97ConvTA

97 TA automatic. Once the engine warms up I'm having problems with the car losing power and sputtering while I'm driving it. It has stalled a couple of times but not usually. It will usually clear up long enough for me to make it home. When it does die, it might take a few minutes before I can start the car again. When I make it home, I put the car in park and the rpms will randomly start to drop until it almost stalls then jump to about 2k for a little bit. It might do this a few times before it clears up and is smooth again. I drive the car daily to work. I don't live very far so the car doesn't warm up completely and I haven't had any issues getting to and from work. Any ideas on where to start would be greatly appreciated. I don't know much about cars but I'm trying to learn... Thanks

97ConvTA

Any ideas? I'm leaning toward vacuum issues based off what I've read. I have replaced a couple of vacuum lines, one was dryrotted and the other had a hole in it, but no change. Do the symptoms indicate anything that might lead me to a particular area?

ZFreie

Any chance you could upload a video of it?

Could be a number of things, I'm gonna guess a sensor cause it does it when its warm and in closed loop, but also sounds like it could be an ICM getting hot and not being able to spark till it cools off some.

Next time it does it, pop the hood and unplug the MAF and try starting the car again, should put it into open loop and will give us some more to work with.

Check fuel pressure both cold and hot when it does it?

My .02

Id would say not, anytime I've pulled vacuum lines off it always just idles high, but vacuum leaks are bad either way so fixing them wont hurt lol

97ConvTA

Thanks for the reply... I'll try to get a video of it after work today.

97ConvTA

Well, got home and it's not doing it now... I'll get a video up when it does it again... Just figures, does it every time the car warms up and when I finally try to get a video of it, it works fine...

97ConvTA

Been trying to get a video but it hasn't done it for a few days... I'll keep trying

Jr.Samples

I had a similar problem. Went through everything. Conclusion? Plug wires. Yup Ran good when cold stumbled badly when warm. After installing new plugs, new coil, new opti that was the last thing. BTW it was a bitch!

96LS1zee

Don't suppose you have a scanner? If not you can try and age old trick.. start disconnecting stuff. Try the MAF first, if no change plug it back in and maybe disconnect the o2 senors, less likely but possible would be the MAP sensor. Also wouldn't hurt to try the ECT and IAT sensors.

97ConvTA

Thanks guys... I've been trying to get it to act up again for the last few days and it hasn't done it. Doesn't feel like it's running quite right, but no sputtering, stalling or rpm surges. Next time it does it, I will try getting a video and start disconnecting things. I'm sure the car is just waiting until the most inopportune time to strike again.

97ConvTA

I had the opti and wires replaced about a year ago or so... Went with MSD. I really hope that's not it. Just trying to get a good look at that stuff is a PITA. Thanks for the advice, I won't rule it out

97ConvTA

Well, got it to do it again... mostly... I went to pt this morning and had to drive home afterwards to get a shower. It acted up immediately when I tried to start it back up to head to work. I disconnected the MAF and got a video. The rpms were a little high when it wasn't bogging down but not as high as before. It was idling around 2K when it had done it in the past but now a little over 1K... normal idle is around 8 or 9 hundred I think. I'm uploading the video right now and will try to get it posted. Oh yeah, got a check engine light this time before I unplugged the MAF. Didn't get that before. I don't have a scanner so I will try to take it somewhere after work. It seems to act up when I get the car warmed up and it doesn't have a chance to cool back down before I drive it again.

97ConvTA

Got the video uploaded to youtube. At the beginning of the video, I tried giving the car some gas. Like I said in my previous post, it wasn't idling as high as it has been when it starts acting up.

I don't know how to embed the video so here is the link.


Thanks,

Edit: Guess it embedded it automatically...

ZFreie

I'm at work right now and dont have the best speakers so its hard to tell currently....

What is that clicking at the end of the video? I cant tell if its like metal on metal or just it idling rough lol

Ill be able to give more info once I get home and can listen to the video again with clear speakers.

On a side note.....

Ever had the intake manifold or fuel rail off? I ask cause I had a high idle problem and running like **** and I had like 4 or 5 injector orings that had separated into two pieces and would seal some of the time and not others. Randomly started one day, and thats what ended up fixing it.

97ConvTA

I've never had them off... I believe the clicking when I'm at the back of the car is the exhaust brackets rattling... It is idling extremely rough too though. I'm going to play with it some more when I get off work... Here is how it sounds when it's running right. This is from the other day when I was trying to get it to screw up...

ZFreie

Ill have to give a listen when I get home to give you more to work with, work computer sucks *** lol

If you can get someone to scan the car and get us that code it would help, its a 97, so it should obd2 and any auto place should be able to scan it.

Another thing would be getting fuel pressure when it acts up as well, also could be a bad coil. Just don't want you to throw parts at it.

97ConvTA

Throwing parts at it is the last thing I want to do right now... Going through a divorce so money is very tight. I'll try to get it scanned after work and I'll post what I find out. Thanks for the help

97ConvTA

P0372 is the code that came up

ZFreie

From a quick look on the internet you might have a clogged opti vent line, Id check to see if thoes are clear and check back, easy and free to check.

That code is a missing high res pulse from the opti, which isnt good lol

97ConvTA

I'll check the vent line after work today... That definitely is not the area I want to have problems... Thanks

97ConvTA

Just got home... looks like it's gonna storm so won't be able to mess with it much. At lunch I pulled the top of the vent hose off the cai and blew into it. There was resistance but I was able to get air through. I'll have to check for a vacuum later when it messes up and see if it's there