1995 Cutlass Ciera gas, HP and brakes

[Xalis]

m driving a 1995 oldsmobile cutlass ciera with a 3.1 l V6. It gets bad gas mileage and has barely any horse power. It has quite a few problems and im wondering if anyone can offer some solutions.

1. The idle rises and lowers (like 600 rpm to 1000 rpm) which im thinking is a vacuum leak.

2. It hesitates and stalls out sometimes if you start the car and have the wheel turned as if you were backing out or cutting a corner.

3. It gets bad gas mileage and not much horse power. I could floor it and it doesnt jerk you back and you cant feel the power. Im not talking extreme power but it should have enough hp and torque to take off decently if I floor it lol.

4. Check engine light is on. I replaced the EGR valve because a scan tool said it was bad. It came back on and I never did anything about it. I imagine the EGR is bad again but somthing is making it go bad. Im guessing either the computer or O2 Sensor or the Computer. What else controls the fuel mixture?
I also replaced the pcv valve recently.

5. Basic engine noise, nothing horrible, it has 150,000 miles on it so thats to be expected

So please if you have any advice please lemme know or direct me to a person or forum who could help. The gas mileage and horse power is killing me


Now on to the brakes.

I replaced the calipers, pads, rotors plenty of times. Well it seems like the rotors keep warping every 3 months and im going through brakes and rotors like crazy. This time I bought higher grade rotors to see if that will help and I plan on adjusting the back brakes in about another month (every 3 months). I talked to a guy that said the brakes drag on these cars. Is that true or is somthing wrong that is making me go through brakes so quick?

[GTP Dad]

Your gas mileage problem is probably due to a bad O2 sensor. Replace it. Also have the catalytic convertor checked. Due to the car running rich the cat has probably gone bad. With 150K it is probably due to be replaced anyway. This should help your power problem. Remove and clean the idle air control valve and throttle body. Also clean the passageways to the EGR valve. This should help the stalling problem. The PCV change out is a good idea but don't wait, cheap replacement. Repairing the vacuum leak will help the surging idle.
Have the computer scanned first to see if there are any additional problems.

As for the brakes this is a common problem on these vehicles. Good premium rotors and pads should eliminate the warping problem but if you heat the brakes and hit a puddle of water the rotor can still warp very easily. As for the brakes dragging that is bogus. If properly installed there should be a very slight gap between the rotor and the pad otherwise the pads would get too hot to stop the car. Good Luck and post again when you have completed the repairs.

[trappie]

Good advice from GTP Dad, but I would also change the coil packs. I had similar problems a while back (other than surging idle and totally stalling out) and did everything GTP suggested and even changed the plugs and plug wires, and while there was some improvement still had the hesitation and lack of power.

To a lesser extent I had been having the hesitation/lack of power problems for years and each time I took it in for service they would do something and charge me a couple hundred bucks and it would run a little better very a short period of time. This time they told me I had a bad coil pack. After they changed the coil pack it was like having a new vehicle, at least for 2 weeks until another one failed.

Bottom line is failing coil packs can cost you a good deal of cash because often the problem is mis-diagnosed. If you are doing the work yourself I would defintely replace the coil packs.

[Xalis]

Well I just had a new exhaust around 6 months to a year ago. Im sure they would have checked the cat then. Ill go ahead with the O2 sensor. Where is the idle air control valve and how should I remove that and the throttle body. I just bought a new pcv valve so that should be ok. As for the EGR how do you clean the passage ways? Do you mean like way inside the hose deal that connects to the egr or just the area where all the carbon is when you take off the egr? Im not sure how Id be able to tell if the computer is bad. I scanned it myself and it was always giving me a code for the egr valve. Ill try to clean this stuff up the best I can. Im not a car pro but had a automech classes in highschool, plus My uncle could probably help me and if not ill buy a book . Ill let you guys know what happens. Thanks a ton

Oh yeah, is there anyway to test coil packs. I dont really have the money to just replace a bunch of stuff at the moment hehehe.

[GTP Dad]

You can check coil packs but they are cheap enough to just replace them. Check for a set on e-bay. The IAC is located on the throttle body. It looks like and electric motor and has a wire connected to it. It unbolts with a couple of torx screws. As for the throttle body should be simple enough to unbolt it and remove it from the car. You will need to remove the connection to the throttle position sensor and the throttle cable. There may be a couple of vacuum hoses too. Clean it with throttle body cleaner and replace in reverse order.

