Yesterday I took a long drive at highway speeds in my BJ8. Then when my car
was good and warm, I took a ride down a winding road, which required lower
speeds, frequent acceleration and deceleration and gear changes.
About five minutes into the more fun portion of the trip, my car began to
sputter and backfire during acceleration. The harder I pushed the gas down,
the more noise from up front in the form of spitting, backfires, and an odd
fluttering sound like only a few of the cylinders were firing. I backed off
the gas, and the car seems to run better, but each time I'd accelerate, the
above would repeat. I headed for the ranch, and by the time I got back (no
more than 2-3 miles), I could depress the accelerator fully and get no power
from the car. It finally quit about 100 feet from my front door.....thanks
to good free-wheeling I got it in the driveway.
After several attempts to restart, it finally caught again. Initially I laid
off the gas and choke, but it was only when I pumped the accelerator a
couple of times that the engine started. It ran rough for a few seconds, and
then picked up like nothing had happened. No gas leakage appears under the
hood, the fuel filter is full, and the tank is more than half full with
fresh gas. Fuel pump is pumping. Does this pattern of behavior sound
familiar to someone, and what's the best way to further diagnose the
problem? As usual, many thanks in advance for the help.
Jim Parish
Parish Partners, Inc.
214-663-6000 mobile
8904 SE Porter Road
Vancouver, WA 98664
360-828-8270 Washington office
503-622-1616 Oregon office
503-210-7115 fax
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