sputtering / stalling issue, bad fuel filter? Options

[tonytutino]

so today i was driving my car home from my friend's house and noticed something different while i was driving. upon acceleration, the car would kind of buck and hesitate while it climbed in RPM's. It would accelerate fine until i gave it a little more gas and once it hit the 2200 mark it almost always would buck. My spark plugs are relatively new and my wires/cap/distributor are not quite 2 years old, so I was thinking the fuel filter could be the culprit. One thing i noticed was that my car always smelled like gas from the exhaust... and if the car cannot provide adequate fuel for the A/F ratio when i press the gas pedal down, it makes sense to me that something like this would happen.

I am in no way an experienced mechanic so this is just my guess.
I've got a crappy video i took off of my cell phone to help you guys understand more.
Notice the sluggishness at about 3 seconds and 10 seconds into the video...
Any Suggestions?

[azian_advanced]

it's not likely the fuel filter if the car is running rich.. probably since you're flooring it, more fuel is being dumped but not getting burned so it's likely to be an ignition-related problem. my guess is the ignition coil crapping out.
it could also be the alternator not providing enough juice for the ignition system so it bucks at higher rpms where power is needed most.

[tonytutino]

where is the ignition coil located?
I hope its not my alternator, i feel like my subs drain the hell out of it to begin with. I'll get it tested at autozone when i get back to Kentucky. I'm in Atlanta right now, woo.
Thanks for the input man, anyone else have any ideas?

[Ryouxrs]

the ignition coil is located inside of your distributor, this does sound like an ignition problem, or your o2 sensors are reading lean, as far as the alt. goes if your light doesnt come on u should be fine, but try turning all your elect. stuff off then running the car does it get better?? check your timing, plug gap if its all ok then somethings up in that dist. or o2 sensors. when did u last replace the fuel filter?

[xrav22]

Chiming in but mine made that sound when my spark plugs came loose.

the ignition coil is located inside of your distributor, this does sound like an ignition problem, or your o2 sensors are reading lean, as far as the alt. goes if your light doesnt come on u should be fine, but try turning all your elect. stuff off then running the car does it get better?? check your timing, plug gap if its all ok then somethings up in that dist. or o2 sensors. when did u last replace the fuel filter?

[tonytutino]

i'll check my plugs and try the alt. test. i hope its something simple like that. its weird how it just popped out of no where, but i guess a lot of problems are lke that.
as far as the fuel filter goes, i've never changed it. and i have no idea if its been changed by previous owners...

[Ryouxrs]

i'll check my plugs and try the alt. test. i hope its something simple like that. its weird how it just popped out of no where, but i guess a lot of problems are lke that.
as far as the fuel filter goes, i've never changed it. and i have no idea if its been changed by previous owners...

that might be it, but that would cause the car to run lean if it was clogged, it would be a good idea to replace it.

[griff210]

My problem was that the car would sometimes die, other times buck, when I shifted into gear and stepped on the gas to pull out of a driveway, on-ramp etc. Turned out to be the mass air flow sensor.

[Ryouxrs]

My problem was that the car would sometimes die, other times buck, when I shifted into gear and stepped on the gas to pull out of a driveway, on-ramp etc. Turned out to be the mass air flow sensor.

thats a possibility but 94's dnt have them, we have MAP sensors.

[Consynx]

xrav listed the issue i had as well...a connector that was loose. Check connections well.
another time i got the issue, it was due to a knock sensor's death, but this shouldn't be your issue...mine was s-afc complications

This post has been edited by Consynx: Mar 30, 2009 - 11:48 PM

[tonytutino]

Problem: Fouled Spark Plugs.

they were covered in a whitish ash...

[Ryouxrs]

ouch, thats not good. your either using to many fuel additives, or you have oil in your combustion chambers. that will cause your ash problem

[tonytutino]

well i know for a fact its from my valve guide seals... they need to be replaced. being so, that will more than likely never happen :-/

[Ryouxrs]

well, that would deff. cause the ash fouling

[tonytutino]

yeah, with the amount of money it would take to fix that, i might as well drop a 4a in there. but again, i don't even have the money to do that, so i'll just let it be until something terrible happens...

[Ryouxrs]

just keep an eye on those plugs, and your oil level, and you should be fine for a while