yesterday i was redlining my gears....as i heard a bang in the engine bay (sitting in the drivers seat).
as i hear the bang, there is a pause in acceleration, almost a jerk (like the throttle skipped).
so i stop going fast, and at about 4k rpm i get this again going WOT.
i drove slow the rest of the time, and had no problems.
today when im driving, low rpms (1000-2500rpm) has this jerk in acceleration in gears 1 and 2, not the higher gears.
by jerk, its like a pause in acceleration for a split second, which jerks the car.
from searching, i think it may be ignition coils or something.

i have a 99 5spd with 60000km, was running amazing before yesterday.
i have not done a tb cleaning ever.
just hoping its not the transmission.

thanks in advnace,
Dev

 

Any Engine Codes?

The first symptom (bang!) seriously sounds like a popped engine to me, but the fact that it's inconsistant tells me its something smaller - coil, injector, etc, etc....

How's it idle?

 

right after driving hard and letting the car idle in the parking lot...the idle was lower than i ever saw it, at about 550rpm.
its usually at 750 all the time.

no engine codes thus far.

 

probably not a popped engine then - check plugs, coils, then injectors.

 

do you think it has anything to do with clutch or tranny?
i'm really hoping these aren't the problem, because they were fine two days ago, and its not like a misshifted or anything.

im going to check the coils with a friend.
what can i do about injectors?

 

Unplug each coil from the harness one at a time.

If the idle doesn't change or move after pulling one of them, then that's your bad coil/injector.

Then swap the coil in that cylinder with a known good one - if the idle now changes after pulling the harness, then it's the coil - if it still doesn't, it's the injector.

But make sure the spark plugs look good first, of course, because it could be that either way.

 

ok thanks so much for your help

my friend is quite a bit more knowledgable than be with this stuff, so ill ask him to take a look at the plugs while doing the coils.

so you don't think its the tranny or clutch right?

 

I don't own a 5spd (yet, it's on the way), so it's hard to say....but if it's a lag in accelleration when you're hitting the gas without your foot on the clutch, I don't see how it could be the tranny or clutch, since you're not using it.

IanS

 

yes my foot is completely off the clutch.
when i was driving hard yesterday, it was doing this in gear 3 and 4 as well.
from the hesitation in acceleration, i thought my clutch might be slipping. however my car only has ~38k miles on it. the clutch was fine before, grabbed pretty hard for stock. im not sure what a slipping clutch feels like, but when i redlined 2nd gear today, it held up fine.
im just worried about the "bang" sounds i got yesterday, that didnt seem right at all.

 

ok i've been reading over some threads, and a better word for my problem would be a "hesitation" or "hiccup" in acceleration, if that makes it easier to understand.

i didn't really know how to explain the problem too well.

 

Yep, like I said, probably not your tranny or clutch - you only feel a clutch slip when using it....

 

ok sounds good

thanks for your help

 

Shouldn't be the clutch. I have had my stock clutch in my '95 GXE since I pruchased it new in '95. My car now has 178k miles and it still has the factory clutch in it and slight slipping when I shift from 1st to 2nd gear at full throttle. Other than thatit holds up fine.

 

im pretty sure its not my clutch...its in good shape.

but if the problem IS my coil packs, would it trip my CEL?

right now the problem is only at first and second gear below 2500 rpm, but the engine hiccup is inconsistent, it only happens sometimes.

 

I'm leaning towards a fouled plug, myself - but hwo knows....coul even be a vacuum leak.

Have it looked at.

 

im not sure if its a vacuum leak, cause when i was driving hard 2 days ago, it was like someone took a baseball bat and smacked my engine. thats the kind of noise there was.

 

Probably a misfire - vacuum leaks cause those too.

You should have the entire car looked at - plugs, coils, injectors, hoses, compression test, Oil Analysis, etc, etc, etc....

Might save you an engine down the line.

 

i just switched to mobil1 10W30 synthetic a month ago, so the oil is brand new.

i will have the plugs, coils, and injectors tests with a friend soon.
ill ask him about the compression test as well.

this is so weird, my car was running absolutely perfect before this

 

Dev, is your car running fine now ? if so let me know because i am having the same freakin problem in 4th and 5th gears
-Sal

 

Yea, generally with stumbling
1. check for codes
2. check plugs
3. check coils
3. check inectors

25 minutes total