Engine power loss and sputtering

Dear PoppaQ-- I could list 25 reasons why your car is sputtering while driving, but let's start with the most simple solutions first. It may be your fuel injectors. Buy some fuel injector cleaner at a parts store. Run a tank of gas with that and see what happens. I would also check my airfilter. If it is clogged or dirty it could be contributing to your trouble. If neither of these work we may have a clogged fuel filter, some spark plugs or spark plug wires in need of replacement or even a bad fuel pump. Start with the easy cures and let me know how you do. Good luck from Bovan.

I tried filling the tank twice with 93 ultra/premium gas and a bottle of fuel injector cleaner each, it still sputters and loses power when accelerating at first. When the weather clears up I will pop the hood and check the air filter. I think I just replaced it last year...

I have a 2008 Pontiac Torrent. While traveling home on the freeway at 65mph the engine began to stutter, especially when trying to go up any type of grade. I slowed down to 50mph before the "stutter" went away. I had a similar problem while traveling in Florida. At that time it was determined to be a "blown" spark plug, whatever that means.

I have a 2003 grand prix and recentl went on a road trip. I got worse than normal fuel mialage so I change my fule filter. It was fine for the drive home but I now get the sputtering when taking off until I get up to higher rpm's. Is it possible that I am sucking in air through the fuel filter connections? Or could changing the filter have caused any other problems with my car such as the air intake sensor (not sure what its actually called.

My 1999 GTP experienced the sputtering problem at 28,000 miles and it was the result of a defective wiring harness. I assume this to be very unusual but it can be the cause. Best of luck.

did u have loss of power with the sputtering...because i do big time...i have a 99 gtp 2dr coupe and it has 180000k on it..if im at a dead stop and i punch it the tires wont spin and its sputtering....so many people r trying to tell me bull shit and that i need a new engine...i dont know what 2 do...and it feels like i can only trust a some one with a gtp that went threw the same thing.....

hey man im going threw the same thing and tried the same things....im lost....did u find out what the problem was...if so let me know what it was..because im lost...people r trying to say i need a new engine...

My 3.8 Supercharged engine created about the same horsepower that you would expect from a YUGO automobile until the wiring harness was replaced. The same sputtering and shaking that you report. My engine had only 28,000 miles on it at that time and now has 122,518 miles and runs smoothly and produces a bunch of power. I still enjoy owning it.

are you throwing a CEL? because if your car is running like this im guessing it is. go get it scanned and see what it is.

For all you PONTIAC folks,Google pontiac problems,you will be sent to a Grand Am site,heck im even on their.lots of great info on pontiacs.a lot of guys their really know their stuff about theses cars.

go to auto zone, they'll throw it on a scan tool for you for free. that should tell you the issue, or at least point you in the right direction. most likely in my opinion? MAF sensor. when that goes, the computer doesn't know how much fuel to put into the engine so it repeatedly switches from too rich, to too lean causing the engine to run like garbage while trying to maintain a steady rpm, and have insufficient power under accelleration.

my 99 gtp dies out when the temp gets to around 200 but it will idle till its hot as hell but it wont drive. u have to wait for it to go back down below 200. while ur driving feels like its not getting any gas but the lights flash so i think its electical. hooked it to a scanner and it wasnt throwing any codes my first car and already replaced fuel tank pump. tried fuel injector cleaner exaust system.

Since you have stated on repairing and working on the car by yourself, I can assist you further on this count. I too like tinkering with my cars ( a Seville and an Outback) but did not know the details of car maintenance. I regularly look up these http://www.automotix.net/autorepair/diy/ which are very easy to understand and enable you to perform skillful tasks on the car.

I have a 1998 gtp and when I first got it there were no problems with it, then the fuel pump went out then the water pump got them both fixed and not too long after that it began bogging and losing a lot of power. I had someone hook it up to a code machine and all the codes said catylatic converter so I had that removed. it helped but the car still boggs and has a bad power loss, it randomly stops bogging and starts running fine but not too long after it stops it starts doing it again..

i have a similar problem 1998 mustang gt 4.6 with 106,000 miles and it sometimes wont hold an idle and will idle and fluctuate from 1000 to 2000 rpm and sometimes even stall and when im driving it sputters from 1000 to 2000 rpm but when im punched it doesnt and even when i try reving the engine it cuts out for a sec and then revs i changed my spark plugs and cleaned my air filter im going to get injector cleaner tomorrow and open up my throttle body im having a lot of trouble and need help please someone help me out

i have a 4.6 cougar1994 137000 miles(my Dad`s last car),slight cutting out upon heavy acceleration( accelerating lightly i can ease it up to very high speeds,over 100mph and smooth)i read with interest all the comments HAH,this internet converse is so great man!! i will try the fuel injector cleaner as a first resolution,maybe have someone look at the computer if she doesn`t straighten up,may we all be blessed with a good resolution:-)

I have an 06 gp base sedan 3.8 v6. @106000 we changed the trans filter ,every 3000 since we owned the car oil was changed.it suptters @30 mph to 70 mph we lost a price from the injector clip ....got a new harness ...never a problem again.

