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1998 Pontiac Sunfire Sputters and Rich Exhaust.
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SteveO79
New User
Dec 28, 2010, 4:07 PM
Post #1 of 1
(2692 views)
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1998 Pontiac Sunfire Sputters and Rich Exhaust.
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1998 Pontiac Sunfire Sedan
2.4l Fuel Injected 4 cyl.
Over 140,000 Miles
Hey y'all, I'll sum it up quick:
Got up this morning to drop the wife off at work, and when starting the car I noticed it was running rough. Idling hard and sputtering. This itself is not uncommon, and would typically correct itself pretty quickly, and run smoothly with no issues from that point. Didn't happen every start-up, mind you. Tended to coincide with harsher conditions, i.e. really hot/humid, or cold out. This time it didn't stop, the check engine light was on (and flashing at times) and there was a slight decrease in power. The exhaust also smelled quite rich. Checked under the hood while running and didn't notice anything obviously leaking. Checked hoses to see if any were disconnected, and were none that I could find. The engine was jumping a little more than usual though. Myself and my father reckoned that it could be dirty/watery fuel, and tried letting it idle a bit and driving it slowly around the parking lot to see if it might clear itself (should be noted here that I didn't notice so much of a decrease in power this time, but the sputtering remained constant and the check engine light was still flashing). Haven't tried an injector cleaning solution yet, but it's on the agenda, as well as a plug in at a local auto parts shop.
It' rather strange though seeing as it's our primary vehicle at the moment, and just yesterday it was driven across town a couple of times and it ran perfectly. Just this morning, all of a sudden, there's an issue. Though I haven't tried even the most basic of troubleshooting options yet, I thought I'd run it by you guys and see what your opinions might be, or what I might expect to see as I troubleshoot this. Any and all help greatly appreciated!!!
Update as of Dec. 30th:
Tried a bottle of STP Fuel Injector Cleaner in the fuel tank, let it idle a bit, and no dice. Still the same sputtering (though I swear it's getting quieter each time I start it up), and same rich exhaust smell. I'm keeping the running to a minimum, of course, since the engine light is flashing.
(This post was edited by SteveO79 on Dec 30, 2010, 10:51 AM)
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