So what the heck is wrong with my car now?

Been noticing for about a week that sometimes if I give it gas the RPM's will decrease a bit instead of going up. Its just a split second so I thought it was my imagination.

Tonight however, I definately noticed it and saw the needle dip. I gave it gas (the lane I was in suddenly opened up) and before it took off the RPM's dipped.

What is this? I've mostly noticed this after a long stop and go commute on the freeway.

Also, I've noticed the throttle kind of sticking a little. Its almost like the linkage on the plenum needs some wd40 or something. Could this be related?

This is my daily driver now and I can't afford to have it go bad. Gotta nip things in the bud before they get too big.

Thanks,

Juan

 

How old are your ignition components (plugs, wires, cap/rotor)?

 

Your throttle body and IAC could be dirty, as well.

 

Just got new plugs about 5000 miles ago. Rest of the stuff is at least a couple of years old I think. Guess its time to freshen those up.

I did spray some tb cleaner in the throttle body a couple of months ago but I didn't disassemble it or get to the IAC.

I need to do that stuff. Don't have time though. I have a set of SLP runners sitting in the garage. I'd love to remove the TPI, port the plenum, clean TB and IAC, and reinstall everything with the new runners.

I'll have to add that to the list of things to do. I drive the car 50 miles a day so it needs to be in good condition.

Need to get the tranny flushed too. Far as I know, the car's never had the differential serviced either.

Thanks for the help.

 

Juan,
My car will do the same thing on occasion. Mine has gone even further in that while cold and in Open Loop it will hesitate really bad. The car has recently been tuned so I don't think it's related to the ignition system.

As Kevin mentioned, it's probably a dirty IAC and/or throttle body that's the culprit. It could also be a dirty O2 sensor.

 

The 02 sensor is brand new, within the last 3000 miles or so.

Anyway, yesterday I noticed something else. When idling at a light the engine sounded like it had a bit of a lope to it. It sounded a bit out of balance.

I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope its nothing worse than the IAC.

 

have they changed to the winter gas in the last week or two? I know several cars having issues lately. No real hard part problems, just a little rougher than normal.