I have an 06 gp base sedan 3.8 v6. @106000 we changed the trans filter ,every 3000 since we owned the car oil was changed.it suptters @30 mph to 70 mph we lost a price from the injector clip ....got a new harness ...never a problem again.

I have a 1994 kia sportage which all of the sudden began to loose power while driving on the highway. I took the vehicle to my mechanic who checked various sensors, the wiring and connectors but found nothing wrong. After changing spark plugs, coils and coil wiring, fuel lines and carrying out test to the fuel pump, relays and cleaning earth masses the problem continued. Finally the wiring harness that connects the fuel injectors, the TPS, the canister valve and the EGR was tested and found that the actual connector wires of the TPS were not completing the circuit and needed welding. This was the answer to the problem and the vehicle is now running well. For those of you with a similar problem I suggest you investigate the wiring harness before changing sensors, pumps or other expensive items.

Same problems with 2000 sunfire replaced all the usual suspects plugs wires,tps,coils,idle sensor turned out to be ignition control module was gone once i replaced the module check engine light went off the car worked fine ever since.

Depends how long you are traveling daily how often you drive your car..now you got to think use common sense,,same situation happened to my 88 Fiero GT, I am not 100 % sure, but your fuel pump deminis power have it replace or have it pressure check. Normally, fuel injectors hardly get dirty,, sometimes loss or leak vacuum hose is the cause have it self check

Take bovan advice..losing power has a lot of cause..common sense will help..use W words, like when what why where..This will help when was my last tuned up, what parts did I used, don't use cheap parts they won't last long, this won't help your gas mileage and will cost you more money

Just to provide my experience. Be sure to check the rubber boot connectors for the vacuum where it connects to fuel pressure regulator and at throttle body and trans. Mine were all cracked and leaking and not obvious. All of the damage was on the bottom out of sight. I moved them and there it was. Replaced them and problem solved. This after wires, plugs, fuel filter, ignition module replaced. A lot of those pieces in the vacuum system are discontinued so you may have to engineer a proper fitting boot connector. Hope this helps. I spent ten dollars to fix it.

I have the same problem with my 2005 tiburon sputters between 3000 and 4000 rpms. Mechanic cant find anything. I have tried fuel injectors, filters, MAF and nothing worked. The strange thing is that in the cooler Phoenix winter days it is fine but when it gets warmer it starts again. And no it does not matter if the ac is on or off. Do you think it is the wiring harness as Trackless mentioned?

I had the same problem and I only changed my car battery and the problem was solved.

99 Pontiac grand prix gtp first the car would randomly die and blow injector fuse so I replaced fuel pump resistor and fixed problem for 2500 miles then blowed injector fuse again so I replaced fuse as soon as I cycled key to on position it would blow fuse after 30 mins or so it didn't blow fuse so drove it home now it will not start and the fuse is good! if I spray starting fluid in throttle body the car starts until it burns off...so obviously I have spark just no fuel?? in last 6 months car has had new maf sensor o2 sensor tps sensor cam and crank sensors any help would be greatly appreciated as me my wife and 4 year old have no family in area and this is only car so HHHEEELLLPP!!! LOL thanks

TomcatSuperD what wiring harness did you replace?

I have a 1996 mustang GT when the car is in drive I hear a humming sound and the rpm moves up and down then the car trys to shut down I have to put it in park an hit the gas to keep it from shutting down what could be the problem? adamfreeland19@gmail.com

I have a 96 mustang GT when the car is in drive I hear a loud humming sound then my rpm gauge moves then s just a little power lost I found out the humming sound is coming from wher the air filter go I put my hand on it and it was vibration what could be the problem?

Check the intake air flow sensor it might be faulty.

