Car trouble please help...

[Omega Man]

I have a 1997 Olds Cutlass Supreme 6 cyl w/AC. A while back the car started stumbling while accel from a green light for just a second or two. Now it stumbles badly, feels like 1 cyl isn't firing, but then when I ease off the gas I feel a smooth clean surge. On the freeway it's smooth at speed, and even getting to speed, but then I might want to accel and it may stumble for a second, then smooth out as I ease off the gas. Was idling perfectly smooth at lights, now I feel a cyl missing most of the time where as it was the other way around. Oh yeah I keep saying "was" well mom was in the ER over a small mountain range on the west side of Vegas in Pahrump. Well the car barely made it back over on the return trip(40 was all she would do at one point) and now the problem is worse and really needs to be fixed.

So to recap:

Stutters on accel from stop(duh, duh, duh, duh sound)
Runs perfectly smooth at speed and can even accel sometimes, but usually stutters for a second then smooths out again
Is not running hot
Was idling smoothly, now missing sometimes.

I don't have the money to put it in the shop, but(and this is embarrassing) I used to do all my own wrenching on my cars when I was younger, but am not sure where to start with my budget in mind.

plugs/wires?
jeez..timing belt?
fuel filter?

:help:

~O~

 

[Winger 82]

I think I would check out the plug wires and plugs first and filters ,it may be a lousy O2 sensor, start her up when it be dark out /open the hood and take a gander at the wires, this is not a sure fire way to find a bad wire but it's how the ole timers did it.
:hi:

 

[Omega Man]

Thanks, I do those three first, plug wires and air/fuel filter.

~O~

 

[dan filipi]

I had a van with a bad throttle position sensor (TPS) would act up funky sometimes.
My brother had a bad, dam not sure what it's called, it's something like a air flow sensor in the air cleaner housing. He replaced that it ran like brand new.

I'd hate for you to throw money at it looking for the problem.

My best advise is find a cool mechanic to put it on the machine to read the error codes otherwise $ after $ trying to find it blind. Just too much electronical stuff on cars anymore to repair them like we used to.

 

[AApple]

Sputter into your local AutoZone, and have them scan it for you(They'll do it for free), and be sure to get a printout of any codes they pull. That'll help.If it is missing as bad as it sounds, it will have miss-fire codes. P0300 is a random miss-fire code, meaning it is prolly missing on several cylinders randomly. Then it goes thru the cylinders as P0301 = Cyl 1, P0302 = Cyl 2, etc. If it comes up with a specific cylinder miss-fire, then you can concentrate on that one cylinder.
I'm leaning towards a bad ignition module/coils, but for sure, check the plugs first.
Another thing it could be is a bad TPS(Throttle Position Sensor). Try unplugging it and see if the major problem goes away. The TPS will be mounted on the side of the throttle body, and will be a 3 wire connector.
IF your engine has a MAF(Mass Airflow) sensor, you can unplug it, and see if the performance improves. I say "IF", because I'm not sure if that engine uses a MAF sensor off-hand. The MAF will be in-line with the hose from the air cleaner to the throttle body, and they have a really tiny wire inside that is used to determine airflow/volume. If that hair-sized wire gets dirty, it can cause the same problem. You can clean it with spray throttle body cleaner, which you can get at a the parts house(AutoZone, NAPA, Pep-Gurls, etc.). Just be sure to not touch that tiny wire with anything(other than spray cleaner/air)...it can be ruined if you do.

Could also be a catalytic converter stopping up. If you have a good vacuum gauge, hook it up to someplace that will give you a good vac. reading from the intake manifold, and drive it, monitoring the vacuum. A plugged converter(or exhaust) will show almost no vacuum when the problem occurs.

Hope this helps. Scanning it for codes is the best thing to do at this point....it will definitely point you in the right direction if there are any codes present. If it's running as bad as you say, there will be codes. Post the codes here...we'll get it figured out. :read:

 

[Omega Man]

Great advise guys thanks a bunch!

