Well, my engine has been acting funny the past few days, lacking power in the top end in some situations. Over the course of today, the problem has been getting progressively worse and worse. Now, it BARELY runs. I almost didn't make it home. The problem is that it just lacks power altogether. Now it makes a strange "farty" noise when i try to rev it and it never manages to get above 2k RPM. In certain circumstances it just stalls. It no longer has even the power to move the car an inch before sputtering to an untimely death.

Hopefully (it would certainly make my life loads easier) it is related to the problem that I was having with my stereo: it would make a whining noise from the speakers when on, the frequency of which directly corresponded to the RPM of the engine. I vaguely remembered in my high school auto shop having a similar issue with a Caviler. It turned out it had a bad coil or distributor (I cannot remember). Regardless, something in the ignition was causing the problem with the stereo. I think it might be an ignition issue which is causing the terrible performance and the whine.

But before I start ordering a new coil, rotor, plugs, etc. I want to get some other ideas what the problem might be. Has anyone else had a similar issue? Could it be a clogged cat? Otherwise restricted exhaust? Fouled injector? Bad fuel pump (wasn't making any noise)? Low/uneven compression?

Please can somebody help? This is my only car.

Not sure what the problem might be. Check for spark and go from there. It sounds like more of an electrical issue than a fuel related issue, so it probably isn't bad injectors or the fuel pump. I could be wrong though.

The whine you hear is common electrical interference that your speakers are picking up from your ignition.

I would start with the basics. Check your plug wires and make sure they are not split and or arcing onto another conductor (exhaust manifolds etc etc). Rent a fuel pressure gage (Acron unit from Autozone) and test the feed line fuel pressure (should see 9+ psi at idle). Use an Ohm meter to check the resistance of your plug wires. This will tell you if they are bad or not even if they pass a visual inspection. Check your base timing with the EST unplugged (should be 0° to 4° advanced).

Other things to consider

Plug gap and age/wear?
How old is the O2 sensor?
Check the cap for cracks as well

Your problems could be one of everything listed here.

All of these things can be checked with simple tools and a little of your time. You can get a timing gun for $20 and an Ohm meter for $10 at sears if you do not have one. Pick up a Chiltons (prefered) or a haynes repair manual for other diagnostic tips and Ohm values for you plugs wires.

I don't think it'd be the timing. Now that I think about it, it's probably a clogged fuel filter, bad pump, or somehow restricted exhaust. It only, at first, seemed to lose power at high RPMs. Steadily the RPM at which power was lost went down, corresponding to a lack of fuel or oxygen that would be brought about gradually from a clog somewhere. It still idles like a champ (before I start to rev it). I'll take your advice and rent a guage and work from there. It'll also be fun to unbolt the exhaust and see if it works from there . Does anyone know where I can order a fuel filter online? The GMPartsDirect catalogue really confuses me. Or should I just go to NAPA or Chevrolet and get one? Thanks very much for all the help.

Real quick... how can you be from the Bay Area and Santa Barbara?

Haha, I knew somebody would ask that at some point. I live in the Bay Area, and I go to UCSB. I spend most of my time in Santa Barbara, but my car is in Los Altos (Bay Area).

Sounds like the high life to me.

I got my fuel filter from carquest, also where can you pick up a timing light for $20?

Sears or even any Autoparts store should have a cheepo unit.

i had the same issue with my o2. I changed it out and noticed a world of difference. I was stumbling real bad, made no power, stalled all the time. If your cat was clogged you would not feel ant air coming out of your pipes. Stand behind the car with your hands in front of the exhaust and have a friend rev it up. If it's clogged it will hiss at you and give you very little air.

If you have your cat, you might look at that also. I spent countless hours trying to solve issues like this, only to find out my cat was clogged up.

Yeah, it might be the cat. I dont have any way to check it as, as of yesterday, my car and I are around three hundred miles apart

Thanks
Bryan

Maybe im the only guy to have this problem but I would drive down the road and all the sudden it would shake and sputter and not get over 2000 rpm at full throttle. Pulled over and after searching everything else found the injector plug had lost one of the plastic lock tabs and was no longer firing. Hopefully this is the problem as it is a simple fix, buy new plugs, solder them on, nver crimp any important wire.

I just bought a fuel filter and my dad offered to install it for me. I think this'll fix the problem. If not, thanks for all the help guys. It shouldn't take much tinkering to figure it out.

Bryan

I'm about to deal with a similar problem tomorrow. My friends '92 TBI is exhibiting the same sort of problem.

It starts fine, sounds great, doesn't miss, and revs up in neurtal. Once you get it on the road, it won't get over 2K rpms. I can get it up to speed slowly as long as I don't try to get on it.

My instinct was it's not getting fuel. I'm guessing fuel filter or pump. It happend very all of a sudden too. I just got the car here tonight and plan on messing with it tomorrow.

I know the filter is old, so I'll do that first. How hard is the pump on these cars?? I'll check the injector connections too. I also know the pump is original on this car and it has 150k on it, so it's a stong contender.