Spit, sputter, cough, gasp.

First major problem I've ever had with this car. Love it to pieces but this is really angering me.

Check engine light's been on for a while. Never been a problem, always ran well, mechanics just said "well, if it's not hurting it...". Whatever, I digress. Now, if it's humid or rainy the day of starting it or the day before, it'll start fine (usually) but once it wants to drop the idle from 1000RPM to about 550-600, it'll cough, spit, sputter and generally try to stall itself. CEL also flashes during this time.

Same thing happened one night driving from Red Deer, Alberta, to Calgary, Alberta. Cruising along at about 100kph when it does the same thing. Raining like a Bangladeshi monsoon. Need gas so I pull into the gas bar. Starts... barely. Take it onto the highway and it's all that I can do to get it to 90kph. However, once you leave your lead foot on the gas and take it upto 120kph, it stops flashing the light and drives okay. Been told it could be anything from an O2 sensor to a new catalytic. Yeah, like THAT's good news. Anybody have the same problem around here?

First thing you need to do is go out and chew your mechanic's arse out. You never just ignore a SES light cuz they can damage your engine or transmission. The least thing he should of done was scanned it for the codes!!!

Now a flashing check engine light means you have a misfire that could cause a meltdown of your cat converter!! If you let the problem go too long it mets your converter and you will feel like you have no power when stepping on the gas. A bad converter is just the a band-aid repair you need to find out what caused the converter to go bad, if not then you will be replacing the converter again.

If you want to try something I suggest changing the plugs and wires.

Okay, if the plugs and wires are changed and the same problem happens, what is the next thing that I should try?

My stepdad-to-be tried something. He put a wad of paper towel near the exhaust when it started doing that. Showed that it was SUCKING in air through the tail pipe. It didn't suck the wad of paper towel out of his hand but it did flutter and want to get closer to the pipe...Would that mean that it's an exhaust valve?

I really love this car. First real problem that I've had with it in 132,000 miles/218000km. Only happened once I let it sit for three months. :(
Thanks for helping me out so soon.

Hi there! If the car was sitting for a while and then the problem happened, try running a better grade gas. It will take a tank full to rid the problem. DOUBLE CHECK the gas cap. If it is not sealing properly, it will cause an engine error light to come on.

Good luck

I've ran more than a few tanks through it since this problem started. It's been driven more than 8000 miles (Ontario to Alberta to Ontario) and the problem is still there. I've got a tank of 93 octane in it along with an emission system cleaner but it still sometimes will do the same thing. I should note that it is sitting again but I run it usually everyday for a while just to keep things moving properly.

O2 Censors are designed to work only for about 50k miles, sometimes they work longer. If your car has more than 50k miles, I would replace it. One thing I would suggest, TAKE IT IN AND GET THE ENGIN SERVICED! I know that's expencive, but I think that it would do a great deal to help your car. If nothing else, have the fuel injectors cleaned professionaly. Runing the fuel injector cleaner through your system that you put into your gas tank helps some, but not enough to clear all the crap that needs to be cleared for the engin to run at it's peak preformance :)

One other thing, you may have a dying fuel injector.

I'm no expert, but I realy think that one of those things would help you at least some.

Have you tried changing the fuel filter, it could be partly clod. If it total stopped up it could cause the fuel pump to fail(big bucks). Maybe check the fuel presure check to see if the pump is failing. Good Luck. :2cents: