Thread: engine hesitating

The power is there when I need it. Hesitation is only at low rpm and if i bring up rpm in park it is fine but if i put it in drive hold brake and raise rpm to 1500-2000 engine starts to hesitate.

I woluld look at your MAF sensor and your cat to make sure its not pluged.

Most guys here know far more about these cars then me, My learning pretty much ends at the late 80s, however.

EGR valves can often cause bad hesitations if they are hanging up and leaking OR if the wrong valve was installed.

I had almost the exact some problem. Cleaning the MAF sensor didn't fix it. Replacing it did, however.

Originally Posted by cerick08GP

Well, I can’t say for sure what your problem is. But this is what I would do. #1 Take your car out for a drive tonight, get on it a little bit. Then stop in a dark area, and pop the hood with the engine running. Look at your exhaust down pipe before the catalytic converter. If it is glowing red, your catalytic converter is shot. #2 Replace your front O2 sensor, even if it is not the problem replacing it will give you better mpg. They only last about 100k-120k, and they can malfunction for a long time without throwing a code. On a side note of information, all O2 sensors fail over time. They constantly degrade when exposed to the atmosphere, even if your car isn’t running. I worked for years with confined space atmosphere testers, the O2 sensors never lasted more than about two years max. So believe it or not, a car O2 sensors lasting about 8 years is pretty amazing IMHO. #3 Check for vacuum leaks.

Good luck.

You can go buy two cans of SEAFOAM, they sell it at advance auto/auto-zone.. Put one in ur gas tank when the gas level is at the last notch b4 empty. Take the other can and remove ur vacume hose from ur brake booster while the car is running. (REMEMBER DON'T NOT HIT UR BRAKES CAUSE YOU WILL OUT AIR IN UR BRAKE SYSTEM) Feed the sea-foam through the hose until the can is empty. The car will cut off. When that happens take off the hose that leads to the throttle intake and take the throttle of cleaning it with fuel injection throttle cleaner. I recommend 4 cans. 2 to clean the throttle and the other for the intake. You will see black stuff come out as you clean the intake. Once you clean the throttle and intake put everything back together. Now when you will have to done that 15mins should have went by. When you crank the car up will see a lot of white smoke when you rev the engine. That all the carbon built up in ur engine. the sea-foam you put in ur gas tank will remove bad gas and water out of ur lines and tank. Its best to run ur car on the highway or a long street. this should get rid of the hesitation.

hahaha.... Ne who... Ya I would say the egr. I don't know what it is with 3800's and the egr, but they have a weird relationship. I was driving next to my friend on the highway not that long ago and I was like fxxk it and I gunned it. Haha. When I got to a stop light it was idling really eratically and I stopped at a parking lot to check it out, but it already smoothed out. I think it was just a piece of carbon that got stuck in the egr. I talked to another kid with a bonneville ssei and his was doing the same thing as yours and my best guess would be the egr. Its pretty common. Nothing stays clean forever.