Hello everyone, I searched the forum and couldn't find anything that pertained to my problem. Whenever Im in any gear and try to go 3/4 throttle all the way up to full throttle my engine stutters and sometimes backfires.Ive checked the fuel filter and fuel pump both work fine and I changed all the sparking components. Could It be a clogged cat? What is odd to me is that I drove for like 20 miles and it ran practically perfect, then when I was leaving the store it started acting up. Idk whats wrong please help.

 

How many miles on the car? Did you just buy it? Does your state have a lemon law/3 day return policy?

Do the dodge key dance and see if you have any error codes. Check the sticky link at the top of the 1st gen forum.

It could be a clogged cat, it could be a bad crank/cam sensor, it could be a bad IAC or TPS. It could be a wire(s) shorting out. It could be a head gasket going bad. In other words, it could be a number of things.

 

155,000 miles. I bought it used awhile ago, by saying store I meant grocery store.
Codes,
12 battery doesnt matter
32 My EGR went bad so I blocked it off, I didn't know if that could hurt it?
43 misfire, spark components are all brand new
55 end of codes
replaced crank and cam
got different iac and tps and I checked all the wires
The car did overheat at one point but that was just because of low coolant and it worked good after that.

 

1) Disconnect the tailpipe right at the header. Let it drop down to the rack and pinion unit and just wire it down so that it won't clang around.

It will be loud as hell and your neighbors will just "love" you, but if your car responds normally when you do, then either your cat is clogged and/or the muffler is too. You may have to replace the doughnut, but that is cheap.

2) If #1 does not help, then I suggest doing a head compression check to make sure each of your cylinders are within 10% of each other and that all of them are >= 150psi (service limit) and no more then 195psi. Look for something like 175, 178, 180, 175. If one cylinder varies from the rest by more then 10%, then you really need to look at replacing it because that is usually very bad juju of things to come. Something like 175, 178, 140, 175 is what I am talking about.

3) Blocking off the EGR will actually help performance. The only annoying thing is that your CEL will always be on (unless you put a resistor in the line to simulate a good EGR).

4) Last but not least is the fact that you have 155K on the car. When was the timing belt replaced? If you cannot answer that question, then you may have dropped a tooth or two and that can cause the problems you are seeing. You have an SOHC, so remove the timing check cover plug (center top of timing cover), put the engine #1 cyl at TDC and see if the timing gear notch matches up with the notch on the cover. If not, timing belt replacement time.

 

So I disconnected tailpipe and when i went full throttle it was loud as hell but it still studders.
I dont think I have the right stuff to do a compression test.
As far as timing belt goes could you tell me how to put it at TDC?

 

Go to autozone, advance, Oreilly, Napa and rent a cylinder compression checker. When you return it, you get all of your money back. That, or go to harborfreight (local or online) and buy: Item #92697 - $13

1) Take out the #1 spark plug. If you want it to be easier, take out all 4.
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At this point you can do a quick compression check by just screwing the tester in each cylinder as you would a spark plug. Unplug the main wire to the coil (so it won't start) and turn over the engine for about 4 seconds (each cyl) to get a good readout per cylinder. Write down the value and clear it between each cylinder (press the pressure relief valve on the side to 0 it out). It is that easy to do.
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2) Loosen the lugnuts on the front passenger wheel. Jack up the car on that side, take off that wheel.

3) Take off whatever plastic crap blocks you from seeing the crankshaft pulley and the center bolt. There is a knockout plug that is even easier to remove/put back, but I still recommend taking all the crap off to see it even better.

4) Take a very very long thin screwdriver (or in my case, I used a 12 inch long punch tool) to put down inside the #1 cylinder (thru the spark plug hole). It MUST to be long enough to NOT get lost in the cylinder head!!!! I cannot emphasize that enough!!! At the bottom of the stroke, you want at least 2 to 3 inches sticking above the valve cover so you can see it easily.

5) Take a 17mm (may be 19mm) socket and turn your engine over clockwise using that bolt. It will be tight on a compression, and then loosen up afterwards as you cycle thru each cylinder. When you see the #1 cylinder begin to rise, keep turning it until you see it (and feel it) reach the top and start back down. Reverse direction on the bolt (counter-clockwise) and turn it back until you see it get to the top of the stroke again. That is TDC (top dead center). You may have to go back and forth a couple of times to be sure you have it just right.

6) At this point, you can open up the plug in the cover and see if your timing mark on the camshaft aligns with the mark on the cover. If not, there is your problem - even if it is only a 1/2 tooth off.

 

Use copper champion plugs, gap them to spec. Service the injectors, check fuel pressure while its sputtering. Timing being off 80% of the time will throw codes. I got money on poor spark gap, map sensor, injector, or fuel pressure. Assuming engine internals aren't burning oil or coolant, otherwise start there.

 

So I went to O'Reilly's and got the codes read and EGR blah blah but the one I didn't get doing the key dance was faulty coilpack so Im replacing that but I'm pretty sure that it can cause intermittant problems and replacing that will fix it. I also checked and the timing is perfect, compression is good according to the O'reilly guys, Im using copper plugs gapped to spec, replaced map sensor, and checked fuel pressure. Hopefully the coil is the problem.

 

Coil was the problem on my 95 SOHC and it would cause the 3rd cylinder wire to overheat and shut down my car. Luckily a local pick a part had a 95 laying around that I was able to steal the coil pack off of.

 

Cool. Thanks for updating the solution. It sucks when you read a thread and never see the final answer.