spluttering at low revs

[SuperRedMR2]

I've noticed recently when the car is up to temperature that between 1-2k rpm in any gear the car judders and splutters but doesn't stall. Obvioulsy in 4th and 5th it would do it anyway due to the speed, but not in 2nd or 3rd.

I did have an oil leak which was down to the rocker covers not being done up tight enough (finger tight), which was an epic fail by me, which caused loads of oil to creep under the gaskets and pour into the plug canal.

I haven't yet taken the plugs out due to the crappy weather but am thinking of replacing the dizzy cap, rotor and replacing plugs.

Any other ideas?

[Finn]

I have somewhat similar symptoms but mine are so far fairly light stuttering or hesitation - difficult to describe - or vibration. I have new plugs, distributor cap, rotor and plug wires.

Could it be down to:
- dirty throttlebody/TPS?
- wrong TPS adjustment?
- TVIS acting?

Mind you - after I replaced the urethane motor mount bushings front and rear with new Toyota mounts the engine feels silky smooth.

[SuperRedMR2]

The TVIS works now, as I swapped inlet manfolds a few weekends ago and it has the same TB that was off my old engine and they were working fine before the engine came out.

The TPS was also off me old engine which I never had issues with either.

I have cleaned the TB recently. But need to do an oil change before I go on holiday in 2 weeks and will change the dizzy cap and rotor at same time.

It was slightly spluttering before I changed the inlet manifold.

[Finn]

Could be just in need of those plugs, cap and rotor?

[SuperRedMR2]

The plugs have got oil around them and the HT leads probably need some cleaner sprayed into them, so hoping its that.

[mario308]

This reminds me of this;

This happened to me. (I've got a MK1b which may differ)

Check the rubber pipe that runs from the inlet manifold near the rear of the engine, the pipe runs to the sensor that is mounted to the rear right hand end of the bulkhead, its only a few inches long and bends around, if you get a leak in this pipe the car runs as rough as a pig and mine didn't idle and also stalled.

I think the sensor is called the Vacuum sensor and there is a picture of it on page FI97 in the big blue book.

I pulled the rubber pipe off and cut a new length using some spare vacuum hose from a local m-factors.

It was the cheapest fix I've ever done to my car.

Good luck.

[SuperRedMR2]

Hi Mario,

I replaced all my pipework when I took my old TVIS, fuel rail and injectors off to put a working TVIS manifold on, but will check the pipes at the weekend again.

[SuperRedMR2]

I took my plugs out tonight and found that plugs 1 and 2 were soaking wet with oli so dried em off, all of them, started car and it started properly as before its not been straight up to 2k rpm, but now seems okay.

Will find out tomorrow when I go to work.

[Lauren]

That's cool, but you have to wonder why they are getting soaked in oil.

[SuperRedMR2]

Oh I had a massive oil leak between the rocker covers and the gasket as they were not done up tight enough or at all really and oil seeped in and filled the plug canal up

[Lauren]

Ah okay. You mean cam covers, the 4AGE does not have rockers, it's an OHC engine.

Well, fix that and it's sorted!

[SuperRedMR2]

I know its not rocker, force of habit.

I got 10 miles from my house when I noticed smoke bellowing out of my engine bay on the way to work as the oil was burning off over the exhaust manifold.

Oil coming out of head was major concern but then look in plug holes and it was brimming! That was sorted ages ago, but only just bothered to look at plugs tonight.

On a plus side the piston crowns looked very clean and the plug tips were a nice chocolate brown colour

[SuperRedMR2]

Its still doing it after cleaning plugs. It couldnt be fuel pump related could it?

[Lauren]

Extremely unlikely to be anything to do with the fuel pump.

TPS?

Any error codes?

[jimi]

Try another set of plugs and leads, just because you cleaned them doesn't mean they are OK

[SuperRedMR2]

im servicing the car tomorrow with a new oil change too so i'll do the plugs too.

No error codes or TPS issues.

I have a tapping noise only when cold under load but it goes when its hot under load. But thats a different issue.

I still managed to get 295 miles on a tank last week so the spluttering isn't affecting the economy or performance of the car just a tad annoying on roundabouts. It doesn't do it all the time.