just bought 90 corolla....some "stuttering" problems

hey ya'll, I just got a 90 corolla wagon, 118k miles, auto, and i'm having some problems with it....

when idle, the engine will be stuttering, so i thought oh maybe the idle is just set a little low, but when accelerationg, it is still stuttering, and up around 40mph when I try to accelerate quickly the car will start shaking kinda bad -- before I bought it the seller said that it had been sitting in the drive way for about a year, and it hasn't really been driven much at all in the past 4-5 years.....perhaps the fuel pump got clogged or something? (there was basically no gas left when I bought it, so maybe all the crap in the tank got in the filter er something? )

i don't think there's anything else more than that that could help with a solution, but please send me any suggestions on what to do!

edit; also, the battery was dead since it had been sitting for a year, so we had to jump it, but it starts aight now -- could that be the problem?

You might want to check rotor/distributor cap. The four wires going to four cyclinder might be bad and one or more cylinder may not be giving power to engine.
In that case, car will statter.

I am not expert, just my 2 cents on your problem. One thing I suggest is do not drive a lot with this problem.

Good Luck.

well i just got back from changing the oil and adding a fuel cleaning additive, and it seems to be a LITTLE better, but it still stutters when I accelerate more than a "little bit" ... i'll check the dist and wires tomarorw when it's light, thanks for the suggestion

Change the air filter as well. Also check the spark plug wires. I bought a 90 Rolla about 6 months ago off Ebay from a lady the did NO maintence at all. Just gas and GO!!!

I had the stuttering problem as well. The air filter was a solid brick and once I changed it my problem was solved. If you use the gas aditives in your car be sure to be ready to change the fuel filter soon. Because the additive will break up the dirt and send it into your filter. This is good and bad, so change that filter after you run a tank of gas through it. This is on the firewall and is about 20 bucks.

Change the air filter as well. Also check the spark plug wires. I bought a 90 Rolla about 6 months ago off Ebay from a lady the did NO maintence at all. Just gas and GO!!!

I had the stuttering problem as well. The air filter was a solid brick and once I changed it my problem was solved. If you use the gas aditives in your car be sure to be ready to change the fuel filter soon. Because the additive will break up the dirt and send it into your filter. This is good and bad, so change that filter after you run a tank of gas through it. This is on the firewall and is about 20 bucks.

awesome, thanks, i'll check on the air filter in the morning -- is the fuel filter a relatively easy thing to replace? will I need special tools (other than like basic wrenches, screw drivers, etc)?

thanks again

All you will need is some wrenches. This is on the firewall on the drivers side and looks like a soda can with a metal tube going in the top and bottom.