Trouble revving the car when cold.

DFG 5OH

Active Member
Aug 28, 2004
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Louisville, KY
When i start my car, when its cool outside, my car will not rev up until i get the motor warm a little bit. I've been doing some research and i think it could be clogged catalytic converters. The exhaust also doesnt sound right when its started, it takes it a minute for it go warm up for the exhaust to sound normal. It kinda grumbles, and if i try to rev it, it pretty much wont rev at all.
 
pulled codes? do you have a vac gauge? if you rev the motor and hold it (say 3K rpm), the vac will be steady. if it starts to drop that suggests an exhaust restriction. i kinda doubt that based on the other things you said.


good luck.
 
Well the catalytic converters on our cars have been known to give problems quite frequently. Just throw an o/r mid-pipe on there and you're set! :D

AND DON'T TRY AND REV YOUR ENGINE WHILE IT'S COLD!!! The piston rings haven't been properly heated and expanded yet, which can cause problems such as blow-by (i think that's what it's called) where oil gets into the combustion chamber etc. It's just not wise at all to try and rev your engine or drive your car hard when it's still cold.
 
I had similar problems (and I have an offroad H pipe)...and I did some tuning up on my car with new spark plugs/9mm FR wires/pcv valve/cleaned the IAB and throttle body with carb cleaner/and air filter...and that fixed my car "not revving" when it was cold... :shrug:

And plus it doesn't die (when it is cold)...it will start up and remain idle even better than it did in the summer (before the "tune")...
 
matthiasj said:
I've got new plugs, i need to get new plug wires, dist. cap, and clean those other things you mentioned that i dont know what they are.


Oh and I also forgot I replaced the distributor cap and rotor (both OEM)...also

The IAB (on mine) is on the side of the throttle body and is about 4 inchs long in a cylinder shape...it reads your incoming air temperature...

The throttle body is attached to your throttle body "arm" that is attached to your upper intake...

Good Luck with it...
 
matthiasj said:
I've got new plugs, i need to get new plug wires, dist. cap, and clean those other things you mentioned that i dont know what they are.
while getting other parts, i might suggest a picking up a repair manual if you dont have one. it is one of the best investments one can make (and will have pics and descriptions of stuff).

good luck.