Alright, so here is the problem. I noticed sometimes that my car idles up and down a little bit, so i changed the fuel filter, that helped out a little, but it does still do some weird stuff.. It seems to studder a bit when i step on the gas hard, like if im doing 30MPH in 3rd gear, it will like pull back and forth sometimes and kinda "convulse" . Also, last night i noticed that when i turned the headlights on, it would go from about 1.5 RPM to about 1, and then go back up about 1 second after the headlights were on. I also notice the headlights get brighter/dimmer when i push on the clutch sometimes. Now the biggest problem is, latly my car will not start sometimes randomly.. its totally random, like its been starting great for a few weeks, but sometimes, it will just not wanna start, and ill have to turn the key, over and over and over.. and then it will magically start.

I would really like to know whats up with my car, i mean everything works fine and all, it just seems a little sluggish, and stutters alot, like you can feel it almost rocking back and forth when it does so. Its not the clutch switch causing anything, which i thought it was before, cause i have the clutch switch totally unplugged and my car still turns on. I either think its the altenator, or the starter, or both causing problems..

Now, i do have a 300 watt amp and (4) 6.5" speakers in my car, all rated at like 200 watts each, so im not sure if that would cause anything, but i dont think so because the car seemed to stutter before the system install.

If anyone has any ideas, please tell me.. im not sure what to do. Thank you.

 

come on, anyone know whats up?

 

All of the problems (except the stuttering) seem normal to me. When it doesn't start, describe it more. Does it turn over at all? Noises?

 

first check your oil, i had a smilar thing like that and it turned out there was no oil in it. then check your air filter make sure its not all clogged and dirty, then u might wanna put some injector cleaner n there because u changed the fuel filter but u never clean the injectors. i would suggest one of those like complete fuel system cleaners like $8.00 or soemthing so its pretty cheap. and ive never heard a car being sluggish when there alt wasnt working. cause one time i was at the track racing and my alt gave out and i noticed it when i was lined up and i still raced it and i ran the fastests time i ever did at the track, so yeah my alt died and my car was runnin faster than ever. unless its about to die. and make sure u have a fuel tank of gas


Modified by civickiller at 8:10 PM 8/29/2003

 

I have a lotta the problems you have too on my SOHC ZC. The convulse thing. Mine happens between 1500 and 3000, when i step on the gas it feels like its just losing power for a second or 2 then it gets like a sudden jolt of power. I have no idea WTH it is. I have that idle problem, and the rpm problem with the headlights. Havent been able to figure any of it out

 

damn, yea it seems like it loses power for a few seconds, then kicks in and kinda jolts..

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When it doesn't start, describe it more. Does it turn over at all? Noises?</TD></TR></TABLE>

When it dosent start, it makes NO noise what so ever, then it will randomly start after me being pissed off for however long.

 

does it have a hard time only starting when the car is hot or on a hot day ? if it starts up cold easy and have a hard time starting when its hot, your main relay is no good, common problem

 

could also be the starter. Had that recent problem in my car.

 

How can i test to see if its my main relay or if its my starter? Hmm kinda weird, the only times it didnt start was then i was at a friends house in another state and my car had been parked in the sun/heat for the whole day.. strange.. maybe this is the problem..how much is a new main relay, and how hard is it to install?

 

If you can pushstart it when it's acting up then it's most probably the starter.