Hello everyone,
This is my first post so I hope I do everything correctly.
My 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera International 3.8L has been having major issues lately. The car stalls, has a rough idle, and hesitates when I try to accelerate. I replaced the fuel filter too. I have a feeling that it's not a gasoline problem though. The CEL light has been on for awhile. I grounded the plugs through a tutorial online and was able to get code 34 which is MAF sensor. All the symptoms of a faulty MAF sensor our what I'm dealing with. So I cleaned the MAF sensor with MAFS spray and that worked the first time a drove it right after I put it back on. It was literally perfect. After that, however, it still stalls, has a rough idle, and hesitates when I put my foot on the accelerator.
One other thing that I haven't seen as a symptom of a MAFS (Though I'm not entirely sure) is when I'm accelerating, the RPM's get really high, and I have to let off the gas to have it shift.
Earlier in the year, the harmonic balancer had a cracked rubber seal and was making a loud rattle sound. So I replaced that successfully and haven't had a problem with it since.
Today after I tried cleaning the MAF sensor again (which didn't work, still idled rough), I turned on the car to check the tranny fluid level, and it is just over the line. As the car was idling, however, I noticed a hissing noise. I then saw a hose that was cracked and leaving an open vacuum. The hose was connecting to this component that was mounting to the right of the distributor. So I replaced that hose, and another hose that was also connected to it. Figured that would make a major difference. Which it did... but in the wrong direction. Now, the car stalls within seconds of starting. It's amazing that fixing a vacuum leak would make it worse.
Does anyone have some suggestions? What's that component that made the car run worse? Thanks!