Hey guys, my brother has been having a problem with my old 94 SSEi, approx 230000kms. I drove it today and if you go WOT and it kicks down a gear the car kind of stutters and surges as it accelerates. This is worse at highway speed (120km/h+), but still happens in town (50km/h ish).

I popped the hood and one of the vacuum lines was off, so I reconnected it. This improved the situation (did not surge as violently), but it did not resolve the problem. I'm thinking it'* trans related (as it is still original/not rebuilt), but would appreciate your input.

Thanks.

The symptoms as you describe them typically end up being misfires/ignition.

What does it do in OD when he lightly rolls on the throttle?

If the vacuum lines have not been attended to, all the rubber vacuum lines are probably rotting/leaking and starting to cause issues.

First suggestion would be to check/replace them. Second item that is very common for your type of issue would be a tune up. When was the last tune up?

No surging in OD if you roll on the throttle, only when you smack it to the floor. There is one vacuum connection that looks slightly sketchy, I told him he should replace it. Last tuneup has been a while, admittedly, probably 50k (kms) ago...

all 3 of my SSEis have done this, it was all bad plug wires. Certainly a start.

Any grinding noise?

No grinding noise. Looks like I will tell him to do a tuneup and go from there. Thanks for your help guys, will keep you updated if I need more help.

If something was grinding, then I would look into the tranny. Looks to be osmething less major then...