Hey guys, car is having probs again (surprise!). Car will crank, idle smooth for the first 10-20 seconds, then the idle will drop way down, right below 1000 RPM's and start to make a 'chug-chug-chug sound', however that isn't the worst if it. When I pop the car into drive and go to accelerate, it won't go anywhere, fast at least. I'll rev it up to say 3000 RPMS and the car will barely move, then it will act fine for a second or two, and then the problem will reappear immediately.

Fuel related problem? Fuel filter? Any replies are appreciated as I really do not feel like taking it to the mechanic AGAIN and throwing more dough into this money-pit.

Thanks,

 

sounds as if the fuel pump is bad.....

 

maybe your cat is plugged up.

 

I checked the cat, it isn't plugged. No intake obstruction or anything wrong with any intake components, which is what is leading me to believe that it is fuel-related. However the last time I changed out the fuel-filter was somewhere around a year ago. Is that about right for the life of the average, Auto-Zone fuel filter?

 

im just guessing here but could it be a dirty iac?

 

Check your fuel presure.

Wehn reving to 3K does the engine sputter at all?
Check your coil. The chuga-chuga sounds like it might be a miss fire at idle. mine did this when my coil was leaking. it would miss while at idle, but clear up if I hit the gas. But when I tried to go forward I didn't have much luck.

 

Time for a good tune up. It always looks like fuel or sounds like fuel but its spark related. [Been there, done that, know what you mean] Check under the hood in the dark for spark leak around the coil and other parts. If its been more than 6 months, change plugs, wires, cap n rotor. Make sure your coil wires are tightly plugged in, not the coil wire but the feed wires.

 

Silly question.. have you checked for codes? IAC won't foul acceleration.. it's likely related to fuel delivery or ignition. MAP, TPS, fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pressure regulator, ignition coil, module, check cap/rotor... wires and plugs I'd suspect less if this appeared out of the blue..

 

this sounds alot like my problem, witch can be read about and learned from here threadid=211664

good luck hope this helps