Sputtering problem...PLEASE help

[Formula Z]

im going to take a wild guess and also say the opti-spark. hopefully not, but im guessing it will be the problem

[meissen]

I bet its your opti looks like someones going with a 95 Opti spark
in all honesty the 94's are vented like crap when i took mine out it was corroded like crazy

You realize swapping to a 95 vented optispark is going to require a new cam, a new timing cover, a new timing set, and the optispark itself, right? Lots of unnecessary cost.

I'm still on the fence about it being the optispark - I haven't received the video yet. Honestly, though, Missy - if you're coming to the Summer Meet & Greet or hell even if you're not and you can make it up to Woodward on Friday... I'll have my ALDL cable and my laptop with me and we can go do a diagnostic log of your car and see what's going on. It won't say for sure that it's the optispark but it could lead to more info - there are DTC codes that will be logged but won't trigger the Service Engine Soon light to come on.

[Kwazrollinz28]

You realize swapping to a 95 vented optispark is going to require a new cam, a new timing cover, a new timing set, and the optispark itself, right? Lots of unnecessary cost.

I'm still on the fence about it being the optispark - I haven't received the video yet. Honestly, though, Missy - if you're coming to the Summer Meet & Greet or hell even if you're not and you can make it up to Woodward on Friday... I'll have my ALDL cable and my laptop with me and we can go do a diagnostic log of your car and see what's going on. It won't say for sure that it's the optispark but it could lead to more info - there are DTC codes that will be logged but won't trigger the Service Engine Soon light to come on.

crap your right i totally forgot about that since i did all that on my first build ooops.

I have a 94 opti that was running she can have for free, i was just gonna throw it out since i can't use it.

[Phantom409]

Hooky smokey


Did you ever get a chance to run the opti test you printed from me last week??
http://www.mainstreamtopics.com/foru...p?showtopic=78

You sound mechanically inclined so if you have a volt meter you will be able to tell if the opti, ICM or coil is bad and you don't even have to leave your drive way

And you get the bragging rights that you figured it out

Also, I believe you have a MAF on your car, you may want to clean that.
If it's dirty it will cause issues too.

Get the fuel pressure checked also.

There are a lot of other possibility's but I don't want to over whelm you with "might bee's".

[meissen]

She said she unplugged the MAF and it didn't change - so I don't think the MAF is just dirty. Just ruling one thing out.

[Phantom409]

Car will run like crap if it can't tell incoming air!
So if she unplugged it and it didn't change then it might need a cleaning.

[meissen]

True - point made. Figured unplugging it would atleast see a change though.

[Phantom409]

Not if it's screwed up.

I'm just trying to give her easy stuff to do that don't cost a ton to see if we can get a reaction from the car.

I'm on the total opposite side of the state and would like to help her but that's one long haul and not cheap either.
And my plate is full right now so I don't have much to spare for the next few weeks.

If it's an opti I can do it in 3.5 hrs with all my tools.

[Phantom409]

And yes you should see a change if you unplug a MAF Brian.
You were thinking right.

[meissen]

And yes you should see a change if you unplug a MAF Brian.
You were thinking right.

My only worry with telling someone to clean it is I've always heard more horror stories of people trying to clean the maf and busting the wires. Either way - bring it to the summer M&G or let's meet up some time and we'll data log it and then Kyle and Joel can review it and maybe see what's going on... maybe.

[Fbomb]

Very carefully with some rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip...I got bored one day so I decided to polish my MAF ends to a shine and realized the wires were dirty. Didn't really seem to make much of a difference but maybe they weren't dirty enough to.

[fbodyhottie]

Ok, so I went out to take a video of the car yesterday...it started acting normal. Was fine for the rest of the day. Parked it around 9pm last night, got up this morning and started her up around 740 (so it sat for around 10hrs), started hard, volts went almost up to 18 volts. Car was spittin and sputtering my entire 10 miles to work. One min the thing is fine, the next its just dumb. Ill try to take a video on my lunch hour today.

[Phantom409]

Don't ya just love it

Are you noticing any voltage drops while driving?

[fbodyhottie]

Don't ya just love it

Are you noticing any voltage drops while driving?

It kinda flutters sometimes. Like ill be sitting at a light and it will miss and the volts and rpms will drop way low and it acts like it wants to stall.

[Fbomb]

Voltage shooting up to 18V almost sounds like a bad voltage regulator in the alternator...could also burn out some electronics in the car as well if you're not careful.