ignition problem ?

[dan2288]

My car was running fine but when I was at a stoplight i noiticed the rpms goin higher and lower and when i went to pull out, it felt as if the car had no power. It kind of felt like it was missing. The check engine light came on which i will look into later. I changed my plugs and checked the wires. The plugs were all black and smelled like gas pretty bad, abd i just changed the plugs a couple hours before this happened. Any ideas ?

 

[poonman]

what is the code you got?

 

[dan2288]

dont kno yet...gotta wait for my dad to come home so he can hook up his computer to it.

 

[lAsErfWd]

did you gap the plugs and what kind of plugs were they

 

[dan2288]

They were some autolite plugs. Yes, i kno their cheap, but they shouldnt go bad that quick. My dad was thinking maybe a clogged cat ? Could that cause that ? Im gonna try to get the code from the check engine light today.

 

[bpestilence]

You might have used too cold of a plug, or not gapped right, etc. Use the OEM NGK plugs, they are the best for the car, and they aren't expensive.

 

[diggerzmound]

Did you gap them properly?

 

[dan2288]

ok, so the check engine light was for the egr vlave, which we fixed and the code went away. And yes, the plugs were gapped correctly. Its weird becasue after we change the plugs, it will run good for a while, but the something happens to it. You can hear that it sounds different at idle and it has no power when you try to drive it. It sounds different too. Any ideas ?

 

[GS-T_Newboost]

use some cheap ngks and make sure to gap them right my car has bad luck with autolites for some reason. the throttle is so much more responsive with the ngk's

 

[srumel]

It sounds like the symptoms of a bad, or soon to be bad coil pack (couldnt hurt to check), it could also be a vacuum leak. Check your vacuum hoses and intake tract for disconnected or leaky hoses.

 

[dan2288]

my dad says its feels like its missing. So ill ptobly try new wires and see how it goes. And ill check for vacum leaks.

 

[dan2288]

idk ,theres some oil on top of the pistons. Maybe the oil gets on the spark plugs and thats why it misses ? And with new plugs it runs good for alittle and then goes bad. Does that make sense ?

 

[dsm908]

Well crank it with the plugs out to get the oil out.

Repitition : use NGK and NGK only, makes no sense to waste your money on other crap, check and RE-check gaps

 

[Skip01]

Sounds like a miss? no power? boost leak??

 

[dan2288]

ok, i tried different wires and it didnt help. I also put in ngk plugs. I noticed that the engine is shaking alot. I dont kno what to do from here...

 

[turboglenn]

Is the valve cover leaking oil inot the plug gallys? That will repeatedly foul out teh spark to teh plug from teh wire once it builds up high enough to get to the wire at teh plug. My girls car had that problem forever, turned out here valve cover was cracked and wouldn't seal even with new gaskets and kept putting oil in the gallys.

 

[dan2288]

valve cover isnt cracked. Another thing i noticed today was that the exhaust fumes smell really strong like gas, it wasnt like that before. Kinda smells like unburnt gas and its whitish in color...

 

[Locke]

What do your plugs look like, when you remove them after the problem returns? The same?

Check your FP while running, and make sure it doesn't drop very quickly after you shut it off.

 

[dan2288]

fuel pressures at 43.5 psi. What does it mean if the fuel pressure drops quickily after i shut it off ?

 

[dan2288]

ok, so i just checked and the fule pressure does drop pretty quick. What could be causing that ? fuel injectores, fuel pump ? And if it was something to do with the fuel system, would that cause the car to miss and the engine to shake back and forth ?

 

[turboglenn]

ok, so i just checked and the fule pressure does drop pretty quick. What could be causing that ? fuel injectores, fuel pump ? And if it was something to do with the fuel system, would that cause the car to miss and the engine to shake back and forth ?

I recently learned that teh walbro pumps don't have the backflow prevention valve to hold pressure when the car is off like most stock pumps do. So i wouldn't worry about that, jsut make sure it's stable while running.

I doubt that there's anything ignition related here though. Sounds like vacum leaks or fuel prolems.

 

[dan2288]

can too much fuel cause it to miss and make the engine rock back and forth ? even at idle ?

 

[turboglenn]

It would have to be really rich. I've found these motors ( pretty much all motors) like to idle on the rich side. when mines lean it rocks and shakes, but when it's rich ( about 12.5 - 13:1 ) it idles perfect. AHve you seafoamed the car lately?

and a vacum leak would cause a lean condition and miss at idle

 

[dan2288]

ok, so im gonna check all the vacum lines later on. And what exactly will seafoam do
?

 

[silvreclips]

It cleans out the carbon build up in the intake manifold. You let a vacumm line suck it into the motor while its running and it washed the carbon out the manifold and burns it through the cylinders.