[DeathSlinger00]

i have a new problem, only recently my car has been doing this: when i leave it off for more than 20mins, my car will sputter and sometimes stall right after it starts up for awhile. i think it could be related to the cold weather we´ve been having like maybe the gas freezing in the lines. so i got some antifreeze solution to put in my gas tank. it doesnt seem to be the problem. any suggestions. my car has never done this before in any other weather pattern.

 

[Whig-It]

does it stop sputtering after you get the engine over like 3000 rpms?

 

[siragan]

check the electrical connector to the MAF... if this gets disconnected, your car will do really strange things like stalling out and stuff on starting and when over 1700rpms.

 

[DeathSlinger00]

yeha, it stops sputtering after 3000rpms. basically when i dont hit the gas, it sputters.

 

[siragan]

okay, in that case, it´s not the MAF.

hrm, hard to tell. