No power in first, now car is hesitating again. Please help.

281pony

Active Member
Aug 31, 2003
2,681
2
46
Oly, WA
ok. this might get long. my car was running like crap with speed density. yesterday i put on my mass air, finally worked. car ran better, but still wasnt revving right, and has virtually no power in first gear. like its got no HP my cousin said, torque feels "ok" in second and third though :shrug:

so today, im going to get new plugs for it and it starts doing this miss, "bump" again. im going along at 1500-2000 rpm cruising and it feels like it cuts out real quick, or someone tapped the gas/brakes. it got pretty noticable once to where i turned off my stereo. since that one i have had it off and notice it, just not as bad. i put in my new plugs, gapped at 54-55. still the same. nothing in first, doing the bump.

some info: timing is at 12, plugs gapped 54, fp at 38 with no vacuum. mods: cobra intake, 70mm tb, 80mm maf, 1.7rr, 19# bosch 4-way injectors, bbk equal length headers, offroad h-pipe (no cats), 2 chamber flowmasters. conversion was an fms one. map line plugged.

so basically. i have no power in first, it takes longer then second to wind out. it wont turn the tires from a dead stop, but once i shift into second at around 4k it pulls harder then before since my mass air conversion. its still not all there though. now im getting the weird hesitation/bump at cruising?

please help. pretty confused
 
Watch fuel pressure at high RPM and watch fuel preussure 10-20 minutes after shut down..could be pump or filter problem, even a new filter can plug with a bad tank. Next look to possible bad ground then start looking for vac leaks especially in the hard plastic lines and near the canister. Then DUMP the codes, or dump the codes, or dump the codes. As mentioned in previous post the coversion will not fix a tune problem and that is what you have. Somewhere in the mix is a bad sensor or vac problem.
 
ok i really dont have a way to check codes though unless i took it somewhere.

on the hesitation part, it did it before with sd. it did it for awhile, and it was only in fifth gear at approximately 1500 rpm@55-60. one day my spark plug wire fell off, upon re-installing it, it had stopped. its been several weeks.

now its back with mass air all over again, except i can feel it in all gears. from 1500-2000. i could try a fuel filter again, but it is damn near brand new. only a couple k on it, if that.

in the previous post i didnt expect mass air to fix it either. i just said it helped whatever is wrong, but only after first gear. ive looked for airleaks, listened, felt, cant find anything. even that hissing sound i heard before on first startup with sd, went away with the mass air.

im just really confused how something could rob/stay, so much from a lower gear, but add to a higher gear. i guess codes will the the next best thing to do, meanwhile is there anything that comes to mind besides a leak? id think if i had an airleak it would affect all gears, not just significantly one.

seeing what i can do about getting some codes.
 
pretty sure a store like autozone will pull the codes for you. Back when I was SD and having problems I started throwing money at every item I had decided was causing it. The code scanner I bought at the auto store for 40$ is what lead me to find my EGR was acting up. You never know with a 15 year old car where to look next..it's always what you least expect.
 
yeah i hear that.

ill try one of them tomorrow. its definately easier going off recorded information basically, then guessing.

****, i didnt know somewhere like that would have done it, or i would have gone sooner :rolleyes:
 
it isint backfiring. that brings up another point.

prior to mass air i used to get ocassional backfires between shifts at higher rpm (4k) into second and third. now with mass air, it is gone. so mass air has helped out quite abit as far as small details and i DID gain alot of noticable power in all gears past first.

i went to get the code runner from jricker's link, and the dumb bitch at the register wouldn't sell it to me at walmart. she said you had to be 18, wtf is with that? :mad: im pretty sure she wasn't real happy after i said some stuff to her. i drove 25 minutes each way with a car that is hesitating off and on, and avoiding cops to be told i cant buy something to run codes.

anyway, i just did plugs earlier tonight. all the wires are fine it appears, none are arching off my header like i had before. i have brand new wires coming monday with the holders anyways, but i dont think they are bad.
 
ok im a step closer i think.

i have the pro-m mass air meter and airfilter. it said not to oil it, so i didnt. put it on new with the throttle body awhile ago when i first tried mass air. anyways, there is a TON of dirt in my throttle body. like a little pile of it amounted infront of the butterfly at the center post.

my question is... think that is clogging up my injectors? im going to run the codes still, but i dont understand why this airfilter is letting in so much dirt.

i would get another, but then i lose the mass air meter since its a special one piece thing. should i oil the pro-m filter?

ive cleaned it as best i can with water and letting it dry out now, cleaned the tb opening best i could, cleaned the inlet tube. im thinking of getting the code runner and injector cleaner to run through, anything else i should grab?
 
Dirt in the throttle body is not clogging your injectors but the condition is by NO MEANS good to have. You should not have 'stuff' like that getting by your filter and going down into the engine. Also... along with the vac leak thing... do you have a vac guage installed?

Do a complete tune up instead of piece parting it. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, TFI, and all filters, air, oil, gas, and change the PCV. I forget anything anyone? If you've done parts of that already then do the ones you haven't so you can rule out the simple stuff.
 
yes, i know its not good to have it.

i dont see how its letting by so much dirt, so should i oil it anyway? it said not to, but it is like a K&N filter. i have some oil so i think ill oil it. doesnt seem to be blocking dirt as it is.

i have new plugs in as of yesterday, oil as of about a week ago, wires next monday, ect.

so ill try the fuel filter also. its got the bump still, so i was thinking its getting a weird fuel feed due to a plugged injector?

going to get the code runner, and the fuel filter then. dont have alot of extra money other then those two things so hopefully that will fix it.

the vacuum leak on the line to intake was fixed last night also. i just used a longer hose so it wasnt a severe angle back to the tree from it. didn't seem to do much, maybe helped second a little again. hard to tell, especially when first never changes.