firemangeorge

bigjack. You got me curious, so I went out and pulled off my upper Tmap sensor. It seemed to have a very thin coat of clear oil on the end. On mine, I think it's excess oil from the install 18 months ago. I know that the instructions say to apply a thin coat of oil to the blue O-ring. Maybe the tech who did mine just over lubed it a bit.
Granted, I haven't had an issues with mine, but you had me curious about the oil buildup issue. Fwiw. Looking down into my intake through the Tmap hole with a flashlight, it was dry and clean. The interior bottom of my intake still looks silver and clean.
Here's a crappy pic of my Tmap sensor.

Attachment 15124

bigjacksauto

Thanks for checking I appreciate it.
Mine has oily film on base of Intake.
Thanks to someone on the gm tac line for saying no amount of oil on the tmap sensor
Could cause any problem.otherwise I believe the pcv valve would be replaced and possibly problem solved.
I have a great mechanic but with warranty I believe his hands are tied.

bigjacksauto

I am looking into an issue now that may have at least something to due with the issue
Last time oil was changed by my previous dealer I remember thinking the oil looked a bit over full. I am also suspicious of what oil truly was used.
May send out to have checked.
My theory was oil was either not changed or wrong oil put in causing more possible blow by.
We will see.

bigjacksauto

Here is an interesting read from the solstice sight
on page 16 post #238

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f...7/index16.html

Sorry for the long wait…its been an odyssey, but the speed shop found the issue!
My mechanic turned me on to a shop he knew that had cracked some really tough cases before, so I went to see them. Behe Performance, in Beltsville, MD. They had 3 racing Porches on dynos, a Ferrari Testarosa, a nice resto mod Chevelle, a nice Corvette, and…here is a really rare set, two (2) Kaiser Darins! (They only made those in 1954 and they made less than 500…and there were 2 in this shop in perfect shape!) So, I figured they would be nice to my baby. And they were! For the Solstice they had to rule out a bunch of stuff. It turned out that it was a mechanical engine problem with carbon gumming up the valves. GM has found that their direct injection engines’ valves carbon up (see the GM write up below), which causes fuel trim issues, hard starting when cold, and misfires, etc. The carbon is clogging the valves when cold, so it has hard starts and runs like crap at first. Then as it heats up in a few minutes, the valves can close better so it seems to smooth out. Meanwhile, the sensors are finding a different “issue” every day, as the valves are always gummed up with varying degrees of carbon from day to day, meaning it is always adjusting the mixture to accommodate the varying degree of “crappy running”, and sometimes just going into limp mode to protect itself. That is why the limp mode was not all the time, and also why it ran worse to better to worse from day to day. GM makes a good top engine cleaner that other manufacturers use too…when carbon most likely big issue. The chemical cleaner/solvent goes into an intake on the hot engine to soak, sits 2 hours, then they start engine and run it a ton. If it didn’t work, they said a valve job was the only alternative. They ran the solvent through, and then spent a while on the dyno and IT IS FIXED! Behe performance, for anyone in the Washington/Baltimore area…they are SUPERB! As John Behe the owner said, “this is the kind of issue you could throw parts at for a long time because it is so variable, and manifests so differently from day to day, and still you would not fix the issue”. They also soldered the wires on the GMPP kit, just for good measure (they did that a couple days before the solvent and it didn’t correct the issue, but I’m glad it is done too…one less thing to worry about). With the dyno work after the solvent clean, it is at 256 HP @ 5000 at the wheels, and 297 ft lbs @ 3600 at the wheels! Car runs like a top again…I am a very happy camper!
They gave me the PDF attached here too. Note, “07-10 Pontiac Solstice GXP”. Take a look and see if this is something that might be causing your issues if you are having this problem. They said to maintain as long as possible I should use Lucas fuel injector cleaner once a month from here on, and then of course I will need that valve job someday…but many tens of thousands of miles from now. I’m at 123,000 now so that will be a ways off I hope!
#PIP5029: Engine Misfires Due To Major Carbon Deposits On
The Intake And/Or Exhaust Valves - (May 29, 2012)
Subject: Engine Misfires Due To Major Carbon Deposits On The Intake And/Or Exhaust
Valves

bigjacksauto

Here is the entire bulletin:

#PIP5029: Engine Misfires Due To Major Carbon Deposits On The Intake And/Or Exhaust Valves - (May 29, 2012)
Subject: Engine Misfires Due To Major Carbon Deposits On The Intake And/Or Exhaust Valves

