Ok, about 2 weeks ago, I noticed that my car just didn't have the get-up and go I was used to. I first noticed that it no longer would bark the 2-3 shift... AT first, I just chalked it up to the recent warmer weather.

Last week, I noticed that it seemed to hit a flat spot at WOT right before it shifted.

During this time, my A/F gauge started showing funky readings. It seemed to have issues with hitting stoich, it was always run rich or lean. AT first i thought it was an exhaust leak at the header, but everything seemed tight and the gasket was ok.

Yesterday on the way home from work, It seemed to have developed a miss. The engine started an out of tune snarl that I recognized from times a plug wire has come off. I checked wires and checked the injector harness, everything looked ok. I was wondering if a rocker arm had come off, as I had recently put a set of 1.6 roller tips on. But, there was no valvetrain clatter, and figured some sensor or the like was going out and causing the poor running.

So, I take it to work today. I notice something is very amiss, as the car flat falls on its face above 4000 rpm. The miss is more pronounced as well.

On the way home from work, the car is so bad it won't do over 60 on the highway. Halfway home, it doesn't want to turn 2000 rpm. Then 1500. Finally, it stalls out turning into the driveway. All the time the A/F gauge is reading pig rich and the car is making the sputtering noise of unburnt gas hitting the exhaust.

I have an MSD6 and a Blaster II coil on the car. These are about 7 years old, I transferred them from my last vehicle. I am thinking that one of these took a ****.

Aside from sputtering, the car makes no odd noises, no ticks, knocks, etc. Oil pressure is still absolutely normal.

Thoughts?

 

you might have to try trouble shooting. is the tune up good? filters ok? scan for codes? clogged cat? compression ok? i'd guess the AF readings are a reflection of your problem and not where the problem is at.

 

I understand that the rich/lean readings are a symptom, not the problem.

The engine has 15k miles on it, and has run great. I'm putting that on the back burner, as I think it least likely.

Last tuneup was about 7k ago. I haven't checked condition of plugs or put a multi to the wires. I did check and verified that none have gotten cooked on the headers or slipped off.

No codes.

Cat was new aboout 10k ago. A clogged cat has crossed my mind, but the symptoms getting steadily worse so quickly doesn't seem to jive. Really, it went from drivable to not in about 45 minutes of actual driving.

WHAT I DID TODAY-

I bypassed the MSD box and coil, and plugged a known good stock coil back into the harness. Didn't help. ****.

I then pulled the valvecovers off to check for a broken spring, busted rocker, etc. I noticed that some were on the loose side aloowing just a smidge of movement on the pushrod. NONE were any looser than 1/8 turn to get back to lash. Didn't see anything broken.

Symptoms are still the same. It actually idles pretty normally, but won't rev past 4000 in nuetral. No mechanical noises from engine.

It snowed last night, so my patience for working on it in 6" of the white stuff is over. My next plan of attack is pulling the plugs, checking wires, cap rotor, etc, but I am not expecting a problem.

I AM suspecting the injectors. They are stock, with ~180k miles on them. I am wondering if one could have hung open.

Fuel pump sounds normal, and was new about 20k miles ago. Maybe the regulator?