(Mk2 Rev3 NA import) not warming up and staying on choke I believe due to a stuck open thermostat, I had to drive the car like this on what seemed constant cold fuelling for approximatley 80 miles. The fuel economy was appalling used half a tank of fuel, to do the 80 miles with a very light foot only 60mph due to weather.
The problem developed when I started the car today to drive back home, it had a severe misfire that became constant.
So I thought best check the leads etc, pulled the leads and noticed green corrosion on the top of two of the plugs.I decided to remove all the plugs to give them a clean, I was alarmed when I went to remove the first one how loose it was, I was able to remove the rest of them just using the extension bar without the ratchet on, so basically they were all finger loose.
they did have buildup on the electrodes but generally were brown in colour. All cleaned up I put them back in and tightened sufficiently.
I started the car and it didnt seem to have the misfire, so I raised the revs and detected a very slight misfire at approximatley 1600rpm - 2000rpm, So I thought one of the plugs may be weak, I decided it should be okay to drive the 80 miles back home taking it easy.It got me home fine and I changed the plugs which seemed to fix the misfire, later after getting home it seemed to have a bit power loss, in the low range and seemed to take a second or two longer to start.
Then exhaust has started rasping a lot now (not like a heatshield rattling or anything)I was wondering have I bust the cat, by driving it all those miles with the choke/cold/idle fuelling constantly on due to the bust thermostat.
Because the engine has been running rich, and the misfire from the faulty plugs is it likely to have blocked or burnt out my cat thus creating the very raspy exhaust note.How best should I tackle this is there anything else that would of been damage as a result? such as sensors etc???
I am currently feeling very little love for this paticular car
siiiigh. I know a few people with mr2's and they dont seem to of had this trouble.I must have a lemon