Models: 2008 - 2012 Cadillac CTS, STS
2008 - 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt SS, HHR SS
2007 - 2010 Pontiac Solstice GXP
2007 - 2010 Saturn Sky Redline
2009 - 2012 Buick Enclave
2009 - 2012 Buick Lacrosse
2009 - 2012 Chevrolet Traverse
2009 - 2012 GMC Acadia
2009 Saturn Outlook
2010 - 2012 Cadillac SRX
2010 - 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, Equinox
2010 - 2012 GMC Terrain
With any of the Following Direct Injected Gasoline Engines:
2.0 (RPO LNF)
2.4L (RPO LAF, LEA, or LUK)
2.8L (RPO LAU)
3.0L (RPO LF1)
3.6L (RPO LFX or LLT)

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.
Condition/Concern:

Some customers may complain of a MIL and engine misfire. In some cases, the misfire may be more apparent on a cold start, may count on a single cylinder or several cylinders, and may or may not be felt by the driver. Upon inspection, the technician will find one or more misfire codes (DTC P0300-P0306) stored in the ECM and SI diagnosis may or may not isolate the cause of the misfire depending on whether the intake/exhaust valves are sticking at the time of the diagnosis.

This may be the result of major carbon build up on the intake and/or exhaust valves as shown below so the misfires should not have appeared until the engine has accumulated around 5,000 miles or more.

Recommendation/Instructions:

If this concern is encountered, perform SI diagnosis. If SI diagnosis isolates a valve sealing concern and/or eliminates everything else external to the engine, decarbon the engine with Upper Engine and Fuel Injector Cleaner by following the guidelines below:

Important Extreme care must be taken not to hydrolock the engine when inducing the cleaner, especially if it is induced without Kent Moore Tool # J-35800-A. If too much cleaner is induced at too low of a RPM, or if you force the engine to stall by inducing too much cleaner at once, the engine may hydrolock and bend a connecting rod(s).

1. In a well-ventilated area with the engine at operating temperature, slowly/carefully induce a bottle of GM Upper Engine and Fuel Injection Cleaner into the engine with RPM off of idle enough to prevent it from stalling (typically around 2,000 RPM or so). Depending on the engine configuration, induce the cleaner through the throttle body or an engine vacuum hose/pipe. For best results, it is suggested to induce the cleaner with Kent Moore Tool # J-35800-A (shown below).

2. Turn the engine off after inducing the cleaner and allow the cleaner to soak with the engine off for 2.5 to 3 hours (Do not let cleaner soak for more than 3 hours as remaining deposits may start to harden back up again).

3. Add a bottle of GM Fuel System Treatment Plus to the fuel tank and fill the vehicle with one of the Top Tier gasolines listed at Top Tier Gasoline and/or in the latest version of 04-06-04-047 (USA) or 05-06-04-022 (Canada). See Bulletin 05-00-89-078 for more details on GM Fuel System Treatment Plus.

4. Test drive the vehicle extensively to circulate the GM Fuel System Treatment Plus, which will help to eliminate/reduce any remaining intake valve deposits.

5. Re-evaluate the concern to determine if it is repaired or improved at all. If the concern is improved but not repaired, it may be necessary to perform the above decarboning process a 2nd time.

6. To complete the repairs, advise the customer to only use one of the Top Tier Gasolines listed at Top Tier Gasoline and/or in the latest version of 04-06-04-047 (USA) or 05-06-04-022 (Canada) to minimize future deposits. It can also be recommended to add a bottle of GM Fuel System Treatment Plus at every oil change as mentioned in the latest version of 04-06-04-051.

Kent Moore Tool # J-35800-A
Upper Engine and Fuel Injector Cleaner

Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.

GM bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform these technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions, and know-how to do a job properly and safely. If a condition is described, DO NOT assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your vehicle will have that condition. See your GM dealer for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the information.

rlee63a4

Interesting and good intel, Jack. Thanks.

Ron

bigjacksauto

Hoping this info will help current people experiencing the Limp Mode lol
and future HHR solstice cobalt and skyline owners.
There sure is a whole lot of info out there on this.

prod

That gm procedure is optomistic, by the time you notice constant driveability problems I doubt it will correct the issue. Wouldnt hurt to try though. Pull the map on the intake manifold and inspect the valves. If deposits are bad, get gm involved right away, it could cause severe engine damage.

bigjacksauto

Gm is involved engineers recommendation is replace pcv valve