Car coughing and spluttering when driving normally

[sliq]

Hi Guys,

After filling up my car with some fuel, i was driving out to the city when my car started to cough and splutter. The car suddenly felt VERY jerky. I started to rev the car up but it would not rev past 2,000 rpm, and if anything, the revs would drop well below idle.

I then pulled into a quiet side street and tried to rev the car up. The car would start but then the revs would waver around idle (900 rpm) then fall down to zero. The car would then switch off. This occurred about 2-3 times. I then left the car for a few minutes to make some calls and started the car up again. It then started fine. I cautiously drove her all the way back home.

Has anyone got any ideas on what the problem is?

Could it be a spark plug problem or fuel filter?

Thanks in advance.

As an aside, when i decided to rev my car up, there was a bit of a burning oil smell. The irony of it all is, i went to buy some spark plugs, oil and oil filter this morning from supercheap

[sliq]

just called up my mechanic and he reckons its a fuel problem - would have to run some checks. could be a fuel pump but the likely culprit is the fuel filter

[RG.net]

i had this problem a while ago on the way home from work (when i was bricklaying), car wouldn't go over 3k rpm, and if i tryed,all it would do is back fire and splutter.

Anyway, filled it up with some petrol and the problem dissapeared, i was lowish on fuel and the engine must of been getting the gunk from the bottom of the fuel tank.

What i am thinking is, if this happened AFTER you filled up, maybe you got yourself a bad batch of fuel.

[de Bounce]

Sliq
Does it happen when the engine gets a bit hot like sitting in traffic or when 'on it' for a couple of minutes?

You have the right model (NB8B) and right K's for the crank angle sensor to start playing up.
Have a look HERE and HERE if your symptoms are similar.
If you know someone with a NB8A or 8B, you could try a swap.

[sliq]

thanks for that, i'll keep it in mind

[JBT]

After filling up my car with some fuel.....

You didn't put diesel in it did you

[sliq]

haha no i didn't, i've always gone to the same servo and filled up with the same bowser, unless i've been putting in diesel for the last three years

[sprx3]

sounds like there is water in the fuel, ask the servo if they have had any reports of contaminated fuel in the last 48 or so hours from when you put fuel into your car, if she has water in it drain your tank, put a little fresh fuel in it let it run through the lines (ignition on but dont start the engine) drain that, change your fuel filter & put a decent amount of fresh fuel in her. This should fix your problem... good luck & be careful as this could damage your engine through a compression lock. P.S put your cars details & where you are from in your sig so we know what you have & we can be model specific....

[Benny]

Once when I had a Lexus, it had a similar problem, and it was fixed by putting some methylated spirits in the fuel tank, when it was quite low on fuel.

It did the trick for while, and when I took it in for service, they checked the little gauze filter on the fuel pick-up, and it was very dirty.
They put a new one on, and it ran perfectly ever since.

[sliq]

yup, the more i think about it the more i am convinced its a fuel problem (most likely fuel filter).

thanks guys.

will also have the mechanic look at the cam angle sensor for good measure.

[sliq]

ok. just had the fuel filter changed. car is still playing up. cam angle sensor. will check the OBDII shortly

[rrrossco]

I've had water in the fuel tank before and it sounds like you may have some too Only thing I could do was drain all fuel, refuel with petrol from another garage and I added 100ml of metho to the tank, took a week to come really good.

[de Bounce]

ok. just had the fuel filter changed. car is still playing up. cam angle sensor. will check the OBDII shortly

Although mine did record a code P1345, I read this was unusual.
Found this test method, although I didn't use it.

The diagnostic test code P1345 is a camshaft position sensor malfunction.
If there is no signal sensed after 8 revolutions of the camshaft, this error code is set and the engine check light goes on.
This code will stay in memory; however the check engine light will go off after three restarts without this problem being sensed.
This sensor has been known to be heat sensitive.
Perform a hair dryer heat test, after using the car so that the motor is fully warmed up.
Turn the motor off and apply heat to the sensor with the hair dryer for approximately 5 minutes.
This will raise the temperature of the sensor.
Then try restarting the motor. If it will not start- you have found the faulty part.
The motor will start once this sensor has cooled down.

Hope this helps

[sliq]

thanks de bounce.

how do i go about checking the code on the OBDII? do i need some sort of instrument/timing light?

[wun911]

its just a wire thing with an led on it and you count the number of flashes... not sure if that will diagnose a fule filter though...