My car Stutters, hesitates, has a bad Idle,wont boost, or is just acting funny!

[eclipse98gst]

Is your car stuttering or sputtering when accelerating. Does it Idle very rough or die when you let off the gas? Here are fixes to some very common problems that people usually ignore.

Car Stutters and Hesitates during acceleration

• Replace spark plugs: don’t buy the expensive platinum plugs, they are unnecessary and actually make our cars run worse most of the time. Buy NGK BPR7ES plugs gapped at .028. You can buy these at most any auto parts store.

• Check plug wires: If the sparkplugs don’t fix your problem you should look at your plug wires. Take each one off and inspect it for any melt marks or holes. If you see any flaws in any of the wires you should replace them. Depending on how modified your vehicle is you should decide whether to go with stock or aftermarket plug wires.

• Check the MAF sensor: Make sure that your MAF sensor is plugged in, most people will install a cold air intake and simply forget to plug the MAF back in. Also make sure that all of the honey combs are still in your MAF sensor, you can check this by simply looking inside of your MAF.

Car will no longer boost like normal

• Once again check spark plugs, wires, and MAF sensor.

• Check for boost leaks: This is usually caused by a massive boost leak. When this happens you will be trying to accelerate and your car will feel like it falls on its face when it passes from vacume into boost. Make sure you check every hose clamp for tightness. You can check for boost leaks by creating a Leak down tester (search for more info).

• Check for vacume leaks: Exactly as it says, check for vacume leaks. Look through the motor and make sure you don’t have any loose or disconnected vacume hose. Make sure to double check all vacume hoses leading to the the IC piping or the Intake Manifold.

Car Idles very high or very low and sometimes dies when I let off the gas

• Adjust the BICS (Base Idle Control Screw) A.K.A. BIS or BISS: This is on the throttle body and is very easy to see. Make sure that when you adjust this by turning it your are only doing ¼ turns at a time while keeping track of how many times and in what direction you turn it so you can always put it back to its original position. Use this to fix the idle of your vehicle.

• Check the BOV and make sure it is recirculated: If your car dies when you let off of the gas it is usually caused by not recirculating your Blow Off Valve. Make sure you purchase a recirculation kit when you buy a BOV. The only times you should not recirculate your BOV is if you have a GM MAF with a MAF Translator or if you are extremely good at tuning for rich fuel conditions at idle. If none of those apply to you then there is really no reason to not recirculate your BOV.

• Check the O2 sensor: This is a very common problem that can cause a bad idle as well as poor running performance. You will usually get a CEL for this when it goes bad. One way to tell if it is bad is simply by smelling your exhaust, if your exhaust smells like there is a lot of unburnt fuel in it than that means your car is running rich which is usually caused by a bad O2 sensor.

These are just some common solutions to some very common problems. If these solutions do not solve your problems then feel free to post.

If there is anything that I missed feel free to add to this.

Sasan
A.K.A. eclipse98gst

[david-b]

This is good reference for nOObs. I would like to make a recommendation though. You start off spelling "idle", then switch to "idol".

[eclipse98gst]

Originally Posted by david-b

This is good reference for nOObs. I would like to make a recommendation though. You start off spelling "idle", then switch to "idol".

Good catch, spell check was not that reliable.

[steviek]

sticky it I don't know how many times things like this have been asked

[Blackcrow64]

I love this thread right now...

Stickied...

[97eclipseturbo]

the boost leak sounds like my problem except when it falls on its face it also makes a loud squealing sound, also at the same time the problem started my cel came on. its a 97 gst stock motor/turbo with a greddy piping kit/intercooler/bov

[churrbo98]

anyone have an idea on why i wouldnt have spark on 2nd or 3rd cylinder? replaced plugs wired coils and icm and compression checks ok!

[SilvrEclipse]

Originally Posted by 97eclipseturbo

the boost leak sounds like my problem except when it falls on its face it also makes a loud squealing sound, also at the same time the problem started my cel came on. its a 97 gst stock motor/turbo with a greddy piping kit/intercooler/bov

Check the CEL and see what codes you get.

[2.3L_turbo]

i just look my honey comb out of my MAF is that going to affect anything it only had the bottom one left in it so i took that 1 out. i can put it back in but is that goin to change or wreak anything?

[97eclipseturbo]

Check the CEL and see what codes you get.

i had the code read and it is maufacturer controlled fuel and air management, or something close to that, this guy was a real piece of work. anyway, i did a little more research and found something that said that my problem is likely a boost leak on the exhaust side of the turbo.... A.does that even constitute a boost leak? B. what can I do to diagnose/solve the problem? thanks in advance.