Okay, for the longest time, I was sure I was just imagining it, but, since it seems to be a recurring thing, I'll ask you guys what you think: Off and on, my 93 Bonnie SE just doesn't seem to have the accelerative 'oomf' that it does at other times. Also, it almost seems like the tranny is shifting a little too hard sometimes. Sometimes, the car will have all the power I need to pass and such right on tap, but other times I need to floor it to get it to wake up. Just tonight, I had to mash the accelerator down to get the old girl to get with the program and pass the dumb sonbitch that was hogging the middle lane. I was going about 40-45, I think, and I needed about 55ish to pass 'em, and it required nothing less than full acceleration to accelerate to an acceptable clip. She just bogged down, for some reason. And I hate mashing it down and hearing her strain so, breaks my heart :( I replaced plugs when I got her in October, so i don't think it'* that. Also, I checked the air filter a while back too, same time as the plugs, and I just changed the oil Sunday, to Mobil 1 (Yea! =p ), and put in a new filter. Any idea what this might be? It can get very annoying, if for no other reason than I almost think I'm imagining it. Any suggestions or ideas, or both? Lol, someone get back to me and tell me I'm not crazy! Thanks :p

You're not crazy, my car has acted similarly, although it was not intermittent like yours. Sounds like you are on the right track with the normal tuneup items. Do you know when the fuel filter was last replaced? It'* located under the car in the passenger seat area. When I replaced mine last fall, my highway passing power was noticeably improved.

A couple of questions:

1) Does the car lack power when it'* in 3rd or 4th at low RPMs?
2) Once you kick it down into 2nd or 3rd, and floor it, do you always get the power you need in the higher RPMs?

If so, you might have a slight misfire that is bogging you down in the lower RPMs.

Sorry I don't know what to say about the transmission.

Doesnt sound like a tranny problem? Pull afew plugs and inspect, do the look fouled?

The fuel filter is a good idea too

I think my dad said he checked the fuel filter too, back when we did the other stuff. I think he said it looked all right... Well, at any rate, I have a filter in my trunk, so that wouldn't be too hard =p the plugs I'll have to check again, i guess...

Any other comments/suggestions out there?

If it is indeed a misfire at low RPMs like I was discussing above, then check the plugs and wires. For the wires, you want to use a multimeter to check the resistance and to make sure each wire is conducting electricity. The resistance should be less than 5K on each wire. The more I read this forum the more I hear about bad plugs and wires. It'* happened several times to my car.

Thanks; you and me are gonna have to confer on car problems, as we have the same year and model I appreciate the advice! Anyone else?

Don't underestimate the importance of having fresh wires. They can make a world of difference. Whenever I had your types of problems I always did 5 core replacements:

Plugs
Wires
Air filter
Fuel filter
O2 sensor

99% of the time it cures the issue.

Can weather have something to do with this.

You might want to try your question in the 1992-1999 Mechanical forum, as someone there has probably experienced similar problems.

mine is not intermittent, but I seem to have some good days, and some bad.. where the car pulls at any rpm, and then there are others when the car only pulls at 3500+, but my problem lies in the ignition.. see my ignition is total garbage.. I have talked about this I don't know how many times.. but all the parts are comming this week [except the oil pan, damnit!, no happy test drive this weekend], Personally, if you have the original wires, and plugs that may not be the best anymore, or whatever, that can seriously downgrade your performance.. now because you have the "delco style" icm, then you don't have problems with the POS magnavox unit like I do.. change the tranny fluid.. there are ways to flush, and there are ways to drain, go which way you feel most applies to you [search the forum, there was one just a few days ago on this].. Hope that helps..


-justin