Car sputters at 4k

[TIIGTS]

My car is acting really wierd. Its an 89 TII lebaron GTS. I centerlined my cam about 3k miles ago, and was performing perfect. Now only sometimes it will start sputtering and wont go past 4k RPM in 4th gear. Any ideas would be great.

Also... under acceleration, when it will go past 4k, my oil gauge will drop way past the "L" on the gauge. I hope this isnt my oil pump goin out.

Any ideas and suggestions would be great!!
Thanks,
~Craig

[ShelGame]

How'd you CL the cam?

[TIIGTS]

To CL the cam i used a cam degree wheel, and needle mics for the valve timing, just like it says online somewhere. I CLed it and it was doing great.

[2.216VTurbo]

You didn't indicate but I'd guess you have an adjustable gear on there right? Sounds like it may have re-adjusted itself into a ton of advance. Is you low end performance (3500 and under) really really strong now? A sure sign.

[TIIGTS]

no adjustable cam gear on my car. i was able to get it CLed just right though. and the car seems like its always been in the low end too. Its just an intermitten problem, with it maybe happening once a day for about 5 or 10 min of driving, then it goes fine. When it does hit 'cut out' at 4k it sometimes backfires, and the A/F gauge goes all the way down to nothing lighting up, meening theres no fuel, or im goin really really lean. Revs up just fine too outta gear.
~Craig

[turbovanman²]

Sounds like the TPS is going bad. Try another known good one. Also could be a bad MAP but more likely the TPS.
Get a real guage and check your oil pressure, bet you will find your sending unit is going out-mine did the same thing, at higher rpm, oil guage would read 0, :eek: lol!

[Mike M]

I've had issues with speed sensors that cause issues at 4k rpm+. It's easy to diagnose with a electronic dash, but if you have a mech speedo like me I went months with this problem eluding me. At 4k+ the speed sensor would start to get totally wonky readings (you'd see this on the cluster with an electronic dash) and it would jump really really high speed sensor readings, sometimes it'd get high enough to hit the speed limiter in any gear!! So, thus, it would cut-out.

Easy diagnosis involves unplugging the speed sensor and going for a test drive. Also make sure the connector isn't filled with oil, if not replace sensor!

[Turbodave]

All good advice, but another thing to consider is the intermediate shaft. It drives the distributor and the oil pump and could be the cause of both issues. It's nut unusual for the teeth to get mangled on the intermediate shaft to oil pump drive. You can pull the distributor out and try looking at the condition of the shaft while rotating the engine.

[TIIGTS]

Dont know what the problem was... i just went over everything, timing, TPS, all my electrical, all my vacuum and it seems that everything is good to go now.
Thanks for everyones input on the problem, i really appreciate it
~Craig

[TIIGTS]

haha, Nope, problem not solved. :mad: dunno what it is still, thought it was good, but it came back. Anyone with any more ideas?

[J&H Ryan]

bump - its not good when he cant get more than 6 carlengths on a 2.4 n/a PTcruiser ;) I think its time to check the shafts and the timing for the 12,000th time.

[Mike M]

Did ya try the speed sensor thing? Unplug the speed sensor and go for a rip.

[turbovanman²]

Speed sensor shouldn't effect that, heck, mine was unplugged for a month, couldn't figure out why my cruise didn't work.

What turbo do you have?

I would try an overboost eliminator in the MAP sensor, could be a bad MAP sensor or over sensitive computer. My old engine, It kept cutting out, even with Zeners etc and wouldn't go away. I got a new computer-problem solved, :amen:

[J&H Ryan]

Speed sensor shouldn't effect that, heck, mine was unplugged for a month, couldn't figure out why my cruise didn't work.

What turbo do you have?

I would try an overboost eliminator in the MAP sensor, could be a bad MAP sensor or over sensitive computer. My old engine, It kept cutting out, even with Zeners etc and wouldn't go away. I got a new computer-problem solved, :amen:
Hes got just a stock Garrett in there. Time to get that Paul V cal that I've said hes been needing since this is essentially a 2.5 "TII" setup. Its running a 2.5TI computer. From talking with Paul at SDAC15, I knew the car had to be in top tune before he'd want to touch it though...which is what we were trying to do when this issue popped up. It hasn't done it since his last post much, which almost makes it more aggrevating.

[TIIGTS]

No, as of yesterday the problem is back, but only intermitten. Its really buggin me :banghead:

[Mike M]

Simon, it IS possible if you read my first post. It's really weird and not a very common problem... but I've seen it on more than one occasion.

[turbovanman²]

Simon, it IS possible if you read my first post. It's really weird and not a very common problem... but I've seen it on more than one occasion.

Gotcha, been a while since I read the whole post and skimmed thru, :thumb: