Shelty

so yesterday my car started to act up a bit for the first time since october...

the car wont idle too well, it idles really low, sounds like its got a lopey cam in it when its idling, and has stalled twice when I started it this morning.

when I am driving however, the car has all its power and there seems to be nothing super wrong.

trying to narrow down causes,

Vacuum leak? bad gas? its been humid, possibly humidity under the dizzy cap?

any help would be great, thanks

FivePointOhh

i would pull codes first...but if you dont wanna start with that...clean your MAF, act and IAC and see where that gets you. if that doesnt help then you can hunt for vac leaks and pull codes.

Shelty

thanks, yeah I'll have to find time to pull the codes, I dont have the stuff to do it really right, kinda a PITA... I think out autozone has an OBD-1 scanner, I'll have to check it out...

FivePointOhh

they do, they're cheap. like 20 bucks.

Canary94GT

I tried disconnecting my MAF sensor the other day and it made my car idle really, really crappy (not surprising). It had like no power and came very close to stalling just sitting there. After I would push the gas, it would struggle and go really far down to like 200 RPM then back up to 700 RPM and continue to do that for probably 15 seconds. I never even got out of my driveway lol. Without the MAF sensor, airflow is determined by RPM and throttle position. I'm mainly just throwing this experience out there in case it sounds anything like what you're having. If so, yours may be dirty or not getting power.

So I would also suggest pulling codes, then checking the MAF sensor if needed.

:S

87GT Drop Top

Try cleaning the throttle body.

Shelty

I think I narrowed it to a vaccum leak, I popped the hood when I got to work, the line that runs to the underside of the intake loops up to the front, where it loops behind the dizzy, it is rotted away...

grnstang

replace that vac line, but while you're at it i would clean sensors, check tps voltage, distributor cap & rotor, tune up stuff..etc

boonedj

i would check your egr valve if th lines to that are bad or hooked up wrong it will cause the idle to lope like its got a hot cam and it will seem like your not missing power

Shelty

ok, so checked everything again today, the vac line wasnt bad after all, I thought it had a hole in it, I sprayed the line with carb cleaner, no pick up in idle... turns out what Ithought was a hole (sorta getting dark when I was looking at it in the parking lot at work) was a blob of crud that in the poor lighting looked like a hole, if that makes sense to you guys

I have yet to check the EGR, but I heard if you unplug it, the ECM deletes its function? if so, then hell, I'll take it off...

cleaned the MAF and the IAC, the TPS is a few months old, when I last had a problem with it, I replaced it and the problem disappeared. no improvement.

also when its a cold start, the car will stall out, you crank it again, and give it gas it will sluggishly come to life.

its also been incredibly rainy and crappy out lately? dunno if that can have any impact? I checked the dizzy and there is no condensation or corrosion under the cap...

could I have bad 02 sensors? Ive never replaced them or even touched them since Ive had the car...