Raven25

car is a 1994 trans am lt1 auto..350 5.7l

ok first off this is everything thats been replaced in the car within the last 3 months:

battery/battery cables
alternator
thermostat
temperature sending unit
radiator/coolant
radiator cap
spark plugs (twice)
spark plug wires
header gaskets (three times)


i think thats it lol...ok i brought this car to a performance shop b/c it was over heating, had exhaust leaks, and the car was sputtering badly..well i finally get it back and im half way to work and it starts to sputter again, its shaking and its almost like its bucking..its hesitates then lurches forward and it keeps doing this..then it can be fine for a bit and then starts doing it again..ive noticed my ABS light has been on also and my stereo has been acting funny..i go to turn volume up/down and i can see the numbers moving down/up but the volume will stay the same and then all of a sudden drop or go up..not sure if this has anything to do with the problem but thought id mention it anyways...also when the car is sputtering the battery guage is going a little wonky lol...im thinking distributor but ive been doing some research and some people say voltage regualtor,MAF..so i dont even know where to start..the distributor is a big job and i wanna make sure its for sure that......i know the shop srayed water on the engine when they were trying to figure out the problem and it started to shake....i had to change my alternator after a huge rain storm here cuz it stopped charging, so im wondering if its that again....could the distributor be drawing juice from my alternator making it weak?

thanks ahead of time for any suggestions

big_bird_93

iTrader: (1)

The way you mentioned the battery gauge goin screwy as the problem occurs makes me think alternator. Maybe you got a bad one. Do you have another to swap in to see if it corrects?

Raven25

No I don't have another one....some people r now telling me it could be tranny...but I still think its something to do with the charging system...could it be a bad stereo amp drawing power? My car has done a similar thing before but that was because headers were really loose...but I just got everything redone so it can't be that

mrchyzy16

iTrader: (1)

It does sound like something electrical. I dont think the trans has anything to do with it. Check all fuses, then i would check the voltage at the alternator and the battery to be safe. Are you running the stock hu or aftermarket? With factory amp or no? If with the factory amp, it could possibly be going out. I dont think it would be that but hey anythings possible. Like i said, check the voltage at the alternator with a meter to see if its on its way out. I have had duds come right out of the box before. New and remanufactured units.

Raven25

everythings aftermarket...stereo is 3 yrs old and amp/subs r about 5..but ya ill check that..the cars been running ok the last few days so i dont know whats goin on..i know ive been told ignition problems can mimic tranny problems, but if it was tranny..would it do it all the time? i know with my opti spark going the last time the "sputtering" would come and go, it was never constant