Idle Problem or Vacuum Leak?

[mftaylor08]

I've been having problems with my idle on cooler mornings. When this problem occurs, the car will sputter, shake and has a lack of power. I have had friends who are mechanics look at it and they haven't been able to figure it out. Does anybody have any suggestions?

[bubbashrimp]

A lot of people have been reporting this type problem and quite a few have narrowed it down to an electrical problem. They say you should take the connectors off the MAF, IAC and TPI and clean them real good, then take the battery cables off the battery and clean them and then then clean all the ground connections.

Read all the threads about idle problems and you will see where I got this info.

If your engine check light is on you can take it to Autozone or Advanced or somewhere like that and they will test and give you the error codes for free.

My code said it was the MAF so I replaced it. Only helped for a very short time and then the trouble returned. The guy at Advanced pulled the connector off the MAF and bent the contacts so they were tighter but that only helped for a little while too.

My health is kinda bad so I am trying to get up enough strength to go check all my wiring.

[mftaylor08]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Yes, my check engine light has been on and I had a friend check the code...which is the catalitic converter. (spelling? sorry.) I will give that a try though, let's hope for the best! I appreciate your advice and I'll let you know how it goes.

[bubbashrimp]

Hmmmm. My experience with cat converter is that if it is plugged the car will start and idle okay and run okay at slow speeds, but it will limit your top speed to about 50 mph and then it is like someone throws out an anchor and you can't go any faster. I have only had limited experience with a plugged cat though, maybe one or two cars.

You could have two problems, one with the idle and another about to manifest itself when the cat gets plugged up more.