DrunkenMantis

Hey guys Im new to the board and LT1's so go
easy on me. I have a 96 Z28 A4, 90,000 miles, all
stock except for a k&n drop in filter. I have had it
for about a month and have had an arcing plug or
wire from the drivers side(friend said maybe cylinder
#5). It stumbles at idle once i go it stops. But as of
2 days ago my car has no acceleration whatsoever.
I floor it and the car crawls. Its not really arcing anymore.
I had no money and needed some gas so I put some in
from a can we had laying around from a week ago.
(Bad Idea) It was 87 octane and I guess there was some
dirt in it cause there was some at the bottom. So I was
thinking maybe I clogged the injectors or something so
today I put some injector cleaner in it and filled it up
I still havent gone through the tank yet but it is still doing it.
Im telling you guys my old 6 cylinder accelerates 10 time faster
than my Z right now. Also my friend says that when I accelerate
he hears a weird noise coming from the engine. And I have also
noticed a weird ticking noise from the passengers side.
Tonight I checked for arcing but didnt see anything. WTF do
you guys think is wrong? Any help would be appreciated.
Sorry the post is so long guys.

DrunkenMantis

Come on guys its my first post atleast
help me out on this one.

QCKZ28

check all plug wires and plugs, have you had the car scanned? is it possible there was water or something else in that gas you used? the ticking noise could be an exhaust leak or a bad lifter or valvespring? did the car run ok before the arcing?

camaronutt

I would say maybe water in the fuel, like QCKZ28 said. If there was dirt in the gas, your inline filter should have caught most of it. Change that out, if not recently done. Its located on the Drivers side of the undercarriage. As for the weird noise, you may want to explain it the best that you can so maybe someone can diagnose it for you. And check to make sure there isn't a BLUE OVAL on the front of the car, that has been known to cause problems. Good luck.

DrunkenMantis

Thanks for the replies guys. Nah there isnt a blue oval on the front lol. The car has been arcing since I got it. Had it for about a month. No money to fix it. I really dont think there was
water in the tank but definetly a possibility. Im planning
on changing plugs and wires soon. So hopefully that
will fix it. I just pray its not the opti. As for the ticking
noise I just noticed it and it is a constant ticking on the
passengers side near the alternator. I dont think its
an exhaust leak but I dont know to much about engines.

rage366

hmmm...yeah, get it scanned, to see if anything obvious shows up...also, it could just be your fuel pump crappin out on ya...there are so many possibilities...best thing to do is to use the K.I.S.S method....start with simple stuff and then move up the difficulty ladder...

check, wires, opti, fuel pump, big exaust leak, plugs, injectors, fuel filter, hell...even the air filter...

keep us updated...

jasons93z

Not always, mine ended up being the coil and wire.

speed76demon

how can u tell if your fuel pump is goin bad is it by the fuel pressure?? also how much does it cost to fix a bad lifter or valvespring??

DrunkenMantis

Hey guys thanks again for all the help. I think I might
have figured out the problem. Let me know if this might
of cause my slow acceleration. Well on the way to my
fiancee's house I look down and check all my gauges.
Sure enough the oil light was on. I checked it when
I got to her house. I was like 2 1/2 quarts low. I have a
small oil leak somewhere. Its about the size of a half dollar.
So do you guys think that that could have caused the problem?
As soon as I found out that I was low I put in some oil.
I havent driven it to much since probably a total time of
about 45 minutes. The acceleration is definetly about 60%
better but it still lacks that UMPFF!!(you know when you hit it in
an auto and it downshifts and your neck snaps back lol).
Also my plug on the drivers side is not arcing anymore. Do
you think that it is finally shot and thats why Im lacking the low
end power?

rage366

how can you not F*ckin notice the oil light????
just pray that you didnt ruin the friggin motor!!
damn, it pisses me off just readin about stuff like this!!
ALWAYS keep an eye on your gauges!! ALWAYS!!!

get on your knees and pray that you dont throw a rod...

DrunkenMantis

Listen ******* its not like the oil light has been on for the last few days. It had to have came on on the way to her house. Im so sorry I am not perfect. Please if you are gonna insult me dont even bother posting. I would really tell you off but Im not like
that. Thanks everyone else for their help.

rage366

dont get ur panties in a bunch, i wasnt bein serious.

and if you're missing 2.5 quarts, then either that light has been on for a while, or you have a rather large leak...
either way, you F*cked up...(hint: i'm joking). sheesh...

DrunkenMantis

I apologize rage. Ive had a stressful past few weeks. I didnt mean to get "my panties in a bunch" lol. Also to add to the great
news I might be losing my camaro cause I just got layed off woo who! Anyways to keep this in the tech. Bare with me I dont know
much about cars. If I did throw a rod which I dont think I did I pray. What would be some of the symptoms wouldnt I have a lot
of lound noticeable knock? The car still doesnt want to accelerate
like normal and it sux. Any more help would be nice.

rage366

smoke/clank-clank-clank...or your motor will just jam...
i can understand the stress bro, i hope it ends on a high note for ya. sorry about being an *** to ya, i didnt mean anything.

the sad truth is that my car's having acceleration problems too...and it's got less than 2000 miles on it...brand new...
one of my spark plugs has a cut on it that's 30% deep...the air filter was rather dirty...and i'm in the process of changing the fuel filter...hopefully that'll do it. my only other concern is that my injectors might be maxing out, or just crapping out...or BOTH...

yeah, it sucks...i've spent too much money to be this damn slow...