Okay so this happened a lot today and i got really mad. I did a search and couldnt find something that really fit me. I usually driver a total of 10-15 miles a day... id say a 7 mile trip to school and a 7 mile trip back. But everynow and then i drive somewhere further. After a while of driving it starts happening.. i guess when the engine is warmed up.
heres the scenario:
I come to a stop at a stop sign (complete stop 1..2..3..)
I accelerate at light to moderate speed.
Car responds immediately then stops then goes
then it shifts and right after it shifts (i have a transgo) it does it again.
then it goes and it runs smoothly from there on.
*this only happens after driving about 30 miles
I guess the best word to describe the go stop go would be lopey? Im not sure if thats a stumble or a hesitation. But it would be like i were to take my foot hit the gas hit the brake hit the gas again *car shifts* hit the brake and then hit the gas again

Two possible things i came up with ( i come up with cheap things because i fear the inevitable)

Bad gas maybe? gas stations were running out so i was filling up with the gas at the bottom of thier tanks which is full of sediment

Vaccumm leak? Im hoping its a vaccumm leak due to my elbow. The clamp from maf to elbow is broken but is on none the less... and it doesnt fit the TB very well. Im going to replace it with my ebay one (yay cheap again) right now to see if it fixes it at all

btw plugs and wires are new


Please please pleeeassse give me some type of response!

 

okay no reply yet....

but ive been busy

i replaced my intake elbow with my ebay one. I was surprised to find this

broken clamp on intake side:


all uglied up on the TB side:


then when i took it off i found this note taped inside...


so i can safely assume there was a vaccuum leak there. But when i test drove the car i drove it around my neighborhood a little bit. The engine was already kinda warm and i warmed it up a wee bit more. At first it wasnt doing it at all. Then i got the car to do it twice.

Come to a slightly harder then normal stop and dont stay there for too long and then get on the gas a little bit harder then casually and it happend. not nearly as bad as before but it happened anways. my engine probably wasnt as warm as it was earlier today when i was doing it.

BUT i came up with a cheaper solution: maybe when i hit the gas the thrust from the car makes my foot put less pressure on the gas then i regain pressure then it shifts (transgo) and i go back releasing pressure on the gas and then regain pressure... this all being subconcious of course... no? didnt think so either but it was worth a shot


so yea any information is still reallly freakin helpful.

 

sounds like the opti spark...or make sure your coil wire and all other plug wires are tight. if that doesnt fix it make sure all the plugs are tight...if none of that works i would say its the opti

 

god dammit i was really hoping it wouldnt be the opti... ill check all the wires... one of my friends said to run injector cleaner to see if its them?

im praying its not the opti i cant afford that ****

 

Check that coil wire.

 

where exactly is the coil wire and what am i looking for? then from there.. whats the solution?

 

Best thing to do is trace all your plug wires and check out the condition of them, then you can get the coil tested for free at Autozone. You won't really knwo if it's the opti spark unless you take that thing for a WOT run... if your having a hard time getting to the upper RPM's like thigns breakup past 4000 .... it may be the opti. but if it's a miss it should stumble... but then keep on going strong... the opti usually breaks up and makes the car fell as though it's getting weaker as you go along the RPM band. Atleast that's how I experienced it.

 

the coil wire is the one running from the coil pack to the opti spark...its under the intake elbow...above the h2o pump.

 

make sure to remind me that if for any reason we are to cross paths to bring a big trophy that says your my hero. Thank freakin god its not that opti. It pulls strong as hell all the way through. Its just after warm up theres that hesitation real far down low right off of idle. So if its free then i think ill head over there tomorrow.... thanks a lot

 

while ive got the thread going... when i sit there and idle after a while the rpms will move up and down slightly. Could this be a the vacuum line in the coil area down there and could this be related at all with my low rpm miss?

*update: i did a WOT test today and the opti is fine. It pulls hard all the way though. Its definately a closed loop issue as it only happens when the car is real warmed up. Plugs and wires are new so i doubt they are the issue. Im going to get that coil wire checked out tomorrow

 

on another forum i got this reply.. what do you think?


"I am ruling out a fuel problem since this seems to only be a partial throttle thing.
Do you have an SES or check engine light on?

What year is the car? Newer than 93?
Is it possible this is a transmission problem?
What happened when the problem first occured and how long has this been going on?

F/I cars usualy don't behave like this. How is your fuel economy doing at this point?"

do you think it really could be a transmission problem? my schedule has been insanely busy so i have not gotten a chance to go to autozone...

but this question still rings in my head... would a coil wire problem only effect a warmed up engine? Because i cant think of any reason why parts would work for the first 15 minutes your driving... and not after that

 

It's because it's electrical related. Most electrical parts fail after prolonged heat exposure. There also a module you may want to check out. ICM ignition control module. It's also prone to heat faluire and can cause similar problems. But get that coil off and get it tested for an STD.

 

are you saying im supposed to take the coil wire off the car to take it to autozone? I thought you just rolled up there said yo check this and then their like okay. I dunno how this **** works o well. Ill look into that ICM

 

You take the coil off of the car, and bring it into Auto zone for testing. They hok it up to some kind of device and get a reading from it. the ICM module is connected to the top of the coil when you take the coil off, it will be attached to there. I belive the only way to test those is to just replace them.

 

Before you go through all of that, make sure you check your fuel pressure. Mine started hesitating a bit, and only when it was hot. Then I would have a really hard time starting it. Are you having trouble starting it when it's hot and sitting maybe 10 min or so?