Aspire SLight miss... Possible cause?

[knux511]

Hey guys, found an aspire through a friend a few weeks ago, (it donated its 13 inch hubcaps to my festy) that was sitting at a friend of his families. When looking at it, noticed it was in good shape w/ decent miles, and turns out that it runs and drives, and for $75 my friend will be the lucky new owner. PO said that it had a slight miss, and that it ran and drove when he parked it there. Are there any really common things that could go wrong to cause it to miss? I'm gonna check the plugs and wires this weekend, anything else?

[mechanicaldj]

what year is the Aspire?

[knux511]

hmm you know, I'm not really sure... Would that make a difference?

[mechanicaldj]

OBD I and OBD II

[knux511]

ok guys, got an update. It's a 94 w/ 21x,xxx on it, and it's a 5-spd 4 door. My friend drove it home today, said that it ran great at idle, but once you hit the gas it would start to miss. Bad valve? anyone have this problem?

[eurotiva]

Try the common tune up stuff...needs it anyway. Could possibly be carbon buildup on the valves, so the next thing to do is a compression test. Then report back with #s

[WmWatt]

Yes, cleaning the wires, spark plugs, and distributor cap usually removes the slight missing which develops in my Festiva over time.

[ejp2fast]

do a compression check first... so you don't spend extra money on the other stuff (although it wouldn't hurt to do them anyway)
then run some sea-foam through the vacuum line on top of the intake.

[mattswabb]

Cap and rotor are common items that will cause a miss, corrosion on their terminals. Then chack the wire, then plugs. Usually one or more of those items is in need of replacement.

[Nerd Racing]

Also replace the fuel filter and put new gas with fuel stabilizer in it.

[knux511]

wow thanks guys! i appreciate all of the help. I was planning on checking the compression first of all, and then the rest after