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2K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Stage36 
G
#1 ·
A little while back my car started sputtering. I thought maybe the valves were a little dirty. I ran 3 cans of injector cleaner through it and nothing worked. Then my check engine light decided it wanted to come on from time to time. Shop said it was oxygen sensors so I had them replaced (they said that it would probably fix the stuttering because the bad sensors were probably cutting the fuel off from the cylinders). Car still sputters damn it. It has to be a fuel delivery problem, almost like 1or 2 of the cylinders aren't getting fuel during acceleration (it doesn't do it while cruising, just during idle and acceleration). Where do I start looking now?
 
#2 · (Edited)
I think it may be your plugs/wires/cap/rotor, possibly distributor. Replace the plugs first with some NGK V-Power plugs (~$2 each), plug wires (NGK recommened, but any performance set would also be fine), and the cap and rotor. When was the last time you changed any of these? Do you hear some backfiring or heavy burbling when the car decellerates?

Worst case scenario it's your disty, but lets not go there yet.

If you'd like, consider doing your regular maintenance items if you haven't done them recently such as cleaning the air filter, changing the fuel filter, etc.

Another possibility is that you have a vac leak somewhere. Our cars are known to crack at the throttle body to VAF elbow since the rubber gets hard over time. Check the elbow for cracks. In addition, check all of your vac hoses for leaks.

You should check your codes again. You can do it on your own like this:

You check the codes by jumpering a couple of circuits in the diagnostic connector socket located here. Use a
paperclip to jump the circuit. You have to jump the TEN and GND connector with the paperclip. On my '95 (it may differ in a '93) it looks like this. Turn your car to the "on" position, but don't start the car. Then look at your check engine light on the dash and then go to Mike's site to figure out what errors you are getting. If the CEL does not blink then you do not have any engine error codes.
 
G
#3 ·
I checked the codes but didn't find anything there and the throttle body and vac lines look fine.

My car doesn't backfire or gurgle or anything like that. It acts like fuel isn't getting into one or more cylinders (it never dies so I think the problem is with 1-2 cylinders at most). I changed the plugs last summer but have replaced wires, caps or anything else.

When I took it to the mechanic to fix the CEL he said there weren't any error codes in the memory. Maybe that is a clue, I don't know.

If I can't figure this out this week I will just have to take it back and see what they say.

Thanks for all of your help!
 
#4 · (Edited)
It sounds like bad leads 2 me.
When was the last time you swapped out the leads..?
coz you wrote...
I changed the plugs last summer but have replaced wires, caps or anything else.

I'm, asuming perhaps you ment "but I have not replaced"
if that is the story swap dem leads.. :tup:
 
#5 ·
ryanyahoo said:
A little while back my car started sputtering. I thought maybe the valves were a little dirty. I ran 3 cans of injector cleaner through it and nothing worked. Then my check engine light decided it wanted to come on from time to time. Shop said it was oxygen sensors so I had them replaced (they said that it would probably fix the stuttering because the bad sensors were probably cutting the fuel off from the cylinders). Car still sputters damn it. It has to be a fuel delivery problem, almost like 1or 2 of the cylinders aren't getting fuel during acceleration (it doesn't do it while cruising, just during idle and acceleration). Where do I start looking now?

why does it have to be a fuel delivery problem? is the car down on power? have you tried dropping cylinders?


personally, it sounds like you have a stuck open EGR valve.
 
#6 ·
two weeks ago, my car started having the same symptoms

My car's symptoms:

- At a stop light the car idles at like 500rpm and even dies on me at times. Once if front of the police as I left the stop light to make a left turn (Thought i was getting a ticket!)

- Power is very low.

- During acceleration the car bogs down and acts like it does not want to accelerate, but, when it does accelerate, it accelerates horribly slow.

I was driving on the freeway when the symptoms initiallly started. I tried accelerating and the car started dieing on me, I had to pump the gas, then put the car into neutral gear and then rev the heck out of it. This was the only way to prevent the car from shutting down on the middle of the freeway (In the fast lane). About a mile or so later, my intake filter falls off and I run the filter over. Well to make a long story short... That is when all my problems began.

Distributor is about 6 months new, New fuel filter, Brand new aftermarket intake filter, on my Weapon-R intake system. I will change the plugs today and see if that makes any difference. I just changed them about 4 months ago.
 
#8 ·
hook up a vacuum gauge to your manifold and tell us what it reads at idle. rev to 2500 and hold it there. let the gauge stabilize and then tell us what it reads.
 
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