UnWoRtHy
15+ Year Contributor
- 32
- 0
- Mar 15, 2004
-
Chaplin,
Connecticut
Lately, ever since summer hit, I've noticed that my car seems to have less power than it used to. It doesn't pull as strong as it used to, it doesn't respond as well as it used to at highway speeds when I give it a little gas to go around a slow moving car without downshifting...things like that.
Now...I know I can't expect TOO much out of a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder mated to an automatic tranny. But I know how the car felt before, and how it feels now...so please refrain from telling me to get a turbo. It's already on the wishlist, right below "manual tranny". =P Anyhow, I've had a few thoughts as to what it might be...and there are some issues that may or may not be related. Tell me what you think.
Could it be the higher temperature and humidity, since warmer air is less dense than cold?
Every once in a while, after a warm day and a cool night, when I start my car to go to work in the morning, it turns over just fine, but immediately afterward, the revs drop down way lower than they should and waver for a minute, causing the car to run rough and feel like it's about to stall...but not even two or three seconds later, I hear my intake suck in a big gulp of air and the RPM's shoot back up to where they usually are (a hair over the 1000 mark) until the engine warms up and it idles down. A buddy of mine has a 94 1.8 Talon that does the same thing...except more often.
I need a new cat. I know this because every so often, I get a good whiff of that nasty sulphur smell. Does that make that much of a difference?
Up in the front of my engine (my mechanic said he pinpointed it to the gasket between the frontpipe and the exhaust manifold) there's an exhaust leak. Would that have any major effect?
Or could this all just be because I've gotten used to the car, and the short list of modifications I've made to it...and need to spend money to get that "yee-hah!" feeling again?
Thanks for any help.
Now...I know I can't expect TOO much out of a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder mated to an automatic tranny. But I know how the car felt before, and how it feels now...so please refrain from telling me to get a turbo. It's already on the wishlist, right below "manual tranny". =P Anyhow, I've had a few thoughts as to what it might be...and there are some issues that may or may not be related. Tell me what you think.
Could it be the higher temperature and humidity, since warmer air is less dense than cold?
Every once in a while, after a warm day and a cool night, when I start my car to go to work in the morning, it turns over just fine, but immediately afterward, the revs drop down way lower than they should and waver for a minute, causing the car to run rough and feel like it's about to stall...but not even two or three seconds later, I hear my intake suck in a big gulp of air and the RPM's shoot back up to where they usually are (a hair over the 1000 mark) until the engine warms up and it idles down. A buddy of mine has a 94 1.8 Talon that does the same thing...except more often.
I need a new cat. I know this because every so often, I get a good whiff of that nasty sulphur smell. Does that make that much of a difference?
Up in the front of my engine (my mechanic said he pinpointed it to the gasket between the frontpipe and the exhaust manifold) there's an exhaust leak. Would that have any major effect?
Or could this all just be because I've gotten used to the car, and the short list of modifications I've made to it...and need to spend money to get that "yee-hah!" feeling again?
Thanks for any help.
