sputtering

[Demm]

Well my car is doing something wierd that it's never done before, i'm out of warranty as well so i thought i'd ask on here to see what you guys think since i'm not to smart with cars...

mods: K&N, borla muffler.

the car has high 30,000 miles in it. You know how the engine rpm dips down when you use the AC? well mine started doing that when the AC isnt on, it never did that before, i get it of course when i stop at a red light or something.

also, sometimes when i switch gears, or when i switch from a lower gear to a higher one (say from 3rd down to 2nd), the car will feel like it's sputtering for a couple seconds. Also sometimes when i'm accelerating it feels like i let off the gas pedal a little bit, it'll kinda feel like its loosing a bit of power, then if i hit the gas a bit harder itll take off like normal.

when it sputters between gears you can actually gear it in the exhaust as well. it's not a normal steady sounding exhaust, it is kinda a "broken" tone instead of a steady one.

i have new spark plugs in there that my friend helped me put in, right size and everything, the intake filter is totally clean. i use nothing but 93 octane. i do get gas from the same gas station (shell) all the time. i'm thinking perhaps they might not be putting out the highest quality of gas? next time i get gas i'll try a different place and see if it still happens.

also i do believe my clutch is fine. it doesnt slip at all. i can floor it in second and it will go just fine.

any help/opinions would be much appreciated, i'm gonna be driving from san antonio to denver on the 16th and i dont want the car to blow up lol.

thanks alot!
-Demm

[theneelster]

Originally Posted by Demm

Well my car is doing something wierd that it's never done before, i'm out of warranty as well so i thought i'd ask on here to see what you guys think since i'm not to smart with cars...

mods: K&N, borla muffler.

the car has high 30,000 miles in it. You know how the engine rpm dips down when you use the AC? well mine started doing that when the AC isnt on, it never did that before, i get it of course when i stop at a red light or something.

also, sometimes when i switch gears, or when i switch from a lower gear to a higher one (say from 3rd down to 2nd), the car will feel like it's sputtering for a couple seconds. Also sometimes when i'm accelerating it feels like i let off the gas pedal a little bit, it'll kinda feel like its loosing a bit of power, then if i hit the gas a bit harder itll take off like normal.

when it sputters between gears you can actually gear it in the exhaust as well. it's not a normal steady sounding exhaust, it is kinda a "broken" tone instead of a steady one.

i have new spark plugs in there that my friend helped me put in, right size and everything, the intake filter is totally clean. i use nothing but 93 octane. i do get gas from the same gas station (shell) all the time. i'm thinking perhaps they might not be putting out the highest quality of gas? next time i get gas i'll try a different place and see if it still happens.

also i do believe my clutch is fine. it doesnt slip at all. i can floor it in second and it will go just fine.

any help/opinions would be much appreciated, i'm gonna be driving from san antonio to denver on the 16th and i dont want the car to blow up lol.

thanks alot!
-Demm

I wouldn't start blaming the gas station...shell v-power is supposed to be one of the best gasolines available commercially. As for watered down gas...it doesn't really happen anymore.

I've never heard of the engine dipping when the A/C is on...maybe because I don't use my a/c.

Because of the exhaust note that you notice I'm going to have to fathom that you may have a bunk catalytic converter. Are you throwing a code or what?

Was there a problem before you threw in the new plugs? What plugs are they and what are the gap? If they are copper plugs you may want to try reducing the gap. The stock plugs in the redline really aren't a problem and have a life way past 30k miles.

[Demm]

well the cat is still the stock one that came with the car. i only got a replacement muffler, not a whole exhaust.

I dont remember what kind of spark plugs i got. for some reason i wanna say autolite. it was the only availible spark plugs for my car. I'm not sure of the gap, my friend said it was the same as stock gap. But that was about a year ago. Everything was going fine then, nothing wrong at all. this problem is just a recent one. i havent done anything new at all to my car for about a year.

As far the a CEL, i have one just like everyone does. When i turn on the A/C it's there. Otherwise it's not there.

[Watts-Up]

Originally Posted by Demm

well the cat is still the stock one that came with the car. i only got a replacement muffler, not a whole exhaust.

I dont remember what kind of spark plugs i got. for some reason i wanna say autolite. it was the only availible spark plugs for my car. I'm not sure of the gap, my friend said it was the same as stock gap. But that was about a year ago. Everything was going fine then, nothing wrong at all. this problem is just a recent one. i havent done anything new at all to my car for about a year.

As far the a CEL, i have one just like everyone does. When i turn on the A/C it's there. Otherwise it's not there.

I would get the code checked, mine has never got one, except for when the gas cap wasn't tight. Might wanna pull the plugs and have a look at them, iirc some said they had problems with certain brands of plugs. I used to use shell because I thought the quality was top notch, but the car seemed to get more knock with the v-power. Personally, I like sunoco the best.

[theneelster]

Originally Posted by Demm

well the cat is still the stock one that came with the car. i only got a replacement muffler, not a whole exhaust.

I dont remember what kind of spark plugs i got. for some reason i wanna say autolite. it was the only availible spark plugs for my car. I'm not sure of the gap, my friend said it was the same as stock gap. But that was about a year ago. Everything was going fine then, nothing wrong at all. this problem is just a recent one. i havent done anything new at all to my car for about a year.

As far the a CEL, i have one just like everyone does. When i turn on the A/C it's there. Otherwise it's not there.

Well the cat could be bad; honestly that's the best I can come up with...still you want to check the code even if it's a/c related.

[Redline485]

Try cleaning your throttle body for the rpm bounce. Ive had similar problems with rpms and always came back to the throttle body.

[Demm]

the car ran wonderful today, one thing i have noticed is that it does that on hot, humid days. today was a bit cooler and it ran without a problem.

the CEL codes are for the o2 sensors. Those are the only codes its throwing, and it's been throwing them since ive got the car.

i will try to get gas at a different gas station first just because that's the easiest thing to do, even tho its probably not it.

i'll try to clean the throttle body. whats the best to clean it with? just a dry rag maybe?

as far as the cat, isnt that something that is pretty hard to get to? you have to kinda chop it off?

[theneelster]

Originally Posted by Demm

the car ran wonderful today, one thing i have noticed is that it does that on hot, humid days. today was a bit cooler and it ran without a problem.

the CEL codes are for the o2 sensors. Those are the only codes its throwing, and it's been throwing them since ive got the car.

i will try to get gas at a different gas station first just because that's the easiest thing to do, even tho its probably not it.

i'll try to clean the throttle body. whats the best to clean it with? just a dry rag maybe?

as far as the cat, isnt that something that is pretty hard to get to? you have to kinda chop it off?

The cat is the obscenely huge cylinder shaped thing (at least the stock one on our cars) after the header and flexpipe. If it's bad then you have to replace it either by welding on a new one or replacing the whole downpipe.

[badassgixxer05]

Originally Posted by Demm

i'll try to clean the throttle body. whats the best to clean it with? just a dry rag maybe?

check out the howto section.. there is a thread in there that can help you out..

[badassgixxer05]

here ill save you search time:
Throttle Body Cleaning