Gunny04 wrote on Feb 21^st, 2007 at 9:23pm:


I'd be suprised that a modern (EFI, non carborated) engine would have any issues unique to idling cold versus idling hot.  It should idle just fine cold and rev without any problem.  I had a car of similar vintage that displayed similar problems (only when cold) and it turned out to be related to the ignition.  This car (and probably yours) had a distributor (instead of a more modern distributor-less ignition).  In my case the distributor was simply worn out and the plug wires needed some help.

Here's how to test.  Get a spray bottle of water.  Start the car cold and in a dark place.  Spray water on/around the plug wires and distributor.  If the car dies or you see a visible spark then you need to replace whatever sparked.

I think that if the car is having a hard time idling at cold and it has a distributor than that distributor should be strongly suspect.  At cold the mechanical clearances between points and pickups are larger and it becomes harder to throw a spark across them to fire the spark plugs.  This would be consistant with the symptom you described of the "engine only running on a few cylinders" as the spark gap would probably be worse for one or two cylinders than for the others causing those not to fire.  Once the engine heats up these clearances close up a bit and the engine probably runs fine, perhaps a little off if things are REALLY bad.  If you know what you're looking for you can visually check the rotor/points/pickup to see how bad they look.  (another free troubleshoot.  Always do the free stuff before spending money on parts).

Certainly this is more likely than a fuel filter problem (which should be more of a problem at fast engine speeds where the demand for fuel flow is higher versus idle with its low fuel flow requirements).

Gunny04 wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 4:00pm:

Not quite sure what a tune-up buys you with an EFI (Electronic Fuel Injected) car.  In the old days a tune up would actually tune the carbs and this had a huge impact on how the car ran.  Now 'days they just don't need to be (and can't be) tuned.

I'm sure a mechanic could help with your idling problem so perhaps a trip to the mechanic is in order.  You can have him give you a quote on that oil leak as well.  

Yeah, the air filter will be under that big black thing.  

I unbolted the air filter and it wont come off  Hmm did I miss something? It hasnt been checked in ages, the bolts are corroded, rusted and were hard to get out....

Gunny

Quote:
Not true LOL
it took almost 30 minutes of cursing yelling and banging to remove one of my disc brakes. And that was coated in the stuff.

Craig. wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2007 at 5:41pm:

Yikes.  Perhaps in the future you shouldn't be coating your brakes with grease...    Just kidding.  Disk brakes either come right off with just a little convincing or they weld themselves on good.  They just get too darned hot and anti-seize can only do so much.  Did you use the copper based stuff?  I've heard from others that it tends to work better in higher temp applicaitons.

The cover itself wont come off.... I think its stuck, Yea the car has a distributor of some kind that I do know. Wow thanks for all the tips here.... That filter hasnt been off in a long time, So when I do manage to get it off tomorrow I'll either not find a filter, or something that looks like a filter thats pitched black or something strange. I want to change the plug wires, spark plugs, fuel and air filter, get the radiator flushed (just for good measure) etc.... but its a front wheel drive.... I don't think I can get the rear spark plugs out, I am not even going to attempt it (Looks to me like you'd pretty much need to take the motor out or pull it forward just to get to em) The only way that stuff will get fixed (if its bad) is to take it in and spend hundreds for mechanics to deal with it. Now if it were rear wheel drive I could handle that.... these sideways motors are irritating....

Gunny

Gunny, do you have the 3.1 or the 3.4? If it's the 3.1, I'll go check to see if I can find a way to get the rear plugs out, but the 3.4 should be similar.

As for the air filter, just undo the bolts and hose clamp and slip the hose off the filter housing. The top of the filter housing should come right off after that. Granted this is working off of memory of the GM 3.1 V6 and actually looking at the engine in my car, so I may be wrong because my car is 6 years newer and has the GM I4 instead of the 3.1 V6.