Car feels sluggish

[Jack]

I have been noticing this for a while now...the car just feels sluggish. I used to be able to get a scratch going from 2nd to 3rd and could light the right rear up in 2nd....now it just feels like a snail. The car has close to 92k miles on it now, no smoke, no ses lights, gas mileage has been falling too, it has gone from 30 to 28 or less on the highway.
Plugs and wires are still good, replaced last December.


I suspect the cat may be getting clogged or maybe the EGR getting clogged, but still no ses lights. When it is still cold it runs great, but as soon as the temp gets normal it feels sluggish.

Anyone have any ideas? I get to park the car now and not drive it so much, so I have time to tinker with it. ( company car coming soon.)

I have been thinking about this a little, I had my MAF screen removed for a few months, I think it caused a rich condition with the MAF not reading properly and may have partially clogged the cat. I think I am going to replace the cat with a hiflo and get a 3" or 2.75" I Pipe. When the Cat heats up, it may expand the goodies inside enough to cause some blockage.


Anyone have any ideas? I plan on replacing the fuel filter soon though I doubt that could cause this because it runs strong when the engine is still cool.

[1999V6]

I have the exact same problem. My car has about 86000 km on it. It feels a bit sluggish. I'm going to try to do all the basic stuff. I know my k&n I haven't cleaned once since i bought it, changed the plugs and wires recently and anything else i can think of.

[Go4broke]

hay me too, No SES light no buring smells of any thing odd like that. I just change my plugs and wires got an oil change and put a fuel clean in too but still runs slow. I have 80k on the motor and is a 98. I just got my high flow cat in the mail yesterday so I hope to god that it is the problem. Im getting put on next week some time. And put some engine restore in it. I also checked the coils too.

[Jack]

No one has any ideas? Hard to imagine here.

[sped214]

I've had the same problem for about a year now. I would also like to hear any suggestions. Sorry for the "me too" post, but at least it gave this question a "TTT"...

[Only4U]

well...engines get old. i raced a 97 white camaro just like mine when we were both stock. it had 97k miles, i had about 62k. i killed it; was like racing a 3.4 (sorry guys, no flaming intended). don't know what the problem was with the car.

i think it just happens to be that a lot of people that own cars don't care of them. not that you guys DELIBERATELY do not take care of your car well, but sometimes we don't always know what the best way to take care of a car is. and, a lot of the times, the owners of the vehicle before us didn't take care of the car well and now it is reflecting on how the car performs. especially with used cars, there are just a lot of factors that can be the result of a sluggish engine.

for instance, how often do you check to see how much oil is in your car? also, how often do you check to see if your car is using oil? how often do you watch your engine run at idle and listen to it for anything perculiar or look for anything that seems strange? how often do you listen for knock while driving down the road instead of having the music up loud? would you know what knock sounded like if you had it?

the problems ya'll are saying have very broad boundaries and it's really not a simple thing to answer your questions. i can't really give you a list of things, but i can tell you that plugs, wires, filters, changing oil, and pcv valve change are NOT what keep a car completely maintained. there are plenty more things that can go wrong with a car and plenty more things the make the car run and probably a lot of these things will eventually go wrong with the car, the only way to really prevent this is to watch your engine and look for any funny signs.

also, if you have a problem with your car, especially internally, your SES light will not necessarily come on. don't ever rely on any lights in the instrument cluster to tell you when something is wrong with your car. for instance, valve tick. if you car gets valve tick and the lifters aren't moving properly, there is a loss of power but you will never see an SES because of the tick. so don't just wait impatiently for an SES light to come on when you think you have a problem. if you think you have a problem, then you probably do.

one other thing: all the fbody owners i have ever personally known have all had the same problem: radiator rust. if you open your radiator cap and there is a lot of rust buildup, this is bad for the radiator and the engine. the rust eats through both the engine and the radiator. flush your radiator or get if flushed, because this isn't good for the engine--just to let you guys know.

[ September 14, 2002: Message edited by: Only4U ]</p>

[Jack]

All very true, I know in my case all routine things have been done to my car. it was only after the !MAF Screen that I noticed the car seemed sluggish, yes I did put the MAF screen back in, but after a few months. I have no smoke, no ticking, no unusual noises, no ses, no noticeable problems. This is what lead me to think the CAT may have been damaged w/o the MAF screen. I have heard that on pre 98 models removing the MAF screen can lead to a rich condition. I am about to check my PCV calve, that may also have something to do with it. I may clean the EGR tomorrow. I'll let the rest of you who have this same dilemna know what i find.

I did flush the radiator and engine a few months ago. I have been working on my own cars since I was 15, worked for a mechanic for years and grew up in a drag racing family, I am no stranger to cars, but the newer ones aren't quite the same as the SBC's I grew up playng with. I was hoping someone else had noticed the same thing and found out what the problem was. I would rather avoid the long drawn out process of diagnosing a problem that isn't apparent.

[Skullcamaro]

Fuel injectors, pumps, regulators, etc. as well as the EGR and PCV valve are usually the main cause. You could try various cleaners that may help clear out some of the buildup and sludge that has accumulated with age. Also one side note, their aren't that many differences between the 3.4 and 3.8L engines in terms of overall power. I know their was no flame intended but the engine isn't the only thing that makes the car, other components count and as you said as an example of the radiator, the various parts can add or decrease the overall performance or strengths of the car. Basically each of the two engines have their benefits and disadvantages. Such as the 1993 model year has various things that are different from the other model years(PCM, Transmission, etc.