KillerElfboy

Hey, i have a 1991 RS coupe 5sp with 282k miles

last night it started jerking in all gears, it was a scary drive home. It did it this morning on the way to work as well.

it happened at first only in 4th accelerating, but this was a once in a blue moon problem but now it doesnt seem to be stopping. I def could use a better clutch but i wasnt sure if that is the problem. A lot of people have said ignition coil or cap and rotor, but i have no idea. The car was well taken care of and the distr itself looks new and im pretty sure it is on the newer side.

One piece of advice i got was to bleed the clutch? My brother's friend is in vocational school for cars and said this would prob fix it, but id rather ask you guys.

I need help, i dont have a spare car to get to work if thsi starts dying on me. What should i do?

i have had this car since 263k and have only changed oil, axles and re soldered the MFR in that time.

dump3deg6

I don't know what you mean by "jerking"..

Is it losing power at all?

My car had a very simular problem and felt as if the car had its brakes on. It bogged if I have it full throttle and jerked in gears. The cause was clogged injector filters. I took them out, cleaned it up, replaced and it ran fine!

seanbev24

Your car has a cable clutch, there's no fluid to bleed.

If it's a mechanical type of jerking it's probably something in the tranny. If it's jerking because it's misfiring it's probably something in the distributor or fuel injection.

KillerElfboy

i could also feel this problem while in sitting still in neutral so i do not think it is tranny related.

If it were fuel injector or distributor related what would be the course of action for either?

seanbev24

The easiest way to check if it's the dizzy is to find someone with a known good one and try it out, only takes a few minutes and is free.

When was the last time you changed the fuel filter and spark plugs? I'd do the cheap tune up stuff if it's been a while and see if that helps.

KillerElfboy

well iv had the car for 20k miles myself, so its been at least that long. I'd wager to say it might be longer than that.

is the spark plug and fuel filter thing i can do myself? cuz i pulled those plugs out from the head today and it looked like they were just rubber tubes going into it. They were dry though so that was a relief.

I had thought it could be my injectors? Do i add something to my gas tank to clean them out like Seafoam?

I'd like to do the cheap stuff that i can do myself first before i go to a shop ya know

What do i do?

SquirtleSquadEf9

is ur check engine light on? if so could be a misfire.check ur spark plugs,cables, those are the easiest things u can do. the spark plugs are really easy to take out. use a deep socket. if ur spark plug blew up that could do it or if the cable is ripped that could do it to. it would cause u to run on only 3 cylinders and that would cause it to shake the whole time. if ur running on 2 its even worse! start ur car and pop the hood and listen if its coming from the motor. if it goes tack tack tack tack tack tack tack every time ur running on 3 cylinders maybe 2. wat exactly does ur car do?

KillerElfboy

it stutters when i try to move. jerks, lunges, whatever you would call it. I notice that this stuttering can be felt while at a standstill, i can also feel the extra puffs come out on my hand when i hold it against the tailpipes. No check engine light though. the idle is lower and a little rougher than usual, like i think it might die at times

I got home and went back out about an hour later with my friend and it didnt do it as bad, although we did feel it.

now by wires you mean the ones running from my distributor to the top of my engine correct?

SquirtleSquadEf9

yea the spark plug wires. it sounds like ur running on 3 cylinders instead of 4 thats y its shaking and making the puff at the back of the exhaust. it also feels like its going to die. ok question if u floor it does ur car pick up speed or does it stay at the same speed ur at or a couple of seconds? my advise is check ur cables and spark plugs. one of ur spark plugs could be fried or even blown up. spark plugs are 8 bucks for all 4. 12 dollars tops

V8 Eater

dont want to break your heart bro but this can be alot of things,the main reason for studder can be missfire,drivetrain and suspension related.things that cause a missfire can be timing,ignition such as dizzy,wires,plugs,cap & rotor,emission control sensors,tps,map,fast idle valve,iadv,it can be a leak such like bad seals,head gasket,rings letting in oil or coolant causing a missfire.The first thing I would do is find a friend who has a da (thats runs ok) and just quickly change most of the parts mentioned above one by one it shouldnt take all that long to switch over simple parts like them,youll know the fix the second your car runs ok.if switching all of those parts dont help then you need to do a compression along with a leakdown test to figure out if you have a leak.also note that dragging suspenion and brakes can also cause bogging and hesitation.

SquirtleSquadEf9

yea i know that im just telling him wat it is mostlikely and the cheapest thing he can fix

KillerElfboy

If it helps at all. This morning after pulling out of my dirveway and down the street i heard a tapping from the bottom of the car all the way to the back. Sounded mostly like it was coming from the back. The sound was like a hollow metal tapping, as if you took screw driver and tapped an empty tin can.

Hope this is of any help in narrowing it down

KillerElfboy

I got spark plugs I'll be putting them in tonight hopefully after work. How do i replace them becuase when i pull the rubber tube out that goes into the head from the dist. theres nothing on the end of it just a hole for something to go into the tube. What do i need to do to access the plugs and replace them?

seanbev24

Wow, ok... The plug wire that you pulled out goes over the top of the spark plug, which is threaded into the head down in that hole. You need a spark plug socket on an extension, pretty sure it's 5/8". A regular deep socket will also work if you have a magnet or long needle nose or something to pull the plug out of the hole after it's loose. While you are changing the plugs, carefully inspect the plug wires for any damage. Make sure the plugs are gapped to spec before putting them in.

As was said before, there are a lot of things that can cause a car to jerk/hesitate.

At the very minimum, go buy a haynes manual it will tell you how to do pretty much all maintenance stuff to your car. Also, consider taking it to a mechanic. Not trying to be a dick, but if you don't know how to change spark plugs, diagnosing this is probably above your head. Good luck though, keep us updated.

KillerElfboy

I havent been able to get the plugs in yet, but i did get a CEL light come on. It went off after i turned off the car but didnt come back on.

so i pulled up my carpet and checked it. it blinked 4 hards and 3 softs so it was code 43, which is believe is "Fuel Supply System"

what does this mean?

KillerElfboy

So the car worked fine last night after a little over an hour drive. I left from where i was and it was back to normal. Very odd, but i just changed the plugs anyway and it was looking good. Def an improvement.

the plugs I pulled out... the one closest to the steering wheel... the cylinder had like orange red stuff around the top of the rim of the opening. It was silver on the all ther others. That plug itself had no white cone left like the others. it looked the 'cone' and other piece were made of two black paper clips. the others had a metal rod poking out of their cones as well but this one had nothing left. So a side by side of the new and old was deffinately a big difference.

Whats up with the first cylinder? if thats what the spot is called you guys know what i mean

seanbev24

Take a pic of the plugs and post it up if you can.

Starting from the driver's side of the car (belt side of the engine) the cylinders go 1,2,3,4