GRRR this is really pissing me off!
Okay, the car is a '89 SE-i with a K&N stock replacement air filter. Nothing fancy, except for the muffler, which will be getting a OEM replacement soon.
Stuff I've done/replaced:
cleaned the air filter.
replaced: plugs, plug wires, cap, rotor, PCV
The coolant has been flushed.
The timing has been checked and is OK.
The belts are tight. There are no obvious vacuum leaks, BUT I HAVEN'T CHECKED EVERY HOSE.
I've cleaned the IACV.
The EGR operates normally, afaik.
Fuel pressure is OK.
I do have a vacuum guage and compression tester, but haven't used them on the car yet.
The plugs look fine (indicate the car is running perfectly).
Grounding (cleaned and added a few grounds; didn't help).
The problem:
When cold (i.e. sitting for like 7 hours or more), the car starts fine, idles great, but at moderate rpms (up to 3000), it stumbles under acceleration, even cutting out sometimes. Since the engine mounts are shot, this REALLY jerks the car around. About three or four city blocks later, it quits and runs great. Gas mileage is normal, and there is no smell of unburnt gasoline when it runs rough.
I've pretty much narrowed it down to bad valve sleeves, a bad ignition coil, or some stupid vacuum leak I haven't found yet. The bad engine mounts will be replaced soon (as will the bad brakes and shocks), but those by themselves couldn't make the engine stumble, could they?
So, anyone ran across this problem before? Fixed it? Once it warms up just a tiny bit, the sucker runs like a champ, but I can't lick this problem (and it's REALLY annoying for those first few blocks). I'm going on a long (1000+ mile) trip soon, and I don't want to be stuck by the side of the road because these symptoms are indicating a bad ignition coil or something like that. GRRR....
HELP!
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