code 36...opti again?

[Craig 94 TA GT]

I was on my way to get gas this morning and she seemed to run fine...I put in about 3/4 tank and started it up. A moment after it turned over, I heard a loud sound, either a backfire or a metal "clank". The SES light immediately popped up, and luckily I had my laptop hooked up. It was code 36 again. I shut it off immediately and turned it back on again...it ran fine after. I just had my opti replaced in January so it's still under warranty.

So my question is...can any other component set code 36? And is it a sure fact, if 36 is set one time, that your opti is failing?

Here are the things the car has been doing...
One time, it starting surging at idle several days ago...never did it again.
I always have a low-end stumble/hesitation if I get on it a bit harder than normal from idle.
Code 36 now showed up 1 time, but didn't come back.
Other than that, the car seems to be running normal and has great power all the way through.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Joe 1320]

For whatever reason, you may have just had a glitch. The noise was most likely the driveline unloading from a temporary lack of a combustion event. If the code doesn't re-appear, I think you're safe.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

OK, thanks Joe. I will keep my eye on it just in case...and hopefully if it is opti, it will actually fail under warranty, not after.
BTW, what can cause the "driveline unloading from a temporary lack of a combustion event"? I don't recall it ever doing this before, but I learn new things everyday with this car

[Craig 94 TA GT]

I just ran it one more time...and noticed as soon as I started it and put it in reverse, it started "surging" again. It's not THAT noticable, but under light braking, you can feel the RPMs are constantly flucuating up and down...by maybe ~50-75 (or more) RPM. But I didn't have a chance to scan it, as the surging stopped after several seconds. I wonder what's causing it to do that?

[Mike71]

gesh craig..i wish i could help ya man i feel so bad that u keep having all of this trouble with ur car..i saw we take it to mexico and collect the insurance $ lol jk..im sure u and steve will get it running again..then u can come up here and we can cruise =)

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Thanks Mike...it really has been a real pain for the last few months. Steve and my original goal was to take our f-bodies to Sac Raceway in JUNE! But he needs to do a few more things to his, and mine was running like total garbage the past year. The valvetrain mods helped about 90%, but I just have a feeling the opti never was installed/performed correctly.

[Z Ya Later]

Now I've gotta decide if I want to take the GN or the Z...decisions decisions

[Mike71]

well u know u need to take the GN..but what u need to realize is that ur takin me to hehe

[bigbadspoon]

That little bit of a "stumble" that you feel in your car every time is the optispark. I found that out the hard way, as my Z had been running fine other than crappy gas mileage and a high idle for a long time. Then that stumble started, but no power loss. About two weeks later it got worse and the SES light came on, so I took it to a mechanic to fix the problem.
It was, of course, the opti, which they claimed to fix. The day after I got it fixed, the hesitation started again with severe power loss (we're talking about me not being able to beat my manager's stock civic ex on straightaways). I just put it back in the shop again today (first day off since the initial fix). I suspect it'll come back as an opti problem. Definitely get that thing checked out.