Car studdering

I just got my car back from getting fixed (rear main seal leaked oil + clutch was replaced) and when I drove it this morning, it started to studder. Actually, it didn't studder until it warmed up a little bit, but i'll test that out again when i drive home. But anyway, it would usually only happen in first or second gear, a little big above 2000 rpm. When I was driving into school, my car was a little below 2000 rpm in second gear, and I could tell it would studder if I would go any faster. When it is going to studder, it feels like it's not running on all cylinders. Sometimes it is fine though. If i accelerate really slowely then it is fine, but it I try to accelerate normally then it studders. Anyway, when I was driving into school when my car was a little below 2000, it would feel like it wasn't running on all cylinders, then for like 2 seconds, it would be normal again, then it would be like it was before, and the rpms would drop a tiny bit, then it would be fine again. I found this really weird. If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know. My brother said it might just be a loose wire but i tried to wiggle around all the wires in the engine compartment and pushed together the clips so I don't know if that would be it or not. When it studders it is extremely violent. On one instance my backpack was sitting on my passanger seat and fell off becasue of the studdering. This would be really hard considering that my seats are slanted backward. If anybody could help please tell me what i could check or do or anything.

I'd start with a check of the ignition system: spark plugs, wires, distributor cap & rotor & coil.

my brother said that it might be a wire somewhere on the engine that is usually taken off when the engine in being worked on and when it is connected it sometimes isn't connected correctly and that would cause the car to studder. I know it isn't any of the ignition system because the car was completely fine before it was worked on, and we just replaced the plugs and wires, and just checked the cap, and rotor. So if the car was fine before it was worked on, what would the person have taken off to do what they had to do (above)? Could it possible be a wire somewhere? I sure hope so. Anyway, I have a question that is related but not going to help me fix it. What actually happens when the car studders? Could it just be that maybe a plug didn't fire? But that wouldn't make the studder violent, just make the car less powerful. Could it be...i forget what it is called, but when the compressed air/fuel mixture explodes before the spark plug fires? I know that can possibly happen but only with high compression ratios, and I put high test gas in my car so it souldn't happen becasue of that. Well, any other suggestions could help. Thanks all.

any help??? Could it just be the fuel filter? Would that make the studdering that violent?? Please help. I hate my car this way.

Violent stuttering is usually a spark going to the wrong cylinder or arriving at the correct cylindeer at the wrong time, meaning an ignition system problem.

if it was an ignition problem though, wouldn't it happen all the time?? Sometimes when i accelerate slowely it doesn't do it. And when it starts studdering, if i just push the clutch in and let it idle for a sec, it is fine until i stop again. IT ususally happens if I stop.

Sometimes you will get a mis all the time, but very often an ignition problem only shows symptoms under load. Have you tried spraying the ignition coil with water to see if it starts arcing & misfiring, it's a very common problem.

what do you mean by arching??

You can hear (& sometimes see) the spark jumping from the coil body to ground. The water makes it easier for the spark get to ground, thus amplifies the effect of any small cracks in the coil housing.

hey well I think we might have found the problem, I (once again) consulted my brother and he said check the distributor, not just the cap. (I think you suggested that earlier, I should have listened). Well, my dad and I went to check my car out, and I asked him if there was a wire that connected to the distributor, and he said yes. We walked over there, and he just barley touched it (he was trying to take the wire off) and it broke. I'm pretty sure that could be a big problem. I mean he didn't even pull that hard, and my brother said that that happens a lot to people. Anyway, thank you very much for helping me. Maybe next time I'll listen to everything you say