signs of bad plugs/wires

[mw02]

My car is doing something wierd the past two days.
Yesterday I stepped on the gas and was at WOT when at like 70 mph the car just seemed to cut off kinda. I stepped off the gas and then stepped back on and it was fine.

Then today, I was at 30mph 3300rpms when the rpm's just shot down to around 2000 and i laid off the gas and when I stepped back on it they went back up to 3300ish and it did the same thing.

Now it seems fine but i have an SES light.

HELP - my mechanic is closed for easter!
:(

[Golbez]

mine is sorta doing something similar and I was thinking the same thing, but sort of the opposite signs. My SES light isnt on yet, but on the high way when I'm going around 60 - 80, only when I'm cruising, not when I'm accelerating, my RPMs will jump up about 500 RPMs, and the car will start to lose some power. I was thinking it was probobly a bad spark plug or maybe I needed to get some fuel injector cleaner since it sounds like its missing. The RPMs I dont think should go DOWN if its missing though, although someone correct me if I'm wrong. Any input on my problem would be appreciated too. :D

[Golbez]

It only happens for a few seconds and it'll go back to normal. Sometimes it'll do that every 5 minutes, sometimes it wont do it at all, and its only done that for the last 2 or 3 days.

[homerun413]

Tip to mw02.... Maybe you should quit doing those donuts and burnouts all the time.... Be careful "X"!

[mw02]

Could my problem be a clogged cat or bad o2 sensor?

[8_yur_Rice]

my car is doing the same thing, im installing new plugs and wires tommorow, ill let you know if it does the trick

[Golbez]

Allright, I'm gonna try to install new plugs and wires as well to see if that helps.

[C.Palmer]

pop your hood in the dark with the engine running and look in the general area of your wires. if they're bad, you should see them sparking/glowing a little. Mine were so bad it about lit up my garage... almost had to get the sunglasses! Not to mention she wouldn't even make it to 50mph before crapping out on me. While you're at it, change the plugs if it's been a while or clean them off and check the gap. From my experiences, I'm definitely leaning on bad wires so give it a shot [img]smile.gif[/img]

[9t9fb]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by mw02:
My car is doing something wierd the past two days.
Yesterday I stepped on the gas and was at WOT when at like 70 mph the car just seemed to cut off kinda. I stepped off the gas and then stepped back on and it was fine.

Then today, I was at 30mph 3300rpms when the rpm's just shot down to around 2000 and i laid off the gas and when I stepped back on it they went back up to 3300ish and it did the same thing.

Now it seems fine but i have an SES light.

HELP - my mechanic is closed for easter!
:( <hr></blockquote>

I got the same thing but didn't have SES light.
i found 2 coil terminals corroded, but i still replaced the wires and plugs and it's all good now. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[strange_trp]

mw02, check your throttle pos sensor. disconnect sensor, and connect an ANALOG (moving needle) ohmmeter to the sensor's signal and ground terminals. slowly move the throttle and you should see a steady sweep of the ohmmeter needle. using an analog meter to check the sensor's resistance through its range will let you see problems with the sensor. a digital vom will not let you graphically see the change in resistance as you move the throttle.
while it's disconnected, you may also want to use a *high impedance digital volt-ohm meter* to check for good reference voltage from PCM to the sensor. also check voltage drop of sensor ground wire. should be &lt; 0.1 volt dc.

NOTE: you never connect the analog meter to the circuit with the PCM connected to the sensor. you also never connect an analog meter to the pcm itself. when measuring PCM circuits you want to use high impedance digital meter to avoid damaging pcm circuitry.

[ March 31, 2002: Message edited by: strange_trp ]</p>

[Domestic Violence]

i had the same problem 2 weeks ago. my car started missing every once in a great while and it just steadily got worse. i replaced the plugs and drove off to get new wires. that's when the SES light came on. after the wires went on the problem went away.

[Golbez]

so for all the people with bad plugs and wires, were your RPMs going UP or DOWN when your car started missing?

[8_yur_Rice]

mine didnt move