Hello all. Hoping someone may have an idea as to what the hell has happened to my car. Since Xmas I have been working on the car here and there. I started with replacing the plugs/wires. Anyone who may have followed that thread knows the issue I had with that, losing the plug and all while changing #6. I had at the time also swapped on MSD coils. I know most everyone here advised against it, but the order was placed before I really got any feedback. I also have the ZZP wires on it now. Now the car has a bad stumble if I do anything besides gently ease into the throttle. I thought that maybe for some reason the TPS was going, so I replaced that. I have also replaced the upstream O2 sensor and cleaned the MAF. I also swapped back to the stock coils, thinking maybe they were the root of the problem. No luck. If I step on it, it just spits and farts and won't go for anything. Anyone have any ideas?

I had really thought that the spark plug I lost fell out of its hiding place, but am starting to wonder if it is in fact still there and this problem is a result of the false KR it could cause being lodged in there.

 

I might go and blame the wires. What plugs did you use?

 

Using the AC Delco Iridiums, like stockers. Am considering grabbing the AC Delco wires as you had suggested previously. Another instance of ordered before checking back on here. Live you learn I guess.

 

ZZP should be good about the return if the wires are the problem. Just let them know that you had a really bad stumble, and the stock wires fixed it so you want to return.

They are very nice. My customer service experiences with them have been excellent.

 

They seem like a real good group up there. I mentioned in my thread about tire size yesterday, probably going to go to them to get the 'drop-in' strut package. The price seems steep, but after doing some searching, it's really hard to beat for all the items you get.

 

Plus it comes pre-assembled so you don't have to bother with spring compressing haha

 

Since you recently did a bunch of work, I'd suggest reversing the process one thing at a time to see if one of the new components is causing the stumble. Sounds like you already tried that with the coils. Still have the old wires? Try putting them back on and see if the problem goes away. I can't imagine the plugs themselves would cause the problem - unless maybe they aren't gapped properly. Did you check / set the gap on all the plugs? Even though they generally come 'pre-gapped' they aren't always gapped properly. Always check.

Maybe something else got bumped during the work. A sensor connector? Try checking / reseating sensor connections.

 

I did check the gaps. The old wires were shot (one or more boots pulled off during removal). I will be picking up the new AC Delco wires tonight, and hopefully get them on. The only other thing that I did was a wash down with Engine Brite. I made sure to not directly hose down the coils, and other electronics. This is actually the second time I've used the engine brite, first time i had not issues, so I am not too suspect of that. If I get the wires on this evening I will let you all know how it turns out.

 

After cost this was probably the single biggest plus to it.

 

You mention replacing the plugs and wires, but has the fuel filter been replaced recently? Air filter? You also mentioned cleaning the engine. As previously commented, you may want to check all the sensor connectors. Since sensor voltage is critical to engine management a dirty connection can create problems. I cleaned all my sensor connectors with electronics cleaner as a preventative measure when I tuned my vehicle.