wierd power problem

[AndyG]

Today when i was driving home my 240 was running with really slow acceleration and low power then all of a sudden when i started to go at a green light, i felt like the engine woke up and i had great throtle response and great power. eventially, i felt that the power was back down again..
i checked the tps and it reads .4 ohm to 6 ohms at WOT. i cannot figure out why it is underpowered and sometimes is not. this is the first time that it has been driven in almost a year. i put fuel injector cleaner and fresh gas in it.. does anyone know what is wrong?????

[AndyG]

buuummmppp.

[AndyG]

Anybody?????

[AndyG]

Well i got a stock fuel pump out of a 91 dohc and i will switch it to see if that improves... i have already replaced the injectors, fuel filter, and the spark plugs. Like i said earlier.. the gas in the tank is new gas mixed with like 8 month old gas. can you guys think of what else my low power is coming from?

[c_mancuyas8]

These things you are replacing are they new? Bc if they are not theres a possibility they may not be good as well. Is it sputtering like a miss? If so you might look into plugs distributor cap rotor....

[AndyG]

yes they are new.. when i got the car it was missfiring on two cylinders but i fixed them... they were cracked injectors.. now i just have the freaking low power in the low to mid rpms.

[c_mancuyas8]

Is it reving past 2500? Have you checked your plugs wires coil dist cap or rotor?

[cbcm2435]

have you checked your cat if you have one?

[AndyG]

yes it is.. i also cleaned the maf with maf cleaner and the wires are all good...same with the cap. whats weird is when i was driving it the other day i just shifted and it pulled hard and felt good then a couple mins later it was sluggish. that makes me wonder about the old gas not burning right... i dont know what to do next if it isnt the pump.

[c_mancuyas8]

So you have changed you old ignition components?

[AndyG]

no but the previous owner said they were relatively new...

[c_mancuyas8]

haha so they say if I were you id at least check them out at most youll only pay $40 for new plugs dist cap and rotor and even if it doesnt work it never hurts to be sure

[AndyG]

ya thats true. would that effect the perfomance that bad though? i mean it idles smooth...it is just like the power is cut in half.. like i could barely keep up with an old civic.

[c_mancuyas8]

You have no idea lol. I just changed all of mine and it is running so much better. Although my problem was a bit different than yours. Have you ever heard of ignition re-wire? I did that as well and my throttle response is alot smoother now. Hers the link below if not. If you're not a member of ka-t.org I suggest you go check it out there's tons of great info in there.

KA-T.org - The Home of 1000+ whp/7 sec Turbo KA's

[AndyG]

Thanks very much! ill try that and see what happens!

[c_mancuyas8]

No prob man I hope you get it fixed. Let us know how it goes.

[AndyG]

ya definately! i hate when people dont post the solutions to their problems.

[AndyG]

So i went to change my fuel pump today and i find this:



And this:




The dickhead i bought the car from didnt put a new o-ring in when he changed the pump. So...WTF do i do now?? is there any way i can save the tank or do i have to now source a tank and a sender???

[c_mancuyas8]

holy crap man! Maybe brake parts cleaner can freshen it up. If not its time to source new one

[AndyG]

this sucks bad. i am going to have to syphen all the gas out...theres an 89 hatch at the junkyard.. hopefully it has a rust free tank. i cant even find them on the internet for less than 300.

[c_mancuyas8]

maybe brake parts cleaner will work Ive never had this problem. Try searching to see if theres some solutions before buying new

I just googled it and this was first thing might want to try

http://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Removi...rom_a_gas_tank

[AndyG]

ya ill look around thanks... ill post an update soon.

[AndyG]

So today i was dropped my tank to clean out all of the rust. First i had to syphen out the full tank of gas that was in it.




look how nasty the gas is:


after syphoning, this is what i was left with:





then i dropped it:



I then went to the car wash to use a high pressure hose:





This is the results from just the water:







On my way home i got 17 gallons of vinegar to put in it:



now i just have to keep it covered for a couple of days:

[rcdad123]

my 89 hatch does the same thing but not very often. it feels like the ignition timing gets retarded for a few seconds and then its fine. lately its been getting harder and harder to start. i might have to do the same thing youre doing. please keep us posted after you drain the vinegar out.

[AndyG]

I will! I hope it will take care of my rust problem.

[riptor]

hey bro how did u syphon out your old gas? i have some really nasty shit in my tank and im goin to need to do the same? like is the gas in the mouth old school syphon the only way to get it done ?

[AndyG]

I used this thing called a shake syphen. you stick it in the tank and shake it and a ball keeps a vacume on the hose so the gas syphens out. it doesnt work that great when the gas is low because air keeps getting in. When i got low i just got a turkey baster and got it out little by little. I didnt want to mouth syphen it anymore after i got a mouth full of gas. haha

[AndyG]

The vinegar got a lot of the rust out but there was still a freaking lot left. I was also scared of the tank flash rusting after i hooked everything back up so i said screw it. I went to advance auto to try and source a new tank. They have a cool contract with nationwide junkyards through there "advance aut salvage" program. i got a tank for 98 dollars and it comes in thursday so hopefully this will fix my power issues.

[Croustibat]

It should. Fuel starts to degrade after 2 weeks when it does not move, if it sat for 8 months you can be sure it clogged everything it was in contact with a yellow goo (FPR, fuel rail, injectors, fuel lines, fuel filter, fuel pump and fuel tank). Dont reuse that.

[Walperstyle]

I let an old 65 Chrysler sit for a year on 94 octane, and it started and ran fine. Still runs fine today. But that's a carbed car.

I would consider replacing fuel pump, filter, and get the injectors flow tested. Lines are probably fine. Your call... sometimes stuff like this is the perfect excuse to get a fuel cell, and a 400lph pump, etc.