Sputtering problem

shannon957g · 01-12-2005, 09:02 PM

Here we go again.

I've searched and read everything under "sputter" but seem to find nothing. :?

Problem:
I feel like this should be stated first: It is an autotragic.

While accelerating from a dead stop or just plain accelerating, more often than not, the car sputters. Kind of like maybe it can't grab a gear, and then all the sudden it eventually does, and the car launches....Got the transmission flushed about 3 months ago, and the service guys didn't mention anything.

I hope this isn't a serious transmission problem. Maybe it's bad plugs, or it could even be a consequence of the car not having a tune-up in the 104k miles in it's life.

Ideas, anyone?

It's either this problem is figured out and I sell it REALLY cheap because we can't pinpoint it, or figure out what it is, possibly fix it and then sell it for a decent price because we know what the problem is...

If you have any other questions just post them here.

**VegasMatt** · 01-12-2005, 09:30 PM

How are your plugs and wires? Maybe you have a bad contact.

NinjaWarGod · 01-12-2005, 11:43 PM

maybe you need to clean your throttle body, it might be filthy. take it off and give that a check. My throttle body was once coated in carbon build up and i had problems with reving and what not.

**seth98esT** · 01-13-2005, 12:23 AM

Kinda sounds like the fuel pump is going out. Does the car act differently when cold or warm? When it sputters what happens when you try to floor it?

**95mitsu03** · 01-13-2005, 02:02 AM

it is your plugs, my car had 85k on it's original plugs. it has happened to me. but after I changed plugs and wires, I never had a problem since

**Fall Out Boy** · 01-13-2005, 06:48 AM

pcv valve

redboy · 01-13-2005, 10:45 AM

ok ok ok a couple of questions, is it a jerk, like the whole car is moving with it, or does it just sound like the engine? does it stop after say3-4k rpms? most of the time its the enigne sputtering u need a tuneup. change out your plugs and wires along with the distributor and rotor and c if that fixes it. if the whole car is jerking u might want to get the tranny cheked out......holla

**Hodgson316** · 01-13-2005, 10:53 AM

does it feel like the car has no power at all and is crawling off the line even though you are floor it, then after a couple of seconds it'll jump into gear... if it's like that then you need a new tranny. mine did the same thing :x I figured it was the tranny when I only had only 1st and 2nd gear :?

BTW making a u-turn into crowded traffic sucks w/ a weak ass tranny :x

**StreetDreams** · 01-13-2005, 08:19 PM

It could be a few things. I would suggest to do the tune up first...plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, pcv...your car needs it anyway. With 104,000 miles, you should probably get an induction service....or at the very least, clean the throttle body and intake track. I'm not saying that it WILL solve the problem, but if the problem persists you can rule those things out.

**pesuazo** · 01-13-2005, 08:53 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(StreetDreams)</div><div class='quotemain'>It could be a few things. Â*I would suggest to do the tune up first...plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter, pcv...your car needs it anyway. Â*With 104,000 miles, you should probably get an induction service....or at the very least, clean the throttle body and intake track. Â*I'm not saying that it WILL solve the problem, but if the problem persists you can rule those things out.</div>

I agree 100% with StreetDreams
104K miles and NEVER had a tune up? :shock:
Have you ever changed the timing belt? :?
I hope you have been changing the oil every 3-4K miles

luxcrusr2000 · 01-13-2005, 09:10 PM

Here's a few things I would check:

Air filter, spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor (if your car has one), and definitely the fuel filter. My 6G sputtered for a while until I found out the fuel filter was most likely the original (car had over 100K at that point :oops: ). Good luck!

shannon957g · 01-13-2005, 10:34 PM

"Air filter, spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor (if your car has one), and definitely the fuel filter. My 6G sputtered for a while until I found out the fuel filter was most likely the original (car had over 100K at that point ). Good luck!"

Air Filter: Check. Brand new. Changed it last week.

Spark Plugs and Wires: That is my question. Is it BAD to want a $100 dollar set of plugs AND wires? Like..the top of the line from Advance, or does it matter?

Distributor Cap and Rotor: Hmmmiiieee....

-------------
Down to the line though:

When I accelerate and the car sputters, the rpm's SLOWLY SLOWLY SLOWLY climb and the car BARELY moves (unless it's going already)...and this part is hard to describe...but all the sudden things start working again, the car has HP, and the rpm's go up.

Timing belt: Apparently this isn't the original engine in the G......and apparently it is. Ahhh! It's sooooo confusing. There's no record on car fax...but when I got the car there were the numbers "12900" painted on the engine (and i have pics if anyone knows mechanics ways of doing things) so maybe the engine had 12900 miles on it...and then whatever?

Oil changes: Regularly of course, if I don't stress enough about other stuff, I definitely stress about oil changes and tire rotations.. lol

Well...whatever happens with the Galant, she'll ALWAYS be missed...I worked my ASS off for this car...but when you think about it, a 1994 Lexus, or a 1994 Integra doesn't sound too bad

Or something else that doesn't continue to have one problem after another

Thanks for your help---EVERYONE!

brandon · 01-14-2005, 07:17 AM

Yep, could be any one of the above things mentioned, or even something else. Gotta love it.

Don't waste money on top of the line wires if you're gonna try that though. Not worth it IMHO if you're keeping the car stock.

shannon957g · 01-14-2005, 02:01 PM

That's the thing though...

She had big plans before everything started to go wrong. :cry:

Shit happens.

Gotta live with it!

luxcrusr2000 · 01-16-2005, 09:06 PM

Don't get the top-of-the-line wires and plugs from Advance...you might as well just throw the money out the window. Regular wires for a 7G should run somewhere around $40. NGK plugs usually run for less than $1 a piece. You mentioned the RPMs climb very slowly and the car has trouble moving...I had the same problem with my old Grand Am. It turned out that one of the spark plug wires was bad.

On the "12900" issue with the engine...unfortunately, Carfax won't show anything regarding engine replacement. The only things it really shows are changes of ownership, possible mileage, salvage title, etc. If changing the plug wires doesn't work, I would suggest having the timing checked. The belt MIGHT be bad.

You also mentioned Advance Auto...do you have an AutoZone nearby? They can check all the parts you need, give a basic trouble code check, and let you know where all the parts are on the car, (ex. They could show you where the cap and rotor are if your car has one. ) Let me know what happens.

shannon957g · 01-17-2005, 09:06 AM

Ooooo.

Hopefully it is the plugs...but whichever way around it, the Galant is going to be up for sale as soon as I get a price quote back from the Ad Service of the local newspaper.

Yeah, everyone (mechanics and otherwise) that has looked at my engine has been like "That's not the original engine, those are numbers written on it to say it's been replaced."

About AZ and AAP---haha yeah, we got both. They're pretty much next to each other along with another "Pro Care Tire" place in between them. Advance couldn't pull the codes or anything, but the weird thing is, I've never seen a check engine light or any other lights besides when the alternator belts kept shredding off (the battery light and the ebrake light came on)...and the gas light (lol).

When we got the harmonic balancer, I thought that it would fix the seeming "electrical" problems with the G. But it appears that everytime I use my heater/air conditioner, that's what causes the battery to drain and drain.... could it be bad plugs too?

Thanks for your help!