I've come to the point of considering selling my Bird because of the new prob. It's been having problems with acceleration. First of all, this car has had it's day. I've done very little to this car and had it turn out so fast and lately with my new job I've been neglecting driving it since it's become a second car. So as of lately I've been needing to drive it to work but it's been very sluggish on take off. If I bump the pedal it will jump like it's gonna break free from the frame like it used to. The problem is when I nail it, the rpms start to rise and the engine is pumping but it's not accelerating like it used to. On the freeway, I can be cruising and bump the pedal to make it jump around. At about 70mph it still has the strength it used to. I can nail it and it will start running down the freeway fast. So my problem is 0-70, it's being slugish. When I got the car it was always hesitating because of the carb. I put on a new carb (rebuilt), a new intake, and new cat with new muffler. It became pretty fast. But it was so long ago that I put on that carb that I don't remember if this is considered hesitation and means I should just get a new carb. What do you all think? What could possibly be wrong? Oh yeah, I also had the transmission rebuilt a couple of years ago. Please somebody help me before I give up on my bird.

 

1. Could we give a better description please Full throttle, part throttle, what gears does it occur in, etc. I've read it several times and I'm still not sure what you're talking about.

2. What did you put on the car? What carb, intake, etc? Remember, you can't just swap the carb out on these cars. They are computer controlled. Replacing it with a non computer controlled carb will cause a TON of problems.

 

Sorry for the lack of description. At any speed between 0-70, if I push the throttle 1/4 or more, especially full throttle, it will start to rev up and barely begin to take off. It's an automatic and second gear usually last from around 15mph to about 70 at full throttle. I think now it's more like 15mph to 60 and it takes a long time. I used to pull new Mustang GT's and now I'm sure my Saturn V6 would kill my bird. But if I'm cruisin at 45mph in 4th gear and full throttle it, the response is going to be slugish until about 70 when it starts to really pull again. As for the carb, it is the stock replacement carb from Hilo. Everything match up perfectly. And that was even like 5 years or more ago. It's been strong for the last 4 years as I've been working on building it up. But it's been sitting a lot for the past 6-9 months and it's gone down hill. I only drive it now every two weeks if I'm lucky. The convertor and muffler are slight upgrades from stock. I did them back about 3 years ago. Just to try to clarify the problem, when I full throttle it, the engine lights up, rpms shoot up slowly and the engine is screaming but the car is barely accelarating. Hope that clears up a little. If not just ask more questions. I greatly appreciate any help.

 

Soounds like a tranny problem b/c if the engine is pulling and doing its job the only item left would be the tranny. It could be your 2nd gear clutch going out. Check the tranny fluid and what not make sure its clean and most important full.

 

Thanks, I'm not sure why I've never really suspected the transmission before but it does shift hard into second. It's so hard that everytime I full throttle it scratches the spinner tire hard. Like hard enough to make the car sway. I don't know if maybe it's because it's locking up or what. But please keep giving me suggestions so I can check other things too. Thanks.

 

Stalker has you on the right track. What year is it? Are you sure it's downshifting into 1st gear at a stop? You may be starting out in 2nd, also does it have the lock-up style converter? When was your last tranny service? Some things to consider.

 

So the trans doesn't downshift properly and you have a replacement carb? I'm not familiar with Hilo, so I'll take a shot:

I don't think the problem is the trans. I believe its in your TV (throttle valve) cable. It connects the trans to the carb. Kind of like a kick down cable you'd find on other TH350s or TH400s, but more advanced. The cable position tells the trans where the throttle position is and adjusts line pressure accordingly. A TV cable that isn't connected or improperly adjusted will DEFINATELY cause your problems.