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Car Problems....mechanics HELP!

Scarpozzi

Scarpozzi

Lifer
My problem is a car that has 162,000 miles on it. Runs great and has no problems until it rains. It seems that when it rains or there's a lot of moisture the engine kind of sputters when it's pulling out. So it's almost as if it isn't getting any fuel. Flooring the gas pedal makes it worse, but then after about 2-3 seconds it will pull out of that sputtering and act normal again. Weird too cause it only happens when it rains....or when I go on long trips and the car heats up after about a 2-3 hour drive. Then it has similar problems. Help....


More information: 1994 Mitsubishi Galant, 2.4 liter DOHC.


Also, I need to add that I pulled the plugs on this car and inspected them. All are burning clean. I'm expecting this problem to be related to a possible vaccum leak, or perhaps a faulty fuel pump or injector. I'm just not sure if anyone else has had this problem. Thanks for any suggestions. And please don't flame my Mitsubishi....this car would put many to shame. I only bought it because it was 3 years old, had 60,000 miles and I ended up talking the guy down to $4300 when I bought it (my first car purchase).
 
Did you check the air filter? Maybe the moisture is creating a vacuum in the intake manifold? What about the throttle plate? Maybe it is sticking in cold weather?
 
Maybe moisture in the ignition system....does your car have a distributor cap? Perhaps it's getting wet inside, that would cause that sort of thing. But not "or after a 2-3 hour drive"
 
This may be way off, but what about the O2 censor? When you have a lot of moisture, it may be shorting it and not giving the car the correct amount of fuel. Then when it heats up after a long drive, it may also not be giving you the right fuel mixture. Also, have you checked the plug wires? You are around the mileage where they become brittle and may not be working correctly under moisture or high heat.
 
Thanks guys....sorry I had to go last night and didn't reply. I checked the air filter, but I may just replace it and clear anything I can find. As for the O2 sensor, I may even swap out that as well this weekend when I have free time. That'll be about $20 total so it shouldn't be too bad. Any other suggestions? I was thinking the fuel injectors, but at the same time, you are hitting the right areas I'd say. I'm guessing my problem is in the air mixture just because it's almost as if it jumps out from under me when I flood it, but that causes it to accelerate normally again... Thanks again....
 


<< Maybe moisture in the ignition system.... >>



seems logical to me, it's like what would happen if there was a bit of dampness in a distributor cap. - seeing as it's only when it's wet, other problems like fuel system i think are a little less likely, however, anything is possible...
 
Here's another vote for distributor cap. Replace the distributor cap, rotor button and wires. Should be less than $50 and can help immensely if they haven't been replaced in awhile.

I had a car once with the same symptoms and it turned out to be a tiny crack in the distributor cap. I couldn't even see the crack until I looked very carefully.
 
Wet weather poor running is caused primarily by a high voltage leak. Do yourself a favor and replace the ignition wires and plugs. Motorcraft makes a superior set for your application on the wire set. Don't buy a cheap wire set. Do the cap and rotor also if your car uses them but it probably has distibutorless ignition. Wipe any film off the ignition coil tower when putting the new wires on to prevent electrical flow across the outer surface to ground. Then with a good light, inspect the coil tower(s) for hairline cracks. That should fix you up.
 
Actually, I checked the distributor cap and rotor. When I inspected it, everything looked fine. I have to say that the more I think about it though, the more I'm leaning that way myself. It's just strange because it's like it "doesn't work", then it "does and really well....so I was thinking that it would have something to do with o2 intake somewhere rather than spark. My car can be at a dead stop and I'll pull out into traffic...then it will sputter and litterly lose almost all power. Then it will all of the sudden take off after I floor it, but it takes it a few seconds before it does. So, I'm gonna fix that sh!t this weekend. 😉
 
After you waste your money on an O2 sensor ... replace the wires! .. An O2 sensor doesn't even come into operation till it is at operating temps. That's why it way upstream in the exhaust or manifold, to get it hot fast. If the symptoms occur during the first 5 minutes of operation from a cold start then the O2 sensor is a waste of time. It wasn't in use by the computer yet! The cars computer substitutes a known good value for the O2 till it sees a good signal from the O2. The reason you can back off the gas and gentle throttle makes the engine run smooth is ignition breakdown. Like I said before, replace the plugs and ignition wire set. The plugs may look OK .. just put new ones in will ya. They may look OK but are glazed from all this missfiring. Electricity takes the shortest route to ground.
 
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