I have a 1999 ford mustang with cold air intake and a performance chip I had some of same issuesi replace coil pack wires and plugs swaprd manifolds for headers with new gaskets replaced intake gaskets put in limited slip diffrential and 8 inch gear I cans topi tan don issues so far

Clean the MAF sensor and throttle body

I have 2001 vw tri beetle. I have replaced my maf and fuel filter but I am still with no power and I sputter really bad in 1st and 2nd gear. Once I'm in the higher gears I just have no power and almost seems like I hit a rev laminator at 2000 rpms what else could this problem be!

Get your fuel presure tested - Sounds like it could be your fuel pump..

ok so I have a 2000 camaro V6 and I had a leak in the fuel line coming from the tank, I fixed it and now it acts like its got bad gas or something. It goes for about 5 or six miles then starts spitting and sputtering then dies and has to cool off for a minute before it will crank back up. I've had to be pulled home twice now. Anyone know what it might be? Its not the fuel pump or relays I've already checked those.

oh and already checked the fuel filter too.

I had an '89 Pontiac Grand Prix and it sputtered and was sputtering and rpms going up and down and losing power; just acting like a clogged fuel filter or injectors or air filter. Once one injector goes bad, the rest usually tend to follow suit so I had them all replaced. Come to find out, it was the coil pack. My friend had same thing happening with her car and her mechanic would not listen to her when I told her to tell him this. But guess what, after replacing fuel filter and spark plugs he finally wanted to replace the computer but she told him she wanted coil pack first. Hard to diagnose because it tricks the scanner into thinking its things it's not. Ends up being pricey. I mean, when the brain of the computer is bad, of course the computer will give scanner false codes.

I have a 98 GTP Grand Prix. A while back I had my supercharger hooked up, but when it would come time for the supercharger to help input power, it would actually bog my engine down. I ended up disconnecting my supercharger and just bypassing it altogether. Since then I have had to replace my belt tensioner twice. I believe that this goes out because more tension is put on this part without my supercharger. I would like to fix my supercharger, any ideas what it could be?

I have a 99 gtp with 106505 miles on it. The car runs good but when driving on the road it's fine till I punch the throttle and it kinda sputters. I have a code but it come on and goes away by its self. P0171 system running lean. I know what the problem is, it's the plenum gasket. Just recently the car just started sputtering under full throttle. Runs fine otherwise.

Hi. 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix GT 3.8 liter. 180,000 miles. It would hesitate when going up a hill, accelerating enter a highway, passing a car, etc. anytime any type of load on the engine. If I pushed down on the gas pedal and it would go to the next gear it would stop hesitating. Spent a lot of time, money and effort trying to figure it out. It kept throwing an exhaust code. Everyone said it was the catalytic converter. I started by replacing the least expensive parts. I replaced plugs, wires, 3 part fuel injection cleaner, ignition control box, all 3 coils, transmission flush, no luck. Finally caved in and had the catalytic converter changed out and it still hestitated. It progressively got worse and took about 4 months to finally figure out. It was the computer. Appears it was that from the beginning, so over $2,000 later, I found out it should have only cost me $750 (installed). On this car, the computer has to be programmed at the dealership. Places like Goodyear will change it out for you and take it to a dealership to get programmed for you. Good luck to all.

Same exact problem here, however now it fluctuates at any speed..it's like power drop for snap of finger, then normal again. Replaced plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, oil change & filter, water pump, switched to aluminum coolant elbows, radiator cap, coolant system flush & bled the air, jb welded a radiator pin hole : today I cleaned my MAF with maf cleaner, didn't seem dirty but going to do a test run in a bit to see if it's better.

Question: My 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix is making a sputtering sound like it's going in and out while I'm driving until I give it more gas and accelerate; it then smooths out. I recently had my fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs, and new engine put in. Can it be my fuel pump?

try your idle air control sensor check your spark plugs make sure that all your fuel injectors are firing and the timings right write me back if none of those work

I hope to see more hands on repair by owners who buy their cars from dealers. Of course with the help of the dealer...bullshit out the window.

04grandprix--- my car does the same please help...did you figure out the problem??

Have a mechanic check it out it turns out mine was the imrc valve look into it If you look at videos it might not do any justice but I'm going to check and clean my soon and I will let you know if it fixes the problem

I have a 97 Grand Prix GTP. Mine was acting the same way. I checked all the vacuum hoses, replaced the fuel injectors, replaced the fuel pressure regulator, and added catalyst cleaner to the fuel. No difference. I checked all my wires and connections on the sensors. After spending $450 , I was stumped. I decided to replace the components on the car with spares I had in the garage. I started with the coils. I replaced the second and ......ITS FIXED!!!

Bad EGR valve.