cheese_kake

Ok tonight I finished filling up at the gas station and started my car and right away , I noticed that it felt weird, and sounded weird, like the car was like shaking with the engine, and when I revved the engine it sounded like a constant knocking noise but loud , and it lost alot of power , ALOT , and when ever you give it gas it like shakes the engine and the car and it sounds really bad almost like a locomotive , its hard to put into words, but any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

305q_ta86

iTrader: (1)

Did you put diesel in it or something? Try an octane booster, maybe..

Screamin86

iTrader: (1)

my friend sounds like it could be spun rod bearing. i could be wrong but when i had those same symptoms in my old lg4 my oil pump went spun rod bearing and broke side off of a piston!! so if i were u id check the oil for metal shavings and DO NOT DRIVE IT! until u know for sure whats going on i just also had to replace rod bearings in my honda bcause oil plug leaked most oil out and spun #1 bearing.

84z28350

I see your runnig TPI, computer throwing any codes?

Black smoke out the pipes?

cheese_kake

First off Im 100% sure its not the gas , Ive been using 93 forever, and it was a difference of about night and day. No smoke , well it just happened at like 10 at night so I didnt have a chance to check yet but I didnt notice any , and no codes. Do any of you think it could be a blown head gasket??? , because it did lose alot of power.

84z28350

Head gasket would make clouds of white smoke out the pipe and you would notice the level in the overflow jug go down fast.

cheese_kake

Well thats good news , cuzz I dont have a blown head gasket , didnt lose water , or have white smoke , so I guess that leaves me with a possible spun bearing, but could that explain the virbrations from the engine , the noise and the big loss of power??

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

This may be a long shot, but a very similar situation happened to me. Check to make sure that none of your plug wires burnt open. The spark may be arcing out, so you are down one cylinder which, for me, caused just what you said - unnatural noise, loss of power, knock (thats the unburnt fuel exploding late), and strong vibrations.

zNucleaRz

I know you explained that your 100% sure its not the gas cause you used 93 octane. But could the filler truck maybe came that day and put 87 in the wrong whole? Cause I know my car acts like this when I put anything lower than 93 in it. Might wanna try a can of octane booster like mentioned above or grab a couple of gallons of 108 from your local speed shop see if it’s maybe an octane problem. Hope you get it fixed.

PhLaXuS

whispers quietly...AvGas...AvGas...if you don't mind lead-poisoning your O2 sensor...

Seriously -- I had this old total POS car a while back that did the same thing -- out of nowhere. It was the balancer. Killed the whole engine before I figured it out...

I thought it was engine mounts and spark problems, but nope -- balancer. Check this first as it can ruin the engine if it's bad...on the other hand, it's pretty unlikely to be the balancer. Just be sure before driving it around much more.

EDIT: Forgot to say before...but my car was shaking so much that it shook the starter bolts out about six times in the 2 months it took to die on me.

Blkmaroman

same thing happend to me. I pulled into the gas station in my 71 buick and got back in to leave and it was locked up tighter than a nuns ****. I loved that 455.

6SpeedTA95

good lord that sucks



As for the original post, check your plug wires as mentioned earlier, my 3rd gen did the same thing, what had happened was two plug wires had got on the manifolds melted and were causing some big time arc. New plug wires and it was smoothed right out and the power came back.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like something in the valve train, specifically something that has to do with an exhaust valve, broke.

Check the plugs and wires, as mentioned; if they're OK, pop the valve covers and look for valves that don't move as the engine turns.

cheese_kake

Well guys , I totally lucked out on this one. As some of you mentioned I took a look at my plugs and two of them had come loose and started to arc , thats what caused the noise. And since I was now running on six cylinders that explained the loss of power. Thanks for all your help guys , Im glad you mentioned the plugs before I started tearing my valve covers off!!!

JP86SS

iTrader: (1)

Pumping gas....
wires come loose!
Don't go there anymore

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear its nothing serious. See, when something like this happens, you have to start at the simplest things and then work your way up to the more involved possibilities. That way you save time, money, parts, and aggrivation. Imagine what would have happened if you ripped apart your drivetrain only to find a plug wire was arcing?


