Author Topic: Stuttering at 3500 rpm?? (Read 2694 times)

Majikal · « **on:** January 01, 2008, 02:16:24 PM »

I was driving along this morning, looked at my volts gauge and saw that it had dipped down near 12, so I rev it a few times and I hear the belt catching and it goes back up to near 14volts. A few minutes later, it dips again, and it continues to go back and forth a few more times down the road. I pulled over and turned the car off for a few minutes thinking I should give it a rest. I turn it back on, pull away, it dips to 12, and now whenever the tach hits 3500, it stutters like it's hitting the rev limiter. This happens in all the gears. Any idea what this could be?

haledj · « **Reply #1 on:** January 01, 2008, 07:54:33 PM »

sounds like your alt belt is slipping, and the stuttering around 3500 is a fairly common indicator of a bad coil or plugwire. I would get new belts and see if it fixes the problem.

Majikal · « **Reply #2 on:** January 01, 2008, 09:01:18 PM »

Hmm. I just got new belts and installed them with a new alternator. I think the voltage problem was a result of cold weather (it was around 15 degrees this morning when this happened). I started it a while ago and it went straight to 14volts. You're the second person to suggest the coil/plug wires though. Im going to try that out tomorrow and hope it fixes the problem. Thanks man!

JHZR2 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 02, 2008, 10:05:59 AM »

how did you verify that your tension on the belts were correct. Sure dont seem to be...

If you didnt tighten the alternator adjustment nuts properly/enough, you may have loosened then a bit, causing such an issue... Check the belt tension on all of your belts. They do break in a bit sometimes. I assume you used continental belts???

How many miles on your spark plugs??? Id suggest doing a tune up, pulling plugs, and perhaps youll immediately see the plug that is fouled/wet with gasoline, etc. While changing plugs, put an ohmmeter on the wires and check resistance, all should be about the same, and none terribly high. A bad coil could be a culprit too - how many miles do you have on your car?

JMH

Majikal · « **Reply #4 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:40:03 PM »

way too many miles. lol, almost 220k. Im going to do a full tune up this weekend and see how everything looks. Unfortunately, the tensioner bolts on the alternator and such were stripped, so the only way I could tighten them was to pry them back and tighten them at the same time. They are tight to the touch, barely move at all.