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Help! Unique problem I cannot diagnose

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96GSX

Probationary Member
25
0
Mar 4, 2003
South_CarolinaUS
ok guys sorry for the length, but I want to make sure to get an accurate diagnosis. I have researched and asked and have found no prior case such as this. My 96 Gsx started out having a very bad idle and a small arcing like sound coming from the general area of the 3rd cyl. It is not the plug, and I cannot pinpoint it. I have changed the plugs and wires. It has a very bad Idle. It is an AT car. and when I have the ac on it will idle at about 1100 rpm in park and neutral. When I put it in gear, no matter how high the biss is, it idles down to about 200 rpm, sometimes to the point of choking down. It is very hard to crank cold, and you must let it warm up before driving or it will die. It has progressively gotten worse. Now, when at a stoplight, when I go to accelarate, it hesitates sometimes going nowhere almost 5 seconds, regardless of how hard or light I mash the gas. Now it has started bucking during driving at about 3500 rpms. I have to let off the gas to make the gears change, and I can only go about 65mph without violent bucking. Today to make matters worse, It has started backfiring in conjunction to the bucking. I did a compression test, and it read 155, 175, 175, 155. The number 3 plug though only a month old, is black and fouled signifigantly worse than the other 3. I am at a loss. Might it be the ignition module? The guy at the mitsubishi place said it may be a timing belt, but I do not believe he was right, seeing as how he did not even drive the car, and it has 100k miles on it. This particular dealer is notorious for performing unneeded maintenance to vehicles at high labor costs. Any suggestions or ideas, guys, I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks, Josh

P.S. I checked the oil, it is up to level, but I only have 1600 miles on it and it is black as crap, more than it should be for this many miles. I use mobil1 10w30???????/
 
Might sound almost too simple.. but try changing your fuel filter? On my 240sx it was clogged up pretty bad and I had similiar problems with acceleration.
 
you have vacuum leak around no3 cyl' EG: inlet manifold gasket or injector o'rings or a split hose. good luck!
 
Not to be a dumbass or anything, but can you tell me exactly how to check each one of these or provide a link. I searched thr vfaq and could find nothing. Thanks a lot.
 
Spray some WD-40 around the area while the engine's idling. When the engine speeds up, you've found where the leak lives. Pinpoint it with a piece of vacuum hose stuck in your ear, and stuck down near the leak. When you hear a tsunami, there's the leak.
 
ya i tried that but there is no speeding up or anything. It gets really worse in gear than when its in park. Could that be timing ? I am perplexed. I have consulted with the local dsm techies and noone can figure it out. It is getting worse by the day. it is almost imposible to reverse without stalling
 
This may not apply to your situation but here goes. I had a 90 gs before my current Talon Tsi. I had a problem quite the same to what you are dealing with now. I fully rebuilt the motor at 99,000 and replaced every electrical component I could think of except the coil pack. I did test them though. I sold the car almost a year ago and found out recently that the person I sold it to replaced the coil pack and it fixed the problem. Good luck.
 
Well, there are 2 coil packs, and the cel code that the car keeps on pulling is either a cyl 1 of cyl 3 misfire. The coil packs control cyls 1and4 and 2 and 3 respectivly. so, both the coil packs went out, maybe??? I have no clue. I hooked a timing light up to my car. The timing is off by 1 tooth. Could that little of an off make that much of a difference? I need to change it anyway, but it is such a pain to do and I dont want to do it until I get it fixed, unless that could fix it. Any suggestions, I would appreciate it.
 
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