Any Mechanics in here??

[bottleneckblooz]

I was driving to work this morning and I stop at a light coming off the highway. When I go to take off again my car just kind of sputters along, doesn't want to pick up any speed. Whenever I hit the gas it just kinda "coughs". It seems to run fine at idle speed though.


Any ideas what it could be?

 

[BNG]

I was driving to work this morning and I stop at a light coming off the highway. When I go to take off again my car just kind of sputters along, doesn't want to pick up any speed. Whenever I hit the gas it just kinda "coughs". It seems to run fine at idle speed though.


Any ideas what it could be?

This can be a ton of stuff. You don't mention make, model, engine, or anything. The cheapest way to get somewhere with it would be to take it to a smog shop you use or other smaller shop and have them hook it up. Most of the time it's small things like vacuum leaks, or a sensor going bad. Sometimes you can get the guys in the shop to help you trouble shoot and show you what to change out to help you save money. (works way better if you've taken your car there for stuff you can't avoid)

 

[swole]

go to autozone, have them run codes for free

my guess is that it's a sensor

 

[BNG]

go to autozone, have them run codes for free

my guess is that it's a sensor

If you get lights on the dash you'll see codes, but it may be hit & miss to find it if you pull codes with no lights.

Clear everything by disconnecting your battery for a few minutes. Drive over there and try to get it to do it on the way there. The codes they pull will be more likely to be related.

My truck has a cam position sensor that affects it when it starts going bad but the codes are not specific to it.

 

[wootoom]

Mike is a mechanic

 

[mwm5]

clogged fuel filter or maybe a fuel pump going out. get someone to see what/if any thrown codes

 

[digimon7068]

go to autozone, have them run codes for free

my guess is that it's a sensor

+1

 

[Razorguns]

o2 sensor? Usually lack of acceleration means the engine is not getting the fuel or oxygen it needs to crank the engine.

If the distributor was misfiring, you'd hear it immediately.

Buy a Toyota.

r

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Just and update.

I tried it again at lunchtime and it seemed to be working fine. I'm thinking it may have been the fuel injector/fuel filter that may have gotten clogged temporarily. I'm going to bring it in somewhere to get them check it out. It seems to be harder on fuel than it should be lately anyway.

 

[txbondsman]

Just and update.

I tried it again at lunchtime and it seemed to be working fine. I'm thinking it may have been the fuel injector/fuel filter that may have gotten clogged temporarily. I'm going to bring it in somewhere to get them check it out. It seems to be harder on fuel than it should be lately anyway.

I'll bet it does it again, if you had been driving it for awhile when it was acting up, it will have to be hot again. Just go to Auto Zone and let them check it, it may show up...

 

[mwm5]

If the distributor was misfiring, you'd hear it immediately.

i hope he isn't driving something that still has a distributor

 

[digimon7068]

Just and update.

I tried it again at lunchtime and it seemed to be working fine. I'm thinking it may have been the fuel injector/fuel filter that may have gotten clogged temporarily. I'm going to bring it in somewhere to get them check it out. It seems to be harder on fuel than it should be lately anyway.

if it's a sensor, it may very well act different when it's cold than it does when it's warmed up. . .once the temp comes up, if it starts doing it again, it's definitely the computer getting bad info from somewhere. . .

 

[bottleneckblooz]

I'll bet it does it again, if you had been driving it for awhile when it was acting up, it will have to be hot again. Just go to Auto Zone and let them check it, it may show up...

We don't have any Auto Zones around here.

 

[BNG]

Does it do it when cold? How old is it?

Auto choke sticking, vacuum advance, throttle position sensor sticking, MAP sensor, fuel pressure reg, injectors gumming up, oxygenated fuel with high water content, theres a whole lot it could be depending on the vehicle.

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Does it do it when cold? How old is it?

The first and only time it did it was this morning. It's a '98 Nissan Sentra.

 

[BNG]

The first and only time it did it was this morning. It's a '98 Nissan Sentra.

Outside temp @ time of fault? Are you in an area where they're selling ethanol mix fuel?

Are you mechanically inclined at all? Do you have a manual on it? ($20)
There are many smaller repairs that can be made or checked with limited knowledge and tools. I may be as simple as lubricating some linkage, or changing a throttle position sensor. You'd be out the cost of the manual, not a onetime use item, and the part.

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Outside temp @ time of fault? Are you in an area where they're selling ethanol mix fuel?

Are you mechanically inclined at all? Do you have a manual on it? ($20)
There are many smaller repairs that can be made or checked with limited knowledge and tools. I may be as simple as lubricating some linkage, or changing a throttle position sensor. You'd be out the cost of the manual, not a onetime use item, and the part.

Outside temp was approx. -2 deg. Celcius. Not Sure what that translates to in Farenheit, but it's not really that cold. It's been much colder than that this past winter.

Not sure about Ethenol fuel. I do have one of those Haynes repair manuals, but everytime I look up something it usually ends up pissing me off more than I was before, because either the picture looks nothing at all like what mine looks like, or they say something like "For this repair you need to bring it to an authorized service repair shop" The only thing that manual helped me with was installing my CD player.

