Sluggish / hesitant when accelerated.

[jms92]

My son has a 1994 Cutlass, V6, auto with about 95,000 miles. Car has worked great but now it is sluggish or hesitant when you hit the gas. Car starts ok and idles ok. If its idling and you rev the engine it either appears staved for gas or air. If your driving the car and punch the accelerator it just appears bogged down. We changed the fuel filter last night and the air filter does not look dirty. We get NO check engine light.

I need some help here fast. We have the dilemma that we don’t want to soak a lot of money in a car this age, but he leaving for Fort Campbell in a week and wants to take a car. Car has been sitting for about 5 months when he was in basic training. I put a can of sea form in the gas tank and we are going to see what happens, but I know that won’t fix it.

Any help will be appreciated…

[jdl]

I'd check for codes even if there was no lite. I'd also check fuel pressure. You might try some fresh gas.

You might check the voltage signal from the TPS, see if the voltage reading moves up and down smoothly, as you move the throttle.

I did see a tSB for 3100 engine. Cold engine/ start/ stall or tip/in hesitation. The cure is a reflash calibration. The new calibration adds fuel to the throttle position sensor enrichment algorithm. Temp below 176 degrees.

A partially clogged exhaust could cause the vehicle to bog-down when you open the throttle. I'd suspect the fuel issue, first.