backfire,rough idle,no power...Help!

[camase]

Hello everyone!
I have a 1996 Elantra,1.8 L / manual transm. and I can't figure what is wrong.Here are the simptoms:when I start the car,the idle goes up and down,I can hear backfires,andthe car doesn't have power.I replaced the upstream oxygen sensor but there is no difference.I also replaced the spark plugs and the sparkplugs wires.I don't really understand what is wrong.I tried to read the codes with a generic scanner but there are no codes.
I would really appreciate any help.
Thanks!

[so4lr6]

Originally Posted by camase

Hello everyone!
I have a 1996 Elantra,1.8 L / manual transm. and I can't figure what is wrong.Here are the simptoms:when I start the car,the idle goes up and down,I can hear backfires,andthe car doesn't have power.I replaced the upstream oxygen sensor but there is no difference.I also replaced the spark plugs and the sparkplugs wires.I don't really understand what is wrong.I tried to read the codes with a generic scanner but there are no codes.
I would really appreciate any help.
Thanks!

A CEL code would really help. However, my 2001 elantra had similar problems.....the lack of horsepower and backfiring was caused by the downstream catalytic converter, which went bad, broke apart inside and the parts started to lodge in the exhaust system (car couldn't exhale, so no power as well as causing some backfiring). As for the erratic idle, I had a separate problem with the wires leading to the idle speed control unit...one of the wires had broken, causing erratic idle and stalling....however, in your case it doesn't seem to stall...alll the symptoms may be caused by a blocked exhaust... hope it helps

[nippjas]

Another thing to check, would be your ignition. Not sure the 96 is a complete elec ignit or not, but on my 04 I had a coilpack go bad which resulted in hesistation, irratic idle, misfiring, and an occasional backfire when you backed off the throttle.

However in my case I did eventually get an error code. So this may help or not.

Jason