_Clark

cheese_kake

It's really odd though that they just, out of nowhere FELL OFF!!! I think maybe I went over some bumps, but thats almost a daily routine. Is there anything I could do , to ensure this won't happen again??

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Make sure they are secured in all the way? Lol, there's not much more than that, the only thing I can think of is that when you put the plug wires on, you didnt secure them well enough due to the awkward angle you have to twist to get your arm in there. Just do a check to make sure they all snap into place snugly. If not, then the clips inside your wires may be worn and are now loose. If thats the case, get new wires, or take pliers and squeeze the boot slightly to get it back to the position the clips should be.

Red Devil

What exactly is it that makes everyone waste money for 93 on stock motors?

PhLaXuS

I am one of the crazies laying down for 93. I know my car runs a LOT better on 93. I had 100 in there earlier this week since Wilma knocked out most publicly available pump fuels. Of course, my engine cannot take full advantage of 93 due to it being stock, but it does run with a bit more power...

cheese_kake

Well my wires are brand new , so I guess since I had my arm squeezed all the way back there , I just didnt put them on good enough. As for the gas issue Im gonna have to agree with
PhLaXuS , one time I tried 87 just to see if there was a difference and there was some, and I dont mind spending the extra $$.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Are you kidding? Putting in 93 octane does not mean that you will get more power. Higher rated octanes mean that it is harder for the gasoline to combust, thus, it is used in higher compression engines. The reason you cannot run 87 in a 10.5:1 engine is that the compression of the fuel/air is enough to ignite the mixture without the spark, causing ping which is detrimental to your engine.

Your car is a 305 TBI, stock from what I gather, you are gaining absolutely nothing by running 93 octane, you are just making it harder for your engine to combust that Air/Fuel mixture.

91blkta

The owners manual on a 91 ta tpi states 89 or higher and you will feel a reduction in power if you use anything under super.

PhLaXuS

EFI also allows for some varying amount of spark advance based in part upon the lack of detonation as detected (or rather, not) by the knock sensor. A bit more advance and a CAI on an otherwise stock engine is somewhat noticable.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

I know of many STOCK engines that detonate profusely on 87 octane gas. Especially when they get some mileage on them and some carbon accumulated in them (raises compression ratio). They need ATLEAST 91 octane in most cases to get rid of the knock counts. When the ECM cuts timing, it pulls ALOT out then creeps back to normal. It CAN and WILL REDUCE HP and MILEAGE if the knock sensor is triggered excessively.

PhLaXuS

That actually happened to me today. I was running 100 octane a few days ago (Wilma didn't leave me much option) and someone from work waited in line & filled my tank when fuel became available again. I forgot to tell them to run 93. They filled an almost empty tank with 87. I get in the car...everything's fine...I come to a stop and hit the gas. I feel what was at least 20* pulled...

zimmchile7

I'm carbureted but I know the affects of low octane. Mine deiseled at shutdown with anything less than 93. My solution? 383 and use 93 or more all the way. Of course, now I need sub frame connectors.

Red Devil

Clean the chambers and datalog the car. Something is wrong on a stock car to have deleterious, no, rather detrimental effects that noticable and loss of performance and audible ping, all without codes, is odd.

I've run, no choice, 87 in two cars that are 'required' to have 93+ gas in 'em from the factory. I could notice little by the *** dyno, yet it shows up during a run. No pinging audible. Both computer controlled. Both with emissions gas that we get stuck with up here.

That said, all that seem to have a problem also reside in some hot states. I'd also keep an eye on your operating temps.

PhLaXuS

Most definitely!

After wiring in a manual fan switch and a "modified" 180* thermostat, everything's typically pretty cool unless the engine gets to ~230* (hot day, A/C, traffic, etc). The timing starts getting pulled big time, then.

-- All road and no torque makes jack a dull boy --

cheese_kake

WOW , mine never gets above 220, in fact Ive never even seen it close to 220. Mine stays around 170-185, no matter how hot and how hard I run it.