The egr valve is bolted to the phlenum or at least next to it. After you remove it you should see some openings leading into the engine. You can clean these by using a gun brush or similar small brush that will let you into the passageway. Simply spray the openings with throttle body cleaner and clean them out. This is probably why the egr valve code keeps coming up on the computer. If you are really feeling mechanically inclined, remove the phlenum from the top of the engine and clean everything out by spraying it. This will allow better access to the EGR passageways and will help you to better clean them out. You can also clean the carbon out of the phlenum and this will help the car breathe better. You can do all this with a couple of hand tools. A Chiltons manual would be a great addition to your library and help you to fix many of these issues. Good Luck!

[Xalis]

I cleaned the EGR pretty good. Didnt spray anything inside but sprayed a shop towl with carb cleaner and cleaned out as much carbon as I could. Its running better. Didnt get to change out the O2 sensor, its hard to get at, im gonna try again tomorrow. Do I have to drain the coolant to clean the throttle body? Because the book I got said their are coolant hoses on it. If thats the case im not gonna do it atleast not now. Hopefully I can get the O2 sensor swapped out and the oil changed tomorrow. Thank god the egr didnt go bad again, they are 170 bucks for the car. If you could do a little step by step removal for the throttle body it would be helpful, if not its cool.

[GTP Dad]

The throttle body is easy to remove. Disconnect the wires to the throttle position sensor and the IAC motor. Remove the vacuum lines, if any and then unbolt the throttle body from the front of the phlenum. There should be four bolts. Unhook the throttle cables and you should have the TB in your hand. Simply spray the throat of the body with throttle body cleaner and remove all the deposits. I recommend you take the IAC motor off before cleaning so you can clean that passageway too. Just don't move the pintel on the IAC while it is out since you will have problems if you do. To replace do everything in reverse order. You will need to connect the throttle cables before reinstalling the throttle body. As for the coolant question, on this particular engine you do not have to drain the coolant to remove the throttle body. Good Luck!!!

[Xalis]

Thanks a bunch man. Ill get to doing that today

[GTP Dad]

Let me know what happens once you get it done!

[Xalis]

Well I put in the O2 sensor, it seems to be using less gas and running slightly better. Got the old one stuck in the special socket I bought lol. I didnt get around to cleaning the throttle body, thats for another time. I just need to do that, tranny service and need to get the car an alignment. The dang thing still doesnt have great horse power, but its an older car so what can I expect lol.

[GTP Dad]

Try putting a can of Restore in the engine oil when you change the oil next time. It will help to restore the compression and help the horsepower. I would still check out the cat. If you put too much fuel in it from the O2 sensor going bad you could have melted it down and the pieces could be blocking the exhaust causing severly reduced power. If your muffler shop is like most they probably had tunnel vision and only replaced the muffler and tailpipe. You can check this by disconnecting the pipe in front of the cat to see if the performance picks up. If it does a new cat will be in your future.
Good Luck Man! Keep us advised on your progress.

[Xalis]

How much would a shop charge to check a cat or do you think I could do it myself without much trouble? Ill add Restore next time I change the oil. I added a cleaner this time. Im also pretty sure my lifters are tapping and was wondering how hard it is to tighten them down. If I have to tear pretty good into the engine I probably wont do it. I hope hand tightening the O2 sensor was ok, it was pretty tight, I couldnt get the old sensor out of the tool I bought lol, its jammed in there. Im gonna try to cut it out with my dremel tomorrow. Future plans for the car are cleaning the throttle body, checking the cat, tranny service, front end alignment, adjusting the back brakes again and a possible tightening of the lifters. It could probably use a valve job but thats beyond me hehehe.

PS If lifters tapping is somthing that happens go ahead and correct me, im not an expert hehehe.

[GTP Dad]

You can check the cat by removing the pipe directly behind it and looking into the end. If you see chunks of material the cat is bad. You can also check it by tapping it with a rubber hammer. If you hear rattling inside the cat is bad. Don't waste your money on a shop.

The lifters are not adjustable so don't even bother. You should be able to quiet them down if you go with a little heavier weight oil like a 10w40 the Restore may help too. If you put a cleaner in the engine don't leave it too long as it can do more damage than good if it thins the oil or blocks the oil filter.

Keep me posted and I will help you all I can.

[Xalis]

damn I wished I would have known that, how soon do I have to change the oil again since I put cleaner in it? I put lucas oil stabilizer in it too to help the oil from breakin down. The product I put in said it would clean the valves and stuff, thats why I added it. Hopefully It wont ruin my engine

[GTP Dad]

Tell me what you used so I can give you an educated estimate on when you should change the oil. All oil has detergents in it and will clean the engine as it lubricates. I really don't think that what you put in will do any significant damage as long as you don't leave it in too long.

Amsoil has a cleaner to prep the engine for change over to synthetic that you put in before you change the oil and run for a period of time but you can't drive the car while it is in. Like I said let me know what you used.