yet another problem

i just recently got my car fixed up and in good shape when yet again i am getting more trouble. i have a very irregular idle(jumps up and down), the acceleration is choppy, significant loss of power, and my exaust makes a helicopter like noise, kinda sputtering in and out. my best guess is an ignition problem, but i am not sure. i will check the plugs and wires soon but have been very busy. just thought id ask for some advice in advance so if the ignition is ok i will have more options. thanks.

injectors? that might be the problem if you are noticing bogging and funky idle. maybe its the knock sensor,

just shooting things out.

do 5th gens have knock sensors?

is there any chance your O2 censor is bad?

idk, i havent changed it since ive had the car so it is a poassibility. is there a way to tell if its bad?

I'll throw in "any sensors" if the engine light is on...if its not, maybe you should try shorting/cheking the engine light codes, since it really could've been something unpredictable. who knows it'll tell you something. If its in the ignition system, most likely distributor or plugs or the coil itself...I've never known anyone w/ faulty spark wires... btw, it sounds like your timing is off or something? anyway, lets hope it has nothing to do w/ the ECU itself...

no way to tell, your not giving enough info....but is it throwing cel's?
no you dont have a knock sensor (unless its an alltrack)
o2 sensor wouldnt make it act like that, i drove around withouth one completely to test out a downpipe

there is no cels. that is about all the info i can give. it just started all the sudden while riving one day. at first it would go back to normal for a second but lateley it just runs crappy constantly. when i come to a stop it comes down really low rpms like its about to die but it doesnt then it will rev up again and vibrate the car badly. the exaust kinda sputters like a helicopter, not a constant flow like usual. i also have a significANt loss of power, its tough to pass on the highway.

well i checked the plugs and after hours of digging pieces of broken and melted spark plug wires out of one of the plug holes i finally got them out and put 2 of my old plugs back on, it ran fine for the day but that night i was driving around, having a good time in my properly working car and my lights start to dim and my car nearly doesnt make it to the gas station, now my battery is dead(blown alternator most likley). this is already the 3rd alternator i have had in this car(hopefully it is still under warranty). but i get a ride home and take my battery to charge it overnight and come back to drive back to my dorm 100 miles away in knoxville since i had to be in class that day i was gonna run up there and charge the battery for the drive back in 2 weeks. anyweays we get to my car and put in the new battery, and the car runs like shit. so we figure the battery is shot(its a crappy economy battery). then we go get a new battery and install it and i start driving and the same problem i 1st mentioned in this post comes back(no power, bad idle, choppy). i thought this problem was over but now it is all the sudden back. it feels like im only running on 2-3 cylinders. i couldnt even pass a semi on the highway going up a hill will the pedal to the floor.

could the spark plugs be ruining my wires? the plugs were all in good shape so i didnt change them and it worked fine for a while. i am about ready to give up on this car cause it wont run for more than a week without another problem.

do this, comp test it, change all 4 $2 spark plugs, pull your cap and check to see if its carbonized, and goto kragen and buy a shitty $20 voltimeter, hook the ground to the inside of your door hinge and the posotive to your cigarett lighter, tell me how many volts your pulling when you start your car

sounds like you have an electrical probelm and its fucking up your ignition

about 4 months ago my battery took a shit (a cell blew so essentially it could only hold 10 volts), so i push started it for 2 days and ran on my alternator, untill my alternator fuze blew while i was on the highway, didnt notvce it, drove probably about 100 feet from when it blew and my car acted like your first post is describing, your ignition system needs 9-10 volts to run properlyan scince my battery only ran on a maximum of 10 olts, my car ran like shit

take that as you may im just saying what happened to my car cuz it sounds (roughly) like yours... and btw the alternator fuse was fucking up about 2 weeks beofre all this and thats what made my battery die (it was loose)

and while your at it chekc yoru timing

my spelling sucks

well, i was driving and i noticed that my center console was hot(around the e-brake) and when i got home i checked under the car and i noticed my cat was glowing hot. wtf is up with that, do you think it has something to do with the problem or what?

is it the original cat?

jesas! what part exactly is "glowing hot"?

the problem is fixed, it was a stopped up fuel filter, bad plug wires, and possibly the cat was stopped up. so i gutted the cat and changed the filter, and wires. also got a new distributor caP and rotor too. runs great, and sounds good too.