help...SES light on

[mcG]

my car has been riding pretty bad lately. i haven't changed anything, and it's not the gas. the engine has seemed to be lacking some power, and when i accelerate hard it seems to stumble and not pick up right away. has been going on for a few weeks now. the other day, i was driving (90+ degrees, a/c on) and it just shut off on me while i was doing 40mph down a highway (luckily there was no one else around), it started back up after a couple tries and was fine. Finally last night, i was coming home from work, the car seemed alright, still straining and i got the service engine soon light. any suggestions? i plan on getting a full tune up soon, would that help fix the problem? thanks

[ August 15, 2002: Message edited by: mcG ]</p>

[99BlueSuperSix]

Sounds like the throttle position sensor...

[marco]

I had a similar problem...that it took me a while to figure out. My car would start fine...normal acceleration was fine...but when I gave it a little extra throttle...my car would just bog and stutter and perform really bad. I changed the plugs and wires and nothing still the same thing. I changed the coils and nothing..still the same. I found out that one of the wires would fall and hang to close to the exhaust tubes coming out closest to the engine. This caused the wire to arch and current to be lost. I took off the wires and exchanged them under warranty and put them in except this time i made sure the wire was not going to hang. Voila!! Problem solved.

Your problem could be completely different..but its something maybe worth looking at. Because I know my problem felt like a fuel problem at times but it wasnt. I had even replaced the fuel filter to make sure..but it was still doing it. I explained the problem to the parts manager at the store and he assured me it was going to be the fuel filter. WRONG!

Edit: Oh yeah and I forgot to add. My car also had the SES light on. I had taken it to have the diagnostic check on the computer and some emissions thing had been triggered by I guess the misfire or something. But it was nothing.

[ August 16, 2002: Message edited by: marco ]</p>

[mcG]

marco...do u think you can tell me a little more about how i can check the wires? or should i just have somebody check them at autozone or wherever?
thanks for the info

[marco]

And you are positive its not your fuel filter?? Make sure...if its been a while since you changed it...i suggest you do it..it needs it anyway.

To check your wires just let your car cool off so you wont burn your hand. Follow each wire from the coil all the way down to the plug and make sure they arent too tangled together...or that they are not to close to the exhaust components. that sometimes makes them lose the silicone protection and causes spark loss. When the wires are tangled together too much that causes them to 'crossfire' and makes the car stutter. When was the last time you did a tune up? You might consider just doing the tune up and see if it takes care of the problem. Just go to autozone and get the wires with warranty incase its something you dont know about. cuz i know when i changed mine the new ones got messed up when they touched the exhaust so i just exchanged them.

[vtv6firebird]

Take your car to Autozone and get them to scan your ODBII codes. Do NOT let them talk you into buying anything just yet. Come back here and post your codes and we will try to help you on the best way to solve your problem. But instead of guessing just let the codes get to the heart of the problem.

[blackfire99]

I had the same problem, under heavy acceleration, it would spit and sputter...changed plugs, fuel filter, egr valve, and oil...it was due for an oil change anyway...problem solved. Sounds like a lot, it really isn't! Fuel filter was only $5, egr was onls$2-3 dollars and plugs about $20. It just needed a tune up I guess...and the ses light went away!!

[Dojo2000]

Definelty sounds like arcing wires.

http://www.camarov6.com/ubb/ultimate...&f=16&t=000690
Read near the bottom on how I found the problem.