed, but forget accellerating uphill from 60mph (not very steep).

Again, ignition can cause this, as can crank sensor (unlikely given no code 19)

- Exhaust is very hot (you can't touch the tailpipe). Sounds normal - i think. Cats doesn't glow in the dark and overall seems normal, exhaust should be hot.. My tailpipe on the Cavalier and Carlton melted rear diffusors so not shocked by this.

Hot yes but red hot no.....unless its been driven or idling for a very long time.

So....I think you need a few checks doing

1) Re-read the fault codes

136   Unknown Output Driver Error

This is a valid code but the question is, what does it relate to. I would be carefuly checking all the ECU relays, EGR (blank it off!) etc.

2) Check the ignition set carefuly, if you can, look at the state of the DIS pack and measure the resistance of the plug leads. Make sure the leads are connected correctly to the DIS pack (as it not obvious)

[Omegafantasy]

Thanks for reply

The DIS-pack, plugs and leads was changed after this post, but it didn't change a whole lot other than the misfire is completely gone. It doesn't change the fact that it's dead slow though.. Still shaking below 4k too.

I live very close to the highway (20 second drive!) so I occasionally have to punch it pretty hard when the engine is cold. I try to avoid this of course, but some people have no clue about letting people in on the highway. When cold, it's performing even worse, but the kick at 4000 is even harder at this temp. No idea further up as I don't want to do this on a cold engine.

When taking off from standstill (warm engine) I have to make sure I "land" close to 4000 rpm in the next gear to get any acceleration at all. In second gear this means right before the limiter.

Not sure if you've seen the video I posted (http://omcoslo.com/bil/omegadrive.wmv), but this one shows a bit of driving.

I will see what I can do to the ECU. The code is strange. Will see if I can find a replacement somewhere, but these ECU's are painfully rare in Norway.

If you want, I can post a log of live-data from "My Naff Code Reader".

[size=8]Just thinking; I might be better off rebuilding the 2.5-lump and stick that one in, or even better: my beloved C30SE
[/size]

[Marks DTM Calib]

I need to check TIS to get more info on the code.

We need to start to eliminate some things on your setup.

Cause and Effect.....we know the effect, we now need to find the cause.

Have you blanked the EGR off?

Are you 100% percent sure that the plug leads are correctly fitted to the DIS?

Do you have a vac gauge, what is its idle reading and and 3000rpm reading?....is the needle stable?

Live data might be interesting of throttle position, rpm, lambda. coolant temp, spark advance and MAF

[Omegafantasy]

Great! I'm happy to provide any info you need.

EGR blanked off: Yes, at the plenum side of the valve (as there's nothing to fit the other side of the valve to).

Coincidence: I bought a vacuum gauge yesterday just to test that

I am 100% sure that the leads are fitted correctly.

Will connect the gauge later today and see what results I get, but what is more interesting; true manifold vacuum or buffered vacuum (as to the multi-ram solenoids)?

I have also checked fuel pressure with the stock Y26SE FPR and fuel rail. Close to 4 bar with "correct" hose connected. No change at all during different revs. Sealed the hose and connected true manifold vacuum: FPR now regulates from 2.5 to 3.5 bar (normal). No vaccum at all from the hose pre-IACV :s
Replaced the fuel rail, injectors and FPR with the one from my X25XE. Resulted in a slightly better response, but might only be some poor injectors on the Y26SE rail.
Fuel pump: new
Fuel filter: new

I will put up a file or two with live logs, just got to find a way to remove the fuse box panel so I can drive while having it plugged in..

Thanks for the great help so far