88 chevy celebrity wagon

hello everyone,

i own a 88 chevy celebrity wagon, auto trans, V-6 2.8l, a/c.

my problem,

from a total stop, when i accelerate it has poor acceleration (almost a spit and spudder effect). when i bought the car they had already removed the cat. convertor. since owning i have done the fuel filter, spark plugs and wires, according to what people say to fix, i am hoping that someone here can give me some helpful hints on how to go about fixing this problem.

thank you all for your time in helping me figure this out!

again,
THANK YOU!

ok was just checking in to see what you all came up with...i will continue to be patient!

please give me some suggestions!

thank you!

help me please!...lol

By the sounds of it, you have a mess, Have you ever seen the car run properly?
You are going have to start from the basic, car getting proper fuel pressure, timing is correct. Tell me something, when you go to accelerate and step on the gas hard will the car stall? If it does, possible bad vaccum leak somewhere. On the other hand it is a 1988 car, probably not worth fixing.

hello,

yes the car ran proper when i first bought it and lasted maybe 2 months.

the car does not stall when i accelerate hard from a stop.

this car is worth fixing to me cause i need to find a job so i can buy a better beater car.

thank you for helping tableman!

someone in another forum told me to check or replace the o2 censor...what is this?

My daughter bought a 88 chevy celebrity 4door just a few months ago and all was good. Low mileage and looked like brand new because an elderly couple had it garaged and only drove it very little. It ran great for a couple of months but then she got a full tank of bad gas and it sputters and one and a while dies when it has to idle for very long at a stop sign. We have changed the fuel filter and we are fixing to do it again. It acts like what you described. Could you have gotten a tank of bad gasoline? Her car is gradually getting better and I was told I may need change the fuel filter 3 times and I put gas treatment in the tank. She didn't have the money to take it to mechanic and have tank drained.

hello again,

i will look into timing and fuel situations.

if i find nothing wrong with either i will be back to let you know what is going on, and to ask more ?'s

O2 sensor, is your Oxygen sensor, it located in your exhaust pipe that leaves your exhaust manifold, just before the convertor. But since they have already removed your convertor, I don't what effect that would have. Try locating your EGR Valve and see if it is stuck open, a stuck open EGE valve creates a lot of driveability problems.
Let us know how you make out.

hello,

egr valve?...please tell me what that is...im still kinda car stupid!...sorry :)

thanks

EGR valve, stands for "Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve, on every vehicle the are located in different spots. You will need to buy a shop manual for you car.

hello,

thank you tableman. i am currently waitiing for the auto parts to order and recieve a chilton manual for my car. i will look into all the possibilities that have been said so far. if you happen to have anymore ideas please let me know!

thanks

You should check what the first guy said. Check the fuel pressure. These cars need 40 pounds of pressure to run properly. anything less it will run but it will run like its revolting from the goverment. Also check to see were the timing is you may have a stretched timing chain. One more thing torwards the firewall side of the engine there will be a vaccum hose that goes from the engine to the MAP sensor thats a little black rectangular plastic sensor with a hose and 4 wires if the hose is broken, worn, colapsed, or missing replace it it controls timming from the computer. This was a big problem during the 80s. I hope this info helps you.

thank you mikes,

i will look into those items as soon as i find time, will also let you know what i find or dont find.