92 Plymouth Acclaim

Trying to put a diagnoses on this problem.
Whilel driving my 92 acclaim home it started Missing and had lose of power
uphill.Although the car never overheated the temp gauge did go past
midpoint.
I checked the spark Plugs and regaped them ,but they looked and seemed fine.
once I get the car started at a idle out of gear it doesn't seem to bad,but
when i put it in gear and get it some gas it bucks and bangs.
there is no Water in the Oil,
I'm no mechanic,just wondering if the Car has had it,any help would be
appreaicated.
Thanks
Ron

 

Have you checked the oil to see if it has any coolant in it, or the coolant
for oil? That will tell you if you have a head gasket failure. If that's OK,
one easy and cheap thing you could do is a good quality injector cleaner in
the gas. You can get that at any decent auto parts place. Make sure it is
recommended for your type of car, fuel systems vary.

Beyond that, you need to get the codes read. This is not difficult but
requires a shop manual and some technical knowledge, so you need to have it
done at a competent shop. It may be only a sensor, but you need a diagnosis
to know for sure.

 

sounds like a secondary ignition misfire, plugs. wires?? spray water on the
wires to see if it starts breaking down under load, if so replace em

 

Thanks for the advice,I did mention in my first post that the Oil was free
of coolant and coolant free of Oil.
I did run the car at a Idle with the Radiator Cap off it did not bubble up
but it did come to the top of radiator into the overflow tank which seemed
normal not sure with it not being under pressure.
Will try the fuel injector cleaner and check the wires.
Thank You Gentlemen for your reply.

 

Well, the first thing to do is to check the computer codes.

To check the computer codes:

With the engine off, switch the ignition key on-off-on-off-on,
leaving it "ON". Do not
go to "start", just "on" during this procedure.

Watch the "Check Engine" or "Power Loss" light. It will turn on, then go
off, then will begin to flash-out any trouble codes that have been stored.
For instance, if it flashes:

flash <pause> flash flash
<long pause>
flash flash flash <pause> flash flash flash flash flash
<long pause>
flash flash flash flash flash <pause> flash flash flash flash flash

Then you have a 12 (one flash followed by two) a 35 (three and five) and a
55 (five and five). 55 means "end of codes" or, if by itself, "No codes
stored. Check the codes and report what you find.

The next thing to do is to tell us how long it's been since the timing
belt was replaced.

DS

 

Ok will try to do this this week. Thanks
Ron

 

Not a timing belt problem, if the timing belt was off by one tooth it would
throw the map sensor way off and cause low vacuum, what does low vacuum
tell the computer DS?? it tells the computer that you are under a load and
to give it more fuel, what does more fuel do at idle DS? it makes it run
really bad. his complaint is under a load and idles good
Secondary ignition

 

Well, whoever you are, you get an A in theory and an F in real world.

 

umm that would be me, max!!

 

One tooth? Cause enough vacuum change AT IDLE to throw the MAP sensor
that far off?


Nuh-uh. Several teeth, maybe. One tooth, not a chance.

 

ok steve

 

Guys, not only will one tooth off screw up the MAP signal, having
the belt tension too tight will do it also, especially in a cold
climate.
The MAP signal is sinusoidal, the SMEC/SBEC actually takes the
amplitude of the signal into account. That is one reason ChryCo
vehicles were/are so sensitive to MAP problems.

The cam timing might be the problem, and it might -not- be the
problem, but since it takes less than 2 minutes to check and
verify, it would be reasonable to do so as part of the diagnosis.

 

Ok just wanted to Let you guys know the status on this Acclaim.
I have it in the shop and it is The Head.
seems the Head Gasket blew and it muist have went a little at a time because
the compression burnt some of the head away between 2 of the cylniders.
So they sent the Head out to have a shop Helacoil (I think) Weld) the head
and machine it then the guys will put it back together.
Anyway Thanks for all the help.
I have been monitoring this group some really interesting reading.Thanks
Ron