Problem description: If i give my car more than 50% throttle at or under 2250 RPM, it starts violently missing, bucking, missfiring, etc. The shifter handle even jumps around all over the place way more than it should. No problems at high RPMs or cruising.

Other info: This all started when i installed my new taylor OTVC kit last fall. I had a problem with arcing right from the start, however i found that the problem was with the stock boot heat shields that i reused. Im not sure if that entirely fixed the arcing problem. it only had a minor miss then that i decided i would just live with, but after getting the car out of winter storage yesterday, its worse.

Even though my car seems to run great up top, it just feels like it has weak ignition now. Prior to the new wires, the car would torque like a he-man under throttle at low RPM... now it just coughs, backfires, and bucks around. I know you arent supposed to "lug" an engine, but this isnt right. I dont think i could launch at the track with it like this. Im guessing im going to have to rip out my brand new wires ( ) and start from scratch but i wanted to check for any other possibility here first.

 

A great way to quicly find a bad wire or coil is to use a spray bottle and mist a little water on the wires and coil while the engine is ideling. If you have a bad wire or coil you'll see it arcing.

 

really ive never heard of that before. I'll give it a shot.

 

Hmm i remember once that my fuel filter was pretty backed up...had the same problem...i would check into that aswell

 

Ya, that little trick made me some good money when I worked at the dealerships.

Do you have any exhuast leaks? I know my horrible headers leaks are causing the car to run way to rich giving it a high load low rpm stumble. now where near as bad as you are discribing though.

 

Well I just went out to once over the car, didnt try your trick yet but i found another problem... turns out the bottom of my intake elbow was folded up, and there was an air leak

The roads are wet tonight so i cant test drive it yet, however it was still backfiring with quick stabs of the throttle. Im going to see how it drivess tomorrow with that problem corrected, and if its still doing it ill try the spray bottle.

 

Well i took it for a ride today and the car is much better, however it didnt completely elimate the problem. Its now fine down until about 1500 RPMs or so (but seems to vary). The bucking is much more mild now, and the sputtering/chugging i was having before is more of a regular pattern... making me think i have weak ignition on one cylinder. I'm going to try misting the wires later today.

The other possibility, is that my intake is vacuuming enough that its still sucking air through the tiny crack in my elbow... perhaps i should buy a new one.

 

I bet on a bad plug or a loose or melted wire. LT1s love to eat wires especially if u have headers..