my 1990 pontiac firebird all of a sudden doesn't have the power it used to have also the exhast is popping

Question

Whats wrong?!? i have a 1990 Ponitac Firebird wit 160K miles... i was driving on the highway accerlating pretty fast and then all of sudden my car gave out and instead of goin 65-70mph like i was it wind down to only 35 then slowly 25ph.... it will still go if u are goin around town where it is 25 to 35 but once u want to accerlate like on the highway, the exhaust starts to pop and the engine doesnt feel like it has the power like it did... this all happens after u go 35mph. so i took it to the shop and they said it was the oxygen sensor and the fuel filter..... soooo hoping they were right........and they changed both of them.......turns out it wasnt either.......so took it out and put it into another shop and they are saying that it wasnt the oxygen sensor and its the fuel injectors?!? how could 2 mechanics shops have totally different things?!? PLZ help!!! Whats wrong?!?!? We already checked the transmission, and the cataylic convertor and they are fine......

Answer 1

Could have jumped timing..... have the mechanics hook it upto their machine and read the computer, I know it is different than the OBDII, but they can still get codes for that car and see what is wrong.

Answer 2

Sounds more like a timing issue to me. It could be that the camshaft jumped time.

Your car has no distributor, distributor cap, or rotor. Your car's ignition is set by a sensor located near the crankshaft. This provides a signal to the computer to fire the spark plugs. The crank sensor usually works or doesn't, no in between.

Your problem started all of a sudden. Fuel filter, fuel injectors, oxygen sensor, these items usually fail gradually over time.

Unfortunately, the only way to know for sure is to disassemble the front of the motor and remove the timing chain cover. Line the motor up to #1 cylinder at top dead center on the compression stroke, and check the timing marks. Even if the timing marks are aligned, now would be a good time to replace the timing chain and gears as they have 160k miles on them.

Answer 3

Sounds like you took it to a couple of "code chasers" not real mechanics. From what you describe, I'll bet dinner at Ruth's Chris or The Chop House that you've jumped timing. The symptoms you describe and what you were doing when it happened are classic symptoms of jumping a tooth on one of the timing gears. Get a REAL mechanic to have a look at it.

Answer 4

Don't worry, the problem could very well lie in your exhaust, it's probably clogged somewhere. Take it to a shop and have the pipe checked all the way from the maniforld to the muffler. There must be an obstruction somewhere.

Answer 5

GM H.E.I distibutorss were very high energy systems and were bad about burning a hole in the rotor and shorting out to the disributor shaft.pull the rotor and look for a burnt through spot on the back of it.if it is black on the back toss it and buy a new one. this may not be the problem but is the easiest and cheapest to check and correct

Answer 6

attempt a clean gasoline clear out first, notwithstanding it sounds more advantageous like that's jumped time, meaning putting a clean timing chain on it. in case you don't be conscious of how, do not attempt it. you'll have the timing marks accurate once you position interior the chain or it is going to run in simple terms as undesirable or worse. If that's the chain, what has befell is it has slipped one or 2 tooth on the sprocket and placed the engine out of time. verify this and observe if it sounds accurate to you. once you initiate the automobile that is difficult to initiate and as quickly because that's operating it would not want to idle accurate. (Iratic) even as utilizing at decrease speeds round city it has a tendency to lag or no longer want to flow once you first push on the gasoline. also, once you do attempt tochronic it swifter it acts like that is flooding the engine with gasoline or bogging down the more advantageous you push on the pedal. If this feels like youe automobile, then i might want to easily about guess that's the timing. sturdy success.

Answer 7

when it has to do with power loss it can be so many differant things, so sometimes its hard to tell. it could be plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, fuel injectors, fuel filter, the cat but you said that was checked, o2 sensor, exhaust could be clogged. also you can have the timing checked

Answer 8

Run a compression check on the engine, you may have broken a valve spring. That would be a good starting point anyway to check the valves.

Answer 9

It sounds like your timing is off.If you changed spark plugs or wires,it's always a good ideal to check to check the timing also.If your distributer is lose it will lose power and backfire.