Hi there,

I have a 98 Eclipse GS, manual trans. Trying to set it up to be a bit more reliable for commuting. Basically one of the problems I am having is that if I start the car ( starts great ), and let it idle for 2-3 minutes or so, and then give it gas, it will lag out and dump smoke from the exhaust. I want to say that it is a whiteish smoke? I guess.. It only happens as I am giving it gas and has been that way for6-7 months ( it was this way when I bought it ).

I had let it sit for a couple months while I was driving another vehicle, and came back to driving it. Now on top of the smoke, I am having an issue sometimes where I am slowing down toa stop light\sign and as I am coming to the stop, my rpms drop and the car almost dies, then they shoot back up. and twice now as I was slowing down to go around a corner ( at a light ) my rpms dropped and the car actually died while I was still moving. This is only happening as I am slowing down or coming to a complete stop. It doesn't happen every time.

Also, I was wondering what my rpms should be at an idle? Right now its about 1100?

Any help with either of these issues would be awesome. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks a ton in advance =).

 

it sounds like you blew your headgasket, do a compression check and come back with the numbers

 

I agree do a compression test.

 

Alright, I'll do that.

And really quick.. I wanted to be sure and add that the smoking isn't constant. I only notice it when the car is sitting at an idle for 2-3 minutes while running, and only after I give it gas. Then once all the smoke or whatever is out, it seems clear. Nothing while going down the road. Nothing while taking off from stop lights/signs.

Just trying to give as much information as possible.

Also, would a blown head gasket have anything to do with the RPM drops when slowing down at the stop lights?

Thanks a ton for the replies!

 

Ok, I know its been awhile since my original post. Life has been busy.

So I did a compression test, and each cylinder was reading 160. I'm not even sure what its suppose to be reading.

Also, worth noting, as I was removing the spark plugs for the test. I noticed the first spark plug looked fine, but 2,3 and 4 looked as if they were "dipped" in oil. completely covered.

Any ideas? And what it will take to fix my little problem =(.

Thanks so very much, I really appreciate it.

 

Sounds to me like the car is just running very rich at idle. There could be a couple things that cause that. But being as its almost stalling id say there is either a leak, or a bad sensor.

Any Check engine Light?

 

Did you do a dry or wet compression test? Your symptoms sound similar to mine and a couple of my rings are bad. But since it looks like you have good compression, I don't think it's the rings. Unless if you did a wet compression test and got those readings.

 

-TheEngineer

No check engine light. And its only "almost" stalling when I let it sit for 2-3 minutes and then gas it. Then it apparently burns whatever is making it stall and its fine.

-DrumMaster

I did a dry compression test. Though I am not sure if it would make a difference or not, but as I said, when I pulled the plugs out, 2,3, and 4 looked like they were literally sitting in oil. I can't imagine how they were even firing being that wet. But I'm not very experienced with engine stuff either.

 

Like i said the black you are seeing is most likely because the plugs are getting fouled because of excess fuel. Thats is why they are probably like that. For some reason the car is dumping to much fuel in the mixture. This usually means that the engine isnt getting the air it thinks its getting. So again i go back to either a bad sensor, or a air leak. I dont think its going to be anything serious.

 

it could be something with the injectors also my brother had a similar problem on his 240sx the rubber gasket was all chewed up and was dumping fuel. but this should be a problem right at start. Its hard to say exactly what is causing you problem but i would check Mass airflow sensor first.