~O~

 

[scdmarx]

My money's on the plug wires. Sounds like a weak one breaking down whenever it has to work under load. If it's missing at idle it should be relatively easy to find. If the check engine light/service engine soon light is on there will be a code(s) for sure. If that light starts blinking while the misfire occures then that means it's a catalyst damageing misfire and the longer you run it like that the better chance of destroying the catalytic converter. That will get expensive. If a P03XX code leads you to a specific cylinder, check the spark plug itself for cracked porcelin or carbon tracks on the porcelin. I am assuming you have the 3800 engine. (3.8L) The plug wire boots get stuck pretty tight to the plugs on those. Especially on the back side where all the heat is. It would be best if you could get under the boot and push it off, rather than pull at it. Also try to twist the boot 180 degrees and manhandle it back and forth to break it loose before trying to remove it. But on a '97 with orignal wires, if the boots tear, well, you probably needed to change them anyways so it's no big deal. 'Bout time for a tune up on the ol'beast, eh? I just thought of something else. You should have a coil pack with 3 coils. Each coil sparks 2 cylinders. If you get misfire codes for 2 cylinders, check to see if both plug wires go to the same coil.

These are decent cars. I really like that platform. Let us know what you find.

 

[joedrum]

i go with chas dump the cleaner in it... :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

Well that's cool about Autozone, have to remember that next time.

Good luck finding the problem ~O~

Oh wanted to mention.
I've gotten to be a real cheap ******* after so many times paying what I thought was a fair price then find out I could have gotten it for MUCH less.
Shop around for everything. I'm often surprised how much difference there can be.

We have a auto parts store here that has 4 of the most knowledgeable and friendly guys you'd ever want to meet.
They've been 10-20% less $ than the chains quite a few times for me and when my brother and I were throwing money at his we explained the problem, they said "nah" that's probably not it, more likely "this".

Man I love that place and refer them all the time.
I'm sure there's one in your town.

 

[sledge]

Plug Wires.........and Plugs....... I had one this summer doing the same thing........and now it runs as good as it ever did.

 

[AApple]

We have a auto parts store here that has 4 of the most knowledgeable and friendly guys you'd ever want to meet.

Ahhhh I remember the days when you didn't have to tell them what color the seats were to get an oil filter for a small block Chebby... :crying: These days, you've got to almost tell them which way the key turns to unlock the door just to get a friggin quart of oil... :rant:

I'm sure there's one in your town.

I doubt that very much....who the heck is it, anyway, since you didn't say.... :headscratch:

 

[dan filipi]

The place is called All Valley Auto Parts. I think it's independently owned.

 

[slabghost]

Last place here like that sold out to NAPA 7 years ago. Hard to find anyone knowledgeable or helpful around here any more.

 

[Winger 82]

:cool!: Auto Zone/ Advance Auto/ maybe even a Pep Boys can help ya out
we have the 1st 2 in this area and they are glad to put a meter on it for ya, no charge as far as I know

Winger 82 :hi:

 

[Omega Man]

It was the plugs. I had to pay to have them put it because I just couldn't rock the engine forward enough to get to the back 3 cyl. A heads-up on AutoZone reading codes, they won't do it unless you have a check engine light on, which I did not. Next will be tires, f/filter, wires in that order.

Thanks again for all the advise!

~O~

 

[dan filipi]

Plugs eh?
Well I'll be, sometimes it is the easy stuff (relatively speaking)

 

[sledge]

did they let you see the Plugs that came out of your Eng. ???? was they just Old......or was they fouled from Oil on them .???

 

[scdmarx]

did they let you see the Plugs that came out of your Eng. ???? was they just Old......or was they fouled from Oil on them .???

On a '97? With (guessing)150k or better on it? It was probably just time for plugs. It's time for wires too, but you do what you can as you can afford it these days. A restricted filter will work a fuel pump to death, so that certainly ranks high on the priority list. Fuel filters are cheap. And of course, you can't get far without tires.

All it takes is money. :smilie_happy: :head bang: :head bang: :head bang:

 

[Omega Man]

The car has only 70k. As for seeing the plugs...they called an hour after the stated time, and when we got there the car wasn't ready. The girl called the wrong people(us), so about two hours later she called again and I was just ready to get it home.

and I was just ready to get it home.

The other admins know this...I lost my mother Thursday so I was in bad shape. Please don't hold my coming here against me, I need the distraction.

~O~

 

[mcgovern61]

The other admins know this...I lost my mother Thursday so I was in bad shape. Please don't hold my coming here against me, I need the distraction.~O~

I am sorry to hear that Randy. You and your family are in our prayers! If we here on the forum can do anything for you, don't hesitate to ask!

Gerry