Hesitation with acceleration, need help bad!

[benoh with camaro]

My car seems to hesitate during acceleration now. I don't know if this might have caused it but it started happening as soon as I got my oil changed at wallmart. so from what i read from searching the forum, a bad tps sensor could cause this or bad spark plug wires and plugs. also, from cold starts, the car seems to hesitate a lot and if it warms up a little after a little driving around, it doesn't seem to hesitate during acceleration as much as it did before.

my question is, would putting the wrong kind of engine oil cause my car to hesitate during acceleration? also, if it were the sprak plugs / wires or the tps sensor, wouldn't i get a check engine light? what might the problem be?

i have a 99 RS / 3.8L if that will help. Thanks in advance

[916Topherv6]

if u had a spark plug out it would be a lot worse, i had two go out and it felt like my car was dead, no acceleration it hesitated a lot, as for the cold start, u might wanna let ur car warm up before u drive it and especially before u get on it a lot. dunno about a tps sensor, hope i helped a lil

[benoh with camaro]

more to add on the problem, my idle isnt that great either. it sounds normal and it sort of drops for about half a second and goes back to being normal. also, the car seems to be more hesitant about acceleration during low gears. first gear seems to be the most problematic. any suggestions on what the problem can be?

[Guest]

Is the exhaust louder, raspier, or smoking at all?

[mike h]

press the gas harder ;)

[Guest]

lol. well what im getting at is maybe they messed the cat up when they jacked it up that can give some hesitation and weird problems it happend to a friend.

[Die Ford V8]

take $15 and change your sparkplugs. then visibly check your wires and make sure they are not burnt.

if your cat was plugged your car wouldnt go over a certain rpm. it would be like good decent acceleration then wham the tach hit a brick wall.

as for your idle, one bad plug like said earlier would do it. stick to the basics and fix the things that would add up $$$ wise to what it would cost to have it checked out my a mechanic. $60 minimum. if you fix it with plugs or wires(which i think is the problem) then you are only $30-$35 in the hole for stock replacement stuff. if it doesnt fix the problem then just think of it as two less things to worry about and new engine parts on your car.

another quick fix/check is the fuel filter. your car may not be pumping enough when you first start your car and as soon as you start it the fuel starts to flow a little better. $10

oil wouldnt have anything to do with it unless its water.

go to walmart and have them rechange the oil(free) (they did it for me twice) and give them the extra $2 to put in CASTROL> THE BEST OIL AND THE BEST OIL FOR THE PRICE AND DONT ARGUE WITH ME!!!!

anyways,

so your in the hole $45 total and its still not the problem. take it to autozone the first time you go to get your parts and scan your car. see if the o2 sensors are reading bad and that could definitely be the culprit. also visibly check to see if they bumped and disconnected something(like a plug) and make sure everything is like it should visibly. be sure to obviously check your airfilter and other stuff. i would help more but ive got to go,

good luck,

[ChevyGuy1022]

I had a somewhat similar problem with my 91 3.1. It would sputter and rev at idle and the first gear acceleration would be horrendous, sometimes misfiring and sounding like an elf just kicked the underside of the hood. I changed a slew of parts: o2 sensor, EGR valve, fuel pump, intake gaskets, TPS, IAC, vacuum hoses and the MAP sensor. Nothing fixed it. Hope that at least narrows it down a little.

[benoh with camaro]

problem is solved. it was the ignition wires. thanks for all your inputs. oh, and somehow, the pennzoil oil they put @ wallmart made my car idle weird. maybe it was just all in my mind, but i went with the castrol and it seems fine now.

[Die Ford V8]

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