 

[txbondsman]

We don't have any Auto Zones around here.

well, there's no other place that sells auto parts that will test it for free in hopes to sell you the part/s? PepBoys? they may charge, but I know the Cadillac dealer gets 75 bucks to run a scan.

last time I had my Escalade in, I had it diagnosed at AutoZone and took the codes to the Cadillac dealer service dept. Showed them that this was the code and to fix it. I looked at the invoice to see what they did and they scanned it anyway, $75.00. I went back in and told him that I GAVE them the code and why did they scan the damn thing. They needed to make sure. yeah right....whatever.

They also charged $12.50, shop supplies, I asked wtf that was. Rags, WD 40, things like that, I laughed, yall can buy a hell of alot of WD40 and red shop rags at the end of the month. The guy just smirked.

 

[BNG]

Haynes are not very good. Look for a Chiltons or Clymers manual. Basically you'll want to look for how your choke works, what your fuel system is, location of your throttle position sensor, and your MAP sensor. It should tell you how to take some readings with a multimeter to test the sensors (depending on type) and how to check your fuel pressure reg and choke. It probably isn't a big deal.

 

[Razorguns]

go to craiglist.

For $50, some knowledgable moustache blue collar manly fellow, making money on the side, will swing by your house in the evening and take a quick peek at it. Or allow you to drive it to your house.

If he can't fix it - he can probably estimate what it is, how much it should cost, and where is a good place to take it.

99.9% they're usually he's, which is why I inferred "he".

r

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Ok so I found out what the trouble was. Funny story, I left work and the car was running fine, but by the time I got about 3/4 of the way home it started acting up again. It sputtered along and it wouldn't respond at all when I pushed on the gas. So I coasted to a stop right into the parking lot of an Auto repair shop. The guy comes out and he just happened to be a guy I went to school with and hung out with a little bit as a kid. So I explain what happened to him and he knew what the problem was right away. Checked it and sure enough that's what it was.

K for whoever can guess what the problem was.

 

[the_clockwork]

did you recently fill your car up with e85 fuel b/c it was cheaper?

my ex g/f did that.. she's a fucking idiot

 

[Raptorex]

crap fuel

 

[bottleneckblooz]

did you recently fill your car up with e85 fuel b/c it was cheaper?

my ex g/f did that.. she's a fucking idiot

I drive a 98 sentra, do you think I splurge on the expensive gas?

But it had nothing to do with the gas.

Hint #1: It hasn't been mentioned yet on this thread.

 

[plowboy]

injector

 

[bottleneckblooz]

injector

Nope.

Hint # 2: When it started acting up, the airbag light started flashing.

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Hint#3: Shortly after the airbag light started flashing, the spedometer went dead.

 

[BNG]

Alternator is bad

 

[bottleneckblooz]

Alternator is bad

Bingo!

Damn I knew that 3rd hint would give it away! lol

 

[BNG]

most newer cars have the instrument panel all fed from external sources. Dash & security usually go out first.

 

[BNG]

Thanks for the K Bro. Glad it was so simple a problem.

 

[txbondsman]

humm, that was unsual. Usually when the alt is bad, it runs the battery down and you have to jump it off, it'll run for as long as the charge holds, the dies again. It's funny that it started again after work. I'd have never guess that...

Dieing at a mechanics place, with a guy that you knew isn't a coincidence imo. You had some good K coming and you got it. Be thankful....

 

[BNG]

Dieing at a mechanics place, with a guy that you knew isn't a coincidence imo. You had some good K coming and you got it. Be thankful....

x10

 

[Razorguns]

Nope.

Hint # 2: When it started acting up, the airbag light started flashing.

all we had to go by was you telling us the engine was losing power.

Not that the electronics were going dim.

r

 

[digimon7068]

humm, that was unsual. Usually when the alt is bad, it runs the battery down and you have to jump it off, it'll run for as long as the charge holds, the dies again. It's funny that it started again after work. I'd have never guess that...

Dieing at a mechanics place, with a guy that you knew isn't a coincidence imo. You had some good K coming and you got it. Be thankful....

agreed. . .that makes zero sense. . .alternator goes bad, battery gets drained, car don't go. . .again. . .ever. . .until you get a new alternator. . .you can let it sit until the cows come home and it ain't starting back up again (without a jump. . .and as soon as you disconnect it dies again. . .quickly) until you get a new alternator. . .i can believe that the regulator/rectifier (inside of the alternator) was bad. . .so you're still getting a charge, but not a full 14 volts. . .i believe that there's other forces at work. . .time will tell. . .

 

[Razorguns]

agreed. . .that makes zero sense. . .alternator goes bad, battery gets drained, car don't go. . .again. . .ever. . .until you get a new alternator. . .you can let it sit until the cows come home and it ain't starting back up again (without a jump. . .and as soon as you disconnect it dies again. . .quickly) until you get a new alternator. . .i can believe that the regulator/rectifier (inside of the alternator) was bad. . .so you're still getting a charge, but not a full 14 volts. . .i believe that there's other forces at work. . .time will tell. . .

That's my feeling too. I'm curious how he affirmed 'the alternator was the cause'?

Buy Toyota.

r