UPDATE....first off i wnat to say thank you for all the help!!! Now to the nitty gritty, it took me 6 hours to replace those 2 damn hoses!!! I suck! hahahahaha, it took 4.5 hours to take off and 1.5 to put back on. I got the pigtail one on fine, the other one i put on 3/4 of the way, i couldn't get it to go any further on the connection, so i just clamped it and my dad said it should be ok...(i hve a pic, if interested)....... But I have learned......so here's my new dilemma....I replaced those 2 hoses, I replaced the hose that connects from the watervalve to the engine block under the dizzy, i also replaced the seal in the dizzy, which was hard as a rock and crumbled once i took it out, crazy!!! So now, there is only water in the car right now, i wanted to make sure there where no leaks before i dropped $25-$30 worth of AF into it...i had it running for about 45 in the driveway waiting for it to burp, or 2 cyces of the fan, of course that never happened. My dad checked and said it should be ok. So off i went, idrove maybe 15 miles, parked, it sat for maybe an hour, i then drove it 20 miles, i had to go pick up my other car, i got out, jumped in the other car and away we went......about 2 miles down the road, the CEL comes on, my gf freaks, i asked how was the temp, she said it's fine, so she limped it home 15 miles, never going above 50 because we didn't know what was the deal. When she made it home, i checked it out, no smell, everything seemed ok. We parked it and went to dinner. about an hour later came home, jumped in it, turned the key, no CEL, hmmmmm.......started car, still no CEL.....double hmmmmmm.......my question, does the code store in the ECU, even though the light is off now? Can you only check a CEL when it's on?? Would water cause that error since there's no AF in car? I only disconnected 3 connectors, the one on top of the cat, and the 2 on the dizzy.......maybe i didn't plug one back in? Is the car safe to drive? Should i put AF in now? thanks again for the help!!!

 

Yes, the codes should store in the ECU/TCU. Jump the service connector and let us know the codes.

Me, open the bleeder on the t-stat housing when the car is not running/cold/just after repair of "x". Turn/slide the heat to max.......slowly add coolant until a good stream is coming out the bleeder. close bleeder....replace cap to "one click" - not all the way. Start the engine and let it run. Where you live...maybe 20 minutes - keep an eye on the temp gauge - and the fans should cycle. After second cycle, shut car off. Top off rad and the rad res. Install cap all the way.

 

ok, error code 43..........so now what???

 

Double check me....43 is an air fuel issue.

Did you do anything around the O2 sensor? Check the connector. If everything looks to be in place, the O2 has given out. There are some test that can be done but IMO, this code and in this gen...the O2 finally gave up.

 

if this is the sensor that is plugged into the cat, than yes, this is the sensor that was unplugged.....i unplugged it, when i took off brace, then plugged it back in, a ****load of water dropped on it. I just came in from being under car, it is plugged in, has a light coat of oil....i was gonna clean it with brake cleaner, but wanted to know if that's good or bad. also the light is off now.....will it come back? and lastly how do i clear the cel??? thanks!

 

Allow the "light coat of oil" to burn off. Or brake cleaner is probably OK. Any exhaust leaks nearby?

The O2 sensor actually measures oxygen DIFFERENCE inside vs. outside of the exhaust pipe. So an exhaust leak blowing onto the outside of the sensor will throw off the measurement. Same for oil or crud on the outside of the sensor. Water probably not much of a problem, or just a momentary problem. After all, it IS underneath the car...

 

ok, i drove the car the last 2 days, and twice as far today than i did the day the cel came on, it has not come on since......also, i guess i should put antifreeze in it, since the car is running on just water right now...should i call it cured and just clear out the cel that's stored in the memory? How do i go about doing that, besides disconnecting the battery.......Thoughts??

 

Wow, I would not run without antifreeze more than a few hours. It's not the freeze protection, it's the anti-corrosion that you need. If the water comes out orange, then I'd really think about replacing your waterpump. The impeller is one of the few steel parts in there.

To reset the ECU, there's a "backup" fuse you can pull, but I don't know which fuse for 1993. You might need the radio security code, and reset the clock & it'll probably forget all your stored radio stations. But that's all true for disconnecting the battery anyway.

 

hahahahahha, well hell, so yea, i've maybe driven 45 mins total on the water......ooopsie........ok, so first order of business is to get AF in there...and I guess i'll disconnect the battery........no biggie, thanks for the heads up.......

 

Corrosion of the steel waterpump doesn't need the engine to be running. Only the total amount of time when it was filled with plain water. Running or not.

What might help you is if you just drained & filled with water, you have maybe a quart of antifreeze left in there. Maybe that helps for corrosion, so just take a look at the color of the water that drains out. Drain it into a clean pan so you can actually see any orange color.