91 SE Acting Up

Jay eS Iye · 09-17-2003, 09:15 PM

my girlfriend owns a 91 SE 3.1L (auto tranny). lately its been running pretty rough. when you are at a stop, the RPMs will falter and the oil pressure guage is moving up and down. when you accelerate it'll bog down and hiccup and sometime's she'll have to release the gas and then press it down again harder to help it run smooth. i also notice a somewhat light ticking/clicking coming from the front of the engine? any ideas on all this? i just got her some new spark plugs and we added some STP FI Cleaner, and i'm probably gonna also change out her fuel filter. anything else? the oil and air filter were both changed today.

also, how hard is it to change the plugs and fuel filter on one of these? i'm used to having more room to work with, so is there anything i need to know or do to change these out? thanks in advance

civickiller · 09-18-2003, 01:59 AM

rear plugs are gonna be hard but not too hard. fuel filter should be easy.

i got my rear plugs out in like 10 minutes, change my fuel filter in like 5, and changed the front plugs in like 5 and rear in aobut 10. so took me aobut 20 min to complete all those stuff fuel filter and plugs

crxlvr · 09-18-2003, 10:18 AM

have your tranny looked at aswell, the grad prix were notorious for having bad trannies leaving symptoms of what you described.

Jay eS Iye · 09-21-2003, 11:35 AM

how do you replace the rear spark plugs?

deRost · 09-26-2003, 10:03 AM

Something else to check is your O2 sensor. I had similar symptoms on my 91, and the diag light indicated it was running lean. I replaced the plugs, wires, fuel filter, cleaned the injectors, etc. The problem was finally resolved by doing the O2 sensor.

Took 10 mins to do. Just disconnect the front engine mounts, use a bar to lever the engine forward, and hold it there with a block of wood behind the alternator or with straps. The O2 is on the exhaust manifold just before the merge. Disconnect the plug, unscrew it (normal thread), replace with new O2, and reverse steps.

Jay eS Iye · 09-28-2003, 01:19 PM

is disconnecting the front two mounts and holding it a wood block how you get to the rear spark plugs too? and when i tried that it seemed like it took a bit of force, and i was afraid to break something, how much do i need to pull?

The Burning Rom · 09-28-2003, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay eS Iye

is disconnecting the front two mounts and holding it a wood block how you get to the rear spark plugs too? and when i tried that it seemed like it took a bit of force, and i was afraid to break something, how much do i need to pull?

You have to pull as much as it takes to get the engine forward. There's only so far ahead you can pull it though...you'll know when you hit that point. I don't use a block of wood, as I don't like the idea of crippling my arm. I use the engine "dogbone" bolts and mounts to hold the engine forward. I place a short box-end wrench between the two bolts to hold it forward. It's a LOT more safe than a block of wood.

If you have problems rotating the engine forward, you can park it on a slight incline for some assistance from gravity

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