When the weather is 50 (F) or lower and I don't let my car warm up or if
I don't let it warm up for more than 2 minutes, I drive the car less than a
half a block, then stop, and when it's just about completely stopped where
it's still rolling a little bit, it sputters and misses really bad as if
you'd think it was going to stall. Once you're completely stopped, it's
fine, however, some other times, it will miss really bad just when you're
stopped also when it's colder and not let warmed up. Now this missing
problem it doesn't seem to do when it's warmer outside. Now it hasn't been
tuned up in a while, but does that sound like a torque converter problem or
something else?
It never dies when going to a stop - it just feels like it's going to.
It does stall however, sometimes when you don't let the car roll before you
press the gas - especially when it gets colder and if you have the steering
wheel turned all the way either direction, but it will do it in the heat of
summer also, and it will also do it headed straight. It has also stalled a
time or two in the three years I've been driving it just when I drop it into
gear. One other time it stalled when I went around a tight corner and then
pressed on the gas. Also, if I start up my car (not warmed up) in the cool
(40's F), and don't let it warm up, and I move it in the driveway and that's
it and put it back into park, the engine will start sputtering and missing
like crazy after it's back in park. Then other times, it will sputter like
crazy when I start it up when it was just driven less than a half hour ago.

Do you all think these sputtering problems are related, or is this more
acomplex problem that probably has loads of different causes and
possibilities? It is about time now for me to get my fuel filter replaced
as well as an oil change, but it has been doing this even before I needed a
fuel filter.

Thanks in advance for putting up with my questions and my rambling.

1988 Pontiac 6000 (2.5L 4-cylinder)
125,210 miles
Original engine to my knowledge
Original tranny to my knowledge

In article <yoQ%g.117503$aJ.112661@attbi_s21>,
"Travis King" <Anonymous (AT) none (DOT) com> wrote:

In my (former) '86 6000LE, missing was almost always caused by fouled
plugs (which was caused by a failed valve cover gasket; when I was
running on 3 cylinders, I knew it was time for a new valve cover gasket
and to clean the plugs). Sometimes bad plug wires, bad plugs,
distributor cap, the whole tune-up package needs replacing (about every
3 years in my experience; had it for 10 years).

--
"Did Father shoot him? I will eat Grandfather for dinner."
- Helen Keller, on learning of the death of her grandfather

email: aripee at inanna . com

"REP" <rep~@inanna.com> wrote

fact, we've fixed the valve cover gasket twice already in less than two or
three years and the engine's all black, wet, and greasy looking again. The
first time, it blew after only two months, then the second time, it managed
to get through the silicon that you're supposed to use for valve cover
gaskets after a year. Must be a bad PCV valve or something? It must not be
leaking real bad because I check my oil level often and it doesn't go down
hardly at all and it's not enough to leave any puddles or drips on the
driveway, although it did when the first replacement valve cover gasket
blew. Man, that oil was always leaving a good puddle on the driveway
everytime after you shut the engine off. And in between those times of the
valve cover gasket leaking, not once have we replaced the plugs. The car's
power (98hp) is already low enough running on 4-cylinders, but 3-cylinders?
Do you think my stalling problem when going to take off would also be caused
by the issues you've mentioned? Thanks.

"Travis King" <Anonymous (AT) none (DOT) com> wrote

problem in the nine years that it's been in my family. My brother bought it
with 60,000 miles from a car place in a small city out more in the country
for only $1800 I believe, and apparently an old person had the car and had
passed away. When my brother bought it, it had a fuel pump problem. That
was fixed. It has always had the stalling problem, even since then,
however. Later, my mom got it after my brother got rid of the Pontiac for a
1995 Dodge Intrepid (The Intrepid had very few miles on it and was only 4
years old then, and he still has it today). The 6000 has always stalled
since Mom has had it. Now I have it. The question is, in those years, was
it ever tuned up? I was too young back then to remember, but if it has
never been tuned up, then it really needs one. I took it out on the highway
for an hour-15 minute one-way trip a month ago to my grandparents' house,
and it still did fine and still got around 31mpg. I wanted to check the oil
before the long trip, but the darn hood wouldn't open and I was prying on
the hood so hard that the front grill bent enough to pop the Pontiac emblem
off the front grill - so I've got to glue that back on, and I called my dad
and asked him if I should still take it up there or not, and he said since
it has an oil light, I should go ahead. (Although I thought if the oil
light comes on, it may already be too late if it's low on oil.) Long story
short, it made it up there fine. Once up there, my grandpa spent five
minutes prying the hood, and it still would not budge. I pulled the hood
release again, and what do you know, it popped loose this time. Once we got
the hood open, we found out that there was a little slack on the release
cable, and that's why it wouldn't pop the hood loose. I checked the oil,
and it was still full.

if black smoke is comming out the tailpipe . the sensor that tells the
computer the engine temp or oxygen sensor may be bad.

http://www.minibite.com/america/malone.htm

Nope. White smoke - normal color. I replaced the oxygen sensor in this car
a year ago when I was getting the SES.
<ds549 (AT) webtv (DOT) net> wrote

In article <9U90h.1036492$084.812151@attbi_s22>,
"Travis King" <Anonymous (AT) none (DOT) com> wrote:

My 6000 had a stalling problem - a little different than what yours is
doing - and it wasn't related to the valve cover gasket thing; as I
recall it turned out to be a vacuum-related problem that took the
machanic forever to chase down. I may still have the service records -
I'll see if I can find them (I gave the car up with great regret when
the head gasket went two years ago but I'm still driving a Pontiac!).

The valve cover gasket thing seems to just be a design flaw in that run
of cars, or at least that's what my mechanic told me when he wasn't
swearing at having to try to work in the cramped confines of that engine
compartment.

Your other post said it hasn't been tuned in a awhile - tune it up! It
makes a WORLD of difference or at least it did for my '86. I usually
paid $90 to have everything (wires, plugs, distributor, etc) done so
it's probably cheaper to do it yourself, though there'll probably be as
much swearing. And buy valve cover gaskets in bulk - the car will go
through them.

As I've mentioned, mine was an '86; I got it in '94 and drove it for 10
years. Mine wasn't nearly as cranky as yours, though! Good luck with it
- they are good cars.

--
"Did Father shoot him? I will eat Grandfather for dinner."
- Helen Keller, on learning of the death of her grandfather

email: aripee at inanna . com

There are a lot of days I can't stand my car - like two mornings ago when it
stalled trying to back out of the driveway and the days trying to go up a
steep hill with that weak 98hp engine, but then I always got to think - most
cars this age aren't running at all and in a way, I kind of have to root for
it as it has been the underdog. The junkie little car that could... Much
more reliable than my dad's '96 Blazer - we'll leave it at that. His Blazer
has had pretty much everything gone wrong and fixed on it except the tranny
(it does leak a drip or two though), but those are known to go to as well.
Even the engine went south in it at only 117,000 miles - spun a bearing. It
was a truck he bought for $5000 and has put so much in it that he could have
gotten a new vehicle, but now there's so much money put into it, we can't
afford to get rid of it either. You never get out of the shop with that
truck for under $1000, and it seems to go there every other month. The
engine was $2500 with labor for a junkyard engine with 68,000 miles, and it
took the shop three Blazer engines to find one that ran well. In my dad's
earlier years provided the right equipment, he could have done the engine
replacement himself - he used to be able to rebuild engines.
"REP" <rep~@inanna.com> wrote