slow acceleration? Options

[momentai99]

hey guys, i'm new here and picked up a white gt a couple months ago. (94 with minor alterations), but it was 500 bucks so hey can't lose right?
well I knew the clutch slipped a bit but i'm not sure if this is the clutch or not so i'm here for your wisdom. Btw this car will be converted to a gt four next year.

so back on topic, the car is suddenly having almost no power on hills (i live near pittsburgh in the mountains), it's a 5 speed by the way. Well a friend suggested it could be my cat but it FINALLY threw a cel (its gotten pretty undrivable). the cel was for the egr system, so again to the cats. So we unplugged the hose from the valve and thinking it would cause the car to die if we held it, well it didn't. there was next to no suction. So i;m beyond frustrated, so my friend and mechanic suggested we take it for a spin so he can see the lack of power, well he thought i was feathering it and i was at 2500 rpm trying to reverse and slowly creeping backwards, he thinks its my clutch but i've heard a messed up egr valve or system can do this. i'm so confused and need some guidance guys before I gut my cat...

could it be the clutch or the egr system?

there was a smell like burning clutch while i tried to backup, and i never grind gears or abuse this car. The previous owner did though i'm sure of it.

[momentai99]

any suggestions would help....i'm getting desperate. this is my daily driver...

[RabidTRD]

Welcome to the forums.

When you put your foot down, do the RPM's race up and the car doesn't move? Or is it just not moving? If you have no suction, you could have a very dirty intake/throttle body and maybe it's not getting enough air. A clogged exhaust could do that as well. Only real way to find out is to unbolt the cats and look inside. A CEL on a 94 means something is pretty seriously wrong lol. I've never popped one and I've done a bunch of stupid things like driving without O2 sensors, driving without an exhaust, driving with a broken distributor cap... lol stupid things.

[momentai99]

Welcome to the forums.

When you put your foot down, do the RPM's race up and the car doesn't move? Or is it just not moving? If you have no suction, you could have a very dirty intake/throttle body and maybe it's not getting enough air. A clogged exhaust could do that as well. Only real way to find out is to unbolt the cats and look inside. A CEL on a 94 means something is pretty seriously wrong lol. I've never popped one and I've done a bunch of stupid things like driving without O2 sensors, driving without an exhaust, driving with a broken distributor cap... lol stupid things.

Correct the rpms race up and the car moves slowly. to get up a small hill i hit 5000 rpm, kinda scary of you think about it. It was code 71 when I did the e1 and te1 trick, so its definitely the egr in the computers eyes. And I know the feeling, I have a honda that I put through hell doing stupid stuff thats just sitting now. I drove it without 02 sensors with a swapped engine, 12mpg haha boy was i stupid as a kid.

I thought about running seafoam through the engine? with that help? she idles at roughly 900. wasn't sure what the norm was, but getting up and down hill is hell in this car. like 5mph slow. if i do it again I know itll kill my engine. she just got rebuilt, lifters dont even stick, say 30k miles ago. there's definitely no suction if i can put a screw or my finger in the line and nothin. not even a rough idle.

btw we don't have emissions in my town so if anyone thinks I should just bypass, I feel like that might be a good idea. a slightly high idle may be because of clogged cats. that would make sense.

This post has been edited by momentai99: Nov 19, 2012 - 7:39 PM

[richee3]

It sounds like a combination of both. The clutch is worn out if the revs are climbing like that, but the ECU is detecting a problem with the EGR system as well.

[momentai99]

It sounds like a combination of both. The clutch is worn out if the revs are climbing like that, but the ECU is detecting a problem with the EGR system as well.

yeah, the clutch is the original with 197k miles on it.it was time for it to die to be honest.

i dont want to have to put out like a grand for a new egr system, then it not be the issue. like i said the clutch was slipping here and there, it may have gone all at once, but i'm just kinda unsure. would the clutch make the rpms shoot that high even though it seems like it shifts fine when i go through the gears.

anyone have a definite answer? i need as much help as i can get

This post has been edited by momentai99: Nov 19, 2012 - 8:07 PM

[momentai99]

bump as i have work tomorrow. can a worn out clutch cause the rpms to shoot up with next to no movement or very slow?

[richee3]

Yes, that's exactly what a worn out clutch will do. It won't grab very hard and will allow the engine to rev more freely. You can shift perfectly smooth without the clutch by rev-matching so basing a clutch diagnosis on how the car shifts isn't a very good test.

[Box]

EGR won't cost that much to fix. Especially if you buy off eBay and/or RockAuto.

[momentai99]

Yes, that's exactly what a worn out clutch will do. It won't grab very hard and will allow the engine to rev more freely. You can shift perfectly smooth without the clutch by rev-matching so basing a clutch diagnosis on how the car shifts isn't a very good test.

EGR won't cost that much to fix. Especially if you buy off eBay and/or RockAuto.

Okay, that sounds exactly right. I had to use the momentum of the hills to shift correctly and get it home and rev matching. I wouldnt have made it home if i couldn't get into second.

and the egr cel is periodic. it comes and goes now. i take it something is amiss but it must not be horrific if its not staying on. would that be right? obd1 just sucks in general....

[Box]

Funny I find OBDII sucks because it's so damn picky and with all the extra emissions stuff. At least OBDII is specific where as OBDI is vague. Should try cleaning out all of the EGR components with throttle body cleaner. Could be carbon buildup causing an intermittent problem.

[momentai99]

Funny I find OBDII sucks because it's so damn picky and with all the extra emissions stuff. At least OBDII is specific where as OBDI is vague. Should try cleaning out all of the EGR components with throttle body cleaner. Could be carbon buildup causing an intermittent problem.

yeah i'm going to do that. so my clutch is shot and I probably just have to clean out the egr system.It happened right after my power steering pump was taken off so i'm more than willing to bet they screwed up in there because one of the morons spilled oil all over my engine.

I'm a computer programmer so specifics are pretty important to me.

This post has been edited by momentai99: Nov 19, 2012 - 11:42 PM

[Box]

If it were up to me cars wouldn't have computers at all. Clutch isn't expensive if you do it yourself, easily under $200.

[momentai99]

If it were up to me cars wouldn't have computers at all. Clutch isn't expensive if you do it yourself, easily under $200.

i just dont get how it can slip a few times and then just stop catching almost all together. 5 mph at 3000 rpm.... i don't understand this. and i just lack the time to do it myself, in my honda i did it once, but do you guys suggest a stage 1? i want something that will be a little tougher, its all mountains here

and I know, you should see the 75 celica im getting ready to pick up to restore in the garage for winter. no computers, this will be a breeze

This post has been edited by momentai99: Nov 20, 2012 - 12:30 AM

[RabidTRD]

Don't forget to clean out the EGR tube too:



This is how it'll look when you get it all out with the tube attached: (Minus the broken flange... don't try to take the tube off the EGR with it on the manifold.)



Easiest way to take the tube out is to take the throttle body off and use an open ended wrench on the lower nut. Make sure to hit it with PB blaster:


Definitely clean out that EGR though. I had 160K miles on my car when I cleaned mine and it was almost closed completely with carbon. Looked like I was scraping out charcoal.

Barrymans B12 Chemtool is one of the best cleaners I've ever used for cleaning up throttle bodies and carbon deposits. Also, Seafoam your vacuum lines by sucking 1/3 of a bottle in through the brake booster.



That should fix your EGR issue unless there is a broken diaphragm. To test this, take off the upper hose and press up on the diaphragm. Hold your finger over the hole, if the diaphragm moves down, you've got a bad EGR. If you're not sure, borrow a Vacuum Pressure Tester from Advance Auto Parts and run a line to the top hose hole and then have the tester suck on the EGR. Watch the needle to make sure pressure stays the same.

[trdproven]

Funny I find OBDII sucks because it's so damn picky and with all the extra emissions stuff. At least OBDII is specific where as OBDI is vague. Should try cleaning out all of the EGR components with throttle body cleaner. Could be carbon buildup causing an intermittent problem.

i had an egr code, for some reason it cleared up when i did throttle body cleaner on the filter.

worn clutch, rpms raise too quick, but not much movement to no movement extra.

[momentai99]

let me just say to both of you thank you. Especially rabittrd who went above and beyond with the pictures. Thank you, I truly enjoy spending time on this forum. I think my 3gste swap next year, with full awd conversion (i live in the mountains, so why not) will go smoothly purely because of information on this site. you guys are great

[SwissFerdi]

Since I don't think anyone has mentioned this directly, the best way to test for a slipping clutch is to put it into highest gear at 35 or so; lack of acceleration indicates dead clutch.

[Dulesgt4]

A worn clutch will definatly be doing what your saying is happening if its a 2.0 st202 3sge ive got a nearly new clutch was has done about 2k if that i can do u it at a good price if any1 needs any celica parts contact me i have most parts avsilable for gen 6

[momentai99]

A worn clutch will definatly be doing what your saying is happening if its a 2.0 st202 3sge ive got a nearly new clutch was has done about 2k if that i can do u it at a good price if any1 needs any celica parts contact me i have most parts avsilable for gen 6

she's not a gt four yet. i started with buying parts but i'm nowhere near close to done yet. However i'll message you