Rough idle and frequent stalling!

[kevyrev]

Oh and thanks for the question SiliconSoul. I did check the trans fluid today and doesn't even show on the stick. I just assumed that it was full just several years old and deteriorated. She claimed to have her cousin the "mechanic" take care of this car often. If you've seen my valve cover pics you know that the oil changes were neglected or prolonged.

[Spike]

A low auto trans will definitely buck/hesitate when you start moving. My '90 did the exact same thing for about a week until I realized it was a quart low.

Hope that's all it ends up being.

-Joe

[kevyrev]

So this is what I'm up to now. I'm going to install new plug wires, dist. cap and rotor, probably tomorrow. Today I took off the throttle body and fuel rail and injectors. Going to inspect the injectors and clean them. I suspect that some could be clogged possibly causing a misfire. Remember my old fuel pump, before it locked up, the old sock deteriorated and came off inside tank. Once I clean them and install new plug wires, cap, and rotor, I'll start her up and see what I have.
Also, does anyone know why when I removed the vacuum line from top intake (above throttle body) it idles better? When I plug it back it in suffers.

[kevyrev]

Well today I tested and cleaned my fuel injectors. Installed a new dist. cap, rotor button, and plug wires. Installed the cleaned throttle body with new gasket. And...... no improvement. It still sounds like it's missing and idles very slowly. I am wondering about checking the timing at the crankshaft pulley. My crankshaft pulley has a serious leak and needs a new seal, it also has a wobble too. Could this be causing it to run so poorly. I will check it out tomorrow armed with my manual. I'm venturing into new realms as I've only ever checked the time on a watch.

[tooldude]

Connect a vacuum guage to the manifold and see whether you have normal and steady vacuum, checking for several different problems. The first post mentions smoking. What color was it and has it stopped? Check the condition of the coolant for rust. You may want to change that anyway. Is the vacuum hose you refer to removing, the one going to the fuel pressure regulator? That could possibly be bad, based on the black plugs, smoking, and (increased?) idle speed with the added air, all taken together; although, there should be an increased idle with a little added air intake.

[kevyrev]

Hey.... I should also check EGR valve, right? If it sticks, doesn't it cause rought idle, rob of power, and a little smoke? Strange as I can't find anything in my manual about my EGR valve, only EGR gas temp. sensor.

[william]

No egr, aspire had one. And carbed festivas had em.

[kevyrev]

Thanks william!

[cburkett65]

What about the IAC? It could cause a bad idle. Sounds like you already checked ignition and fuel. Have you checked the compression yet?

[kevyrev]

Well, I fixed it! Something so simple I overlooked because I assumed it was fine. The vane in the air flow meter was stuck and the rats nest below air filter didn't help either.

Sent from my windows phone using Tapatalk

[nitrofarm]

Awesome! Good job Bro

Sent from my USCC-C6721 using Tapatalk

[kevyrev]

I hope this helps anyone else that has these problems. I needed to do the tune up anyway. I'll put this thread to rest now that it's resolved as soon as I post pics of my air box. Thanks to all that gave advice and helped!
Sent from my RM-915_nam_usa_228 using Tapatalk

[tac]

Is it black or white smoke? Since it has been setting, run a compression test to see if you have a stuck valve rings, and then fuel pressure check and fuel pressure leak down to see if there is a problem with pressure regulator or have a leaky injector injector. Bad O2 could cause issues but the computer doesn't even look at it until it gets hot. Vacuum leaks, Air flow sensor, will cause lean condition and cause rough running but not smoke.