Car runs like a lawnmower!!!!! :(

I have a 89 efi and here is my problem. Today while driving, my car started to sound like it was running extremely rich. As in no power, u step on the gas, it sounds like a lawnpower, sputtering like hell. I get out and fine the pcv valve kinda loose, tighten it and its kinda okay, but still fucked up. I dont know what might be wrong.

The manual said the following

1. fouled spark plugs - these plugs are about 2 months old, took em out and they are brown color, which indicates normal wear

2. misfiging - i dont know how it would misfire, cause my ignition is a lil retarted (i mean in degrees) and plug wires are where they are supposed to be, i dont know if the vaccumm diaphram is working, but hell ill see to it tom.

3. Faulty ignition coil/system - im gonna get my spare coil tomorrow and see whats up with it.

4. bad fuel delivery - i got damn 43psi at the fuel filter so wtf???

5. clogged fuel filter - might be a possibility cause this came off the junkyard when i did my conversion. So i guess ill buy a new one.


One more thing, i dont see any broken teeth on the timing belt so i dont think the valve timing is off. Also, driving back home from work, it did that, but once i started driving for about 15 mts, it went away. So i dont know whats up with it. Anyone who knows it can help me out, thanks.

hah hah reminds me of the time i got pulled over in my old coupe and the cop told me my car sounded like his lawn mower. I then proceded to offer to mow his lawn :D

i know what you're talking about and my car runs kinda the same. If its running REALLY rough, you might want to clean your plugs n stuff to make sure they're all firing. Maye you have some bad gas?? If you buy watered down gas ( like what some AM PM stations around here sell) then it'll do that too.

Maybe O2 sensor...or throttle position sensor. Maybe.

damn... 43psi......is that too much pressure for stock????

Not sure what you mean by sounds like a lawnmower. My lawnmower has a Honda engine; sounds real smooth :).
Are you having any valve rattle? Is it doing it only when under load?

oh NM....I have carb.....my bad

It's late. Go to bed.

check your dizy. it may be worn out. check your spark plug wires and clean spark plugs.

thanks for the reply fellas. The Oxygen sensors are only 8 months old. The spark plugs are in good shape besides the one i pulled from Cyl #1. THe distributor looks fine, but im gonna switch out the rotor and cap and see whats up. im gonna get the fuel tank treatment and see if it fixes it.

i mean the car runs strong or to say it ran strong for the past 7 or 8 months and helped me put 20K miles, yes 20,000 miles on it already and never broke down. i cant wait to get the motor from steve and start working on it so that it can go into my car and get the damn turbo put on.

sounds like an ignition problem to me... do you throw a code when this happens?

I think you are getting blowby.

Well, i did not have the check engine light on the dash or any cods off the ecu.

I swaped out the Ignition coil, added in a fuel system stabilizer and cleaner/conditioner. And added in a quart of oil, Im a lil late on oil change about 500 miles overdue, but i got no money :(

Now it runs fine. I gotta find a way to fix the stupid PCV next. Get a new one and fix it.

YO ROB, what do u mean blowby, How do i get it and how do i fix it?

Thanks for your help fellas. You guys rock :)

Gases leaking by either worn rings or valve guides. It'll rob power, but you won't notice it as much in lower RPMs. You will definately feel it when you accelerate hard (or at least try to), but you get no power. Do a compression test if you can.

what about the baro sensor, that compensates for fuel also . . . . .
or a loose vacuum line within the "misterybox" . . . .

the baro sensor as in the map sensor? well i got a 4th gen one and its good condition.

Rob i know what u mean and i already did a compression test two weeks back.
Cyl 1 = 165psi
Cyl 2 = 195 psi
cyl 3 = 185 psi
Cyl 4 = 185 psi

I changed the ignition coil like i mentioned and the car runs fine with no hesitation whatsoever. Im still gonna get the fuel filter soon and fix that thing. Hopefully it will fix whatever is going on. I gotta take a look at my injectors too. I know one is leaking from the o-ring, its the cyl 3 injector. Hopefully things will be fixed soon.

Man, i wish i knew what my car would run like with good compression..... it was something like 155, 135, 125, 135.....

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Originally Posted by Rex

Man, i wish i knew what my car would run like with good compression..... it was something like 155, 135, 125, 135.....

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those are pretty bad numbers. damn. i was suprised even i got these numbers :)

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Originally Posted by NXRacer

hah hah reminds me of the time i got pulled over in my old coupe and the cop told me my car sounded like his lawn mower. I then proceded to offer to mow his lawn :D

i know what you're talking about and my car runs kinda the same. If its running REALLY rough, you might want to clean your plugs n stuff to make sure they're all firing. Maye you have some bad gas?? If you buy watered down gas ( like what some AM PM stations around here sell) then it'll do that too.

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Well from my experience water in the fuel will cause car to "buck" and misfire violently, then quit if it is a lot of water. It doesn't sound like that.