Loss of power randomly and check engine lights

[Helenium]

Okay so I've had this problem for a while now, never really bothered me too much it would only do it putting it into 2nd gear and flooring it. I have no idea what the problem is, the car just seems to lose power and does it pretty violently. I'll be on the gas and the car will sputter really bad, it feels like I would slam on the breaks for about .1 seconds and then keep going, check engine light always flashes and then its fine. But now its started doing it on longer trips, I have to drive 80miles pretty often to get to drill for Air Guard and recently, its started to do it when I'm just at cruising speed on the highway, and it'll do it every 3-5minutes. But not until about an 40minutes to an hour of the drive. As far as I've been able to diagnose it, it seems to happen a lot more when the gas tank is below 1/4, so maybe there is some sediment or rust in the gas tank that's getting into the fuel line when the gas tank is empty. But I can't confirm that it only happens when I'm below 1/4, just a hunch I had since I started to try and diagnose it (not very long).

And it gets better, now, every time I shift my check engine light pops on for a millisecond and idles pretty rough. Last weekend, I was in Portland and as I was backing out of my parents drive way, the car just died. I thought I stalled it. But when I tried to start the car again, it wouldn't start. It would try, but wouldn't go. Then after about 5-10mins of trying to start it, I got tired of it and decided to pump the gas while trying to start it, it worked after a few tries but the car sounded like garbage and there was a second delay on RPM's going up (in neutral) when I pressed on the gas. About 10 more minutes of that and it started running fine. Drove off, car over heated. Then I got an over heating problem, it would over heat in about 2minutes at idle. I ended up replacing the fan clutch and water pump. Fixed that problem, but now I have the problem of a check engine light every time I shift. And losing my bolts for my hood, s.o.b.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. Any ideas anyone?

[dnguyen1963]

You have multiple problems here. These cars are very old now so some gas tanks are full of rust. When you are down to 1/4 tank, the rust is more concentrated and can clog up the pump filter leading to fuel starvation. The second problem is that your engine has some vacuum leaks. Have a shop perform a smoke test and fix the leaks. Have you tried the stomp test to get the error code?

[Maddog]

I had this happen several months ago, but my car would continue to idle rough. I had it towed to my friend's shop and it started up, and ran fine there. He cleaned the MAF and changed 02 sensor (i was about to replace it before the incident). I had it tuned up a week later to prepare for my smog inspection. No issues since (knock on wood).

[dustyperez]

mine did this a few months ago. i checked and tried all the usual suspects. turns out there are 2 green(i think green) flat plugs under the left side of the dash under the abs computer? well mine were loose. i just plugged them in better. like you said sometimes the car was fine and then all of a sudden it would die quick and the cel would flash then it would pick right up.

[dustyperez]

and since it happens when you shift i would for sure check it out. i turned on the key and if you push on the wire under there they will make some relays click if its loose. GOOD LUCK!

[Helenium]

You have multiple problems here. These cars are very old now so some gas tanks are full of rust. When you are down to 1/4 tank, the rust is more concentrated and can clog up the pump filter leading to fuel starvation. The second problem is that your engine has some vacuum leaks. Have a shop perform a smoke test and fix the leaks. Have you tried the stomp test to get the error code?

how would you go about doing something about the gas tank? Better filters? Also the car has never had its fuel lines changed, maybe that would help as well? As for the vacuum leak, could that be the cause of the check engine light coming on literally every time I shift, as push the clutch in and don't even shift and it comes on and then turns off. Could that be a air flow problem causing that?

I've cleaned out the MAF before and did all that, so I'll take a look in to the O2 sensor and see where that gets me.

[Helenium]

mine did this a few months ago. i checked and tried all the usual suspects. turns out there are 2 green(i think green) flat plugs under the left side of the dash under the abs computer? well mine were loose. i just plugged them in better. like you said sometimes the car was fine and then all of a sudden it would die quick and the cel would flash then it would pick right up.

I'll look into it. Thanks

[dnguyen1963]

how would you go about doing something about the gas tank? Better filters? Also the car has never had its fuel lines changed, maybe that would help as well? As for the vacuum leak, could that be the cause of the check engine light coming on literally every time I shift, as push the clutch in and don't even shift and it comes on and then turns off. Could that be a air flow problem causing that?

I've cleaned out the MAF before and did all that, so I'll take a look in to the O2 sensor and see where that gets me.

To correctly clean the tank you would have to drop it from the car; however, for a temporary fix you can try this procedure.

1. Remove pump assembly and check the sock for sign of rust (dark yellow and crusty). Don't forget the other sender unit on the driver side (assuming your car has this type of tank).
2. Drain the gas from the tank. Vent the car for a few hours or until most of the gas vapor is gone from the tank.
3. Get yourself some compressed air and a shop vac
4. Blast the inside of the tank with compressed air while the shop vac is on. You can vacuum out most of the rust this way. You can try to spray stop-rust to the inside of the tank or just leave it (it would take a long time to build up rust).
5. Change the fuel filter, fuel lines, sock, and pump (if your pump is over 20 yrs old).

Have fun.