logK89J29

hi,

i have been trying to track down this thing forever. it all started when i noticed a lack of power especially when going up hills. i also moved recently and the car almost bogged down to crawl when i loaded it up with stuff. it had so little power (and i don't have alot of stuff to move). Also at times i will be coasting down the road and will want to go faster. i will press the accelerator to the point where the engine should rev and speed up but nothing happens. i become impatient and press it harder and harder but nothing changes and then all of the sudden the engine revs extremely high and starts to go faster as if something finally woke it up. these symptoms occur on and off. i have done various things to try and improve this and sometimes they help but it always seems to go back to where it was before. here are the things i have done.

compression test = good values
ignition timing test = stock timing
fuel pressure test = 30 psi at idle, 40 psi with fuel pressure regulator vacuum hose pinched.

haven't changed air filter but looks clean
changed valve cover gasket.
changed spark plugs
changed spark plug wires
changed cap and rotor
changed cracked exhaust manifold (it was the exhaust manifold cat combo)
changed both o2 sensors
changed fuel filter
changed transmission fluid (no metal shavings however i think i over filled it..could this be a cause?)
changed power steering fluid
changed radiator fluid
ran lucas fuel injector cleaner through it
indexed the spark plugs
removed various objects from the car to make it lighter.

also another symptom i've noticed is that there appears to be a ticking sound near the back of the engine possibly under the fuel injectors.

also there are no check engine lights. I did however get a cylinder 2 misfire immediately after changing the fuel filter but it hasn't come back. I also periodically got a CEL for improper fuel mixter but that was probably due to the cracked exhaust manifold because i replaced it and it hasn't come back.

I was going to try tightening the throttle cable but i doubt that will do anything.

my rear wheel bearings are kind of loud. could this cause this?

I was also going to check the timing belt marks to see if the cam and crank shafts are correctly in time. who knows it might have jumped a tooth. do you think this is what is causing it?

the next thing i was going to test is the TPS sensor but shouldn't that give a CEL light if that was a problem? or could that be a problem and not give a CEL light at all? I am at my wits end here.

ezone

DRIVE the car with the gauge connected and taped to the windshield. What is the fuel pressure when the car has no power?

(I would first drive the car while watching engine data on a scantool, because that can tell me a lot of info in a short time. If the O2 sensor voltage drops low when it bogs, the engine is lean.... Etc.)

Was the old cat still completely intact, hadn't broken the substrate apart and sent pieces down through the rest of the exhaust? Broken pieces trapped in a muffler can cause a plugged exhaust.

Tried dropping the exhaust pipe off of the bottom of the cat and drive it?

Good thing to check. I'd probably check ignition timing though. If it is off by 20-40 degrees, the cam timing has to be wrong.


Have someone mash the pedal to the floor, see if the throttle arm is wide open (pull on the cable).

logK89J29

thank you for the response. the fuel pressure gauge i bought is the cheap kind that you can't see while you drive..i'm on a budget

monitoring the O2 sensors is a good idea. I have a multimeter that i could probably rig to the sensors and tape the meter to the windshield so i can view the values. kinda hackish but doable

good idea dropping the exhaust pipe after the cat. however that will not damage the engine will it? it will just be noisey right?

i am going to check the cam and crank shaft timing very soon. i will let you know if that was the problem.

i'm also going to probably tighten the throttle cable too. i highly doubt that is the problem tho. i'll eat my own foot tho if it fixes everything.

ezone

Correct. Don't let the pipe drag on the ground though, and you are really only supposed to be doing this just long enough to check performance.

Don't turn on the wipers by accident. BTDT with the fuel pressure gauge many times.

Better idea: Use long wires, run them in through the passenger door or window. Keep the meter inside the car with you.

Or borrow a code reader that will give some data list too?


If any of these methods indicate the engine is going lean during the event, then checking fuel pressure during an event is probably going to be the next step. So be ready for it.