pothole = sputtering engine?

[kaden]

I drove into a huge pothole the other day. My car was running fine up until this point. Now, the engine is sputtering while idling. The car still drives fine (with no sputtering) while accelerating, but then while slowing down and eventually idling, the old beast begins to sputter.

Now, I should be happy because hey, at least it's keeping an idle, but this sputtering is irritating and becoming increasingly louder.
Having checked for loose sparkplugs and vacuum hoses, with no findings
I am at a loss.

The car in question is a 1982 civic and the noise sounds similar to an old steam engine train...(chug-a-chug-a.....).
Thank you.

[grimple1]

when you drove into this pothole, did you hear scrapping anywhere? what side was the pothole on? no leaking fluids?

[kaden]

No scraping Grimple1, and i haven't noticed any leaks as of yet.
I drove into the pothole with my right front tire and almost immediately after having done that these problems occured.

It has been about a week since then and the sputtering engine comes and goes... it is most noticeable at around 1900-2500 rpm's (this is an estimate as my vehicle does not have a tach).

The strangest thing is, that when the engine is cold she drives beautifully, but, as soon as she warms up, it's return of the sputtering engine.

That being said, this does not really affect the driving of the car
per-se, it is more of a nuissance than anything.

Hope this helps.