4 and no more

So i take my 2002 5speed stange to school every day, enjoying the "get up and go" of a manual. than, one morning, that "get up and go" seems to be absent, and has been absent sense. i don't know why (duh, y else would i be here? ;-) ) but my engine (v6 3.8L) is taking longer to get from 0-60 (and 100, for that matter. *grins*)

the only differance i've noticed was when i went to burn out. i reved my engine, and the second the needle hit 4rpm, the car started shacking and the RPM's would not go any higher, as if i was red lineing it.

now this happened when i was stopped. so while costing down hill (prob do'n 50-60mph) i put the car in 1st (holding down the clutch) and reved the engine, it went up to 5rmp and further fine (i stopped, cause 5.5rpm is red lineing it), put it back in 4th, and drove home.

strange huh?

any ideas?

Sounds like you are a pretty severe driver. I would assume that there is a rev limitter that is only allowing 4,000 rpm if there is no vehicle speed or the car is in nuetral. When you hit the rev limit you will notice a bouncing of the needle and feel it in the car. It is very obvious when I hit redline in my camaro that there is a rev limitter. I never hit it by just revving the engine though, only when the tires break loose in first gear on hard acceleration.

i wouldn't call myself severe driver, maybe just an idiot. ;-P i live in the sticks, and so racing on the back roads is a pass time.

so just a limit, nothing wrong with the car? even though i've noticed the decline in the "get up and go"?

That lack of "get up and go" could be a lot of things, but I agree with abaird about the rev limiter.

A few ideas: Check to see if your car is leaking any fluids, and trace to what part is causing the problem. Check your filters and hoses. Make sure everything is still connected. If everything checks out it could still be something simple, just gotta dig deeper. Maybe spark plug wires or the plugs themselves? Just do a general maintenance check and see if you find anything odd/wrong.

Would help if you better described the problem better. Is the only difference a lack of get up and go? Does it idle rough/different. Any odd noises? etc

yeah, sorry about not describing it better. you see, that's the only two problems i've noted, and they both seemed to happen at the same time. the engine sounds the same, (with the slight possibility that the rumble is not as deep as before), nothing else has changed. handles the same, sounds the same, feels the same.

well i'm gonna give it a good maintenance check, replace anything that looks warn, and we'll see how it iz after wards.

thanks.