car doesn't idle well, wth is goin on?

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

After puttin my new system in(the one in my sig), i've noticed that when my car is idling i get a huge drop in RPM's, i noticed this and it comes and goes, i get home to check the voltage of the car running and it's where it should be in between 13.8 and 14.1, does my car just need a tune up and oil change cuz my alternator is 130 amps i don't see how it could be goin out on me. i'm so confused, any help appreciated.

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[seth350 10+ year member]

My truck did the same when my alt. was going bad. It would die at stop lights and act like it was missing. However it wouldnt have that good of voltage, but I did have a bad battery too.

Alternator makes your ride do some weird shit when it goes bad. I dont think it does any good to get it check cause if I remember right, Advanced checked mine and the machine said it was fine, which I knew it wasnt so I got a new alt anyways.

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

My truck did the same when my alt. was going bad. It would die at stop lights and act like it was missing. However it wouldnt have that good of voltage, but I did have a bad battery too.
Alternator makes your ride do some weird shit when it goes bad. I dont think it does any good to get it check cause if I remember right, Advanced checked mine and the machine said it was fine, which I knew it wasnt so I got a new alt anyways.

shit:crap:

it misses sometimes too i noticed it's not as smooth even when it shifts as it used to be, ******* it

 

[seth350 10+ year member]

Although it may not be the alternator....

It could be the distributor cap, the coil, spark plugs, or the wires.

But if the alternator is not supplying all of those things above with enough juice, it will act like its missing.

 

[seth350 10+ year member]

There is a way to check to see if the alternator is going bad, i think its starting the car and taking the negative off the battery. Im not 100% on that tho....

Maybe someone else will know what Im talkin about

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

Although it may not be the alternator....It could be the distributor cap, the coil, spark plugs, or the wires.

But if the alternator is not supplying all of those things above with enough juice, it will act like its missing.

It seems like it's the spark plugs, my car really needs a tuneup bad, it's been over a year since it last had one, and now its finally showin the signs, i remember when i had my 93 grand am i had the same symtoms as the car i have now, shakin at idle and it wans't the alternator at all, a tune up fixed everything. so looks like i'll be gettin my car into the shop and hopefully it will run better. i'll let ya know if it that was the case or not.

 

[bk12321 10+ year member]

my car is currently doing the same thing and someone told me it was the idle air control valve but i think its the alternator in mine

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

hmm is your alternator as old as your car is?

 

[seth350 10+ year member]

my car is currently doing the same thing and someone told me it was the idle air control valve but i think its the alternator in mine

Yes that could one of the problems, usually if that goes out you will hear what sounds like a fog horn comming from under the hood. I did the same procedure on my g/fs car, first was the IACV, then the EGR valve, then plugs and wires then it ran fine, then it would act up again and quit. So who knows....

Your IACV shouldnt be hard to get to being on a 93 cutlass, should be on the intake manifold within easy reach, not like it was on my g/fs 99 Cougar, practically in the back against the firewall...sheesh

To the OP, you will save yourself a lot of money if you change the plugs and wires yourself. Its not difficult at all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

Yes that could one of the problems, usually if that goes out you will hear what sounds like a fog horn comming from under the hood. I did the same procedure on my g/fs car, first was the IACV, then the EGR valve, then plugs and wires then it ran fine, then it would act up again and quit. So who knows....Your IACV shouldnt be hard to get to being on a 93 cutlass, should be on the intake manifold within easy reach, not like it was on my g/fs 99 Cougar, practically in the back against the firewall...sheesh

To the OP, you will save yourself a lot of money if you change the plugs and wires yourself. Its not difficult at all //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

well i've changed the oil of my car is all the maintenence i've done with it, what wires you talkin about?

 

[seth350 10+ year member]

Assuming this is your engine.....its the only one on google images, but it should help you out.

I circled what the spark plug wires are. You can see the three small red circles are where the wires plug onto the spark plugs. Notice they run back to a black box where I have also circled. That is your distributor. You can find where every spark plug wire is from just picking one wire and tracing where it goes.

Once you know what your dealing with, you can then go to Auto Zone or somewhere of the same genre, and tell them you need spark plugs, and wires, and you will need a "gapper". A gapper gaps the spark plugs to the correct gap that your engine needs. If you dont gap them right then your car will run like crap.

Or just ask if one of the Auto Zone employees or whoever can gap them to the correct gap.

You will also need one of these bad boys...

These little puppies are spark plug sockets. You will need either of these to get the old plugs out and to get the new ones in. If you know someone whos got a lot of tools then they should have one you could borrow.

Now that you got everything, you can start by replacing plugs and wires.

Start with whichever wire you want, pull it off the spark plug and then pull it off the distributor. You may have to give it a good tug. Now take that spark plug socket and your ratchet and you will prolly need an extension. Take the spark plug out and replace it with a new one. Same with the wire, one key thing about this part is that not all of the wires are the same length. Take the old wire and look through the new wires and find a new one that is the same length as the old one. Once you find a good match, put the new one on.

Continue until all of them are done. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I cant be held responsible if you mess up, just be careful with the plugs as they can break easily, and do one wire one plug at a time. Naturally, do the corresponding wire and plug one at a time. Dont mix up the wires, as your car will misfire even more.

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Could be an oxygen sensor as well. Only because I just did this tonight. Take it to autozone, ask for a free engine diag. They will plug your computer into that machine and tell you what is going wrong, if anything. The computer usually knows (on your engine).

 

[seth350 10+ year member]

Could be an oxygen sensor as well. Only because I just did this tonight. Take it to autozone, ask for a free engine diag. They will plug your computer into that machine and tell you what is going wrong, if anything. The computer usually knows (on your engine).

Thats a good place to start, except with those code readers they wont break it down to the exact part thats bad. Like for instance, it brings up "Fuel Too Lean" ok......that could be that your gas cap is not tight enough, your EGR valve, the Idle Air Control Valve, Oxygen Sensors, etc.

 

[Coolwazabi 10+ year member]

take ur plugs out and check them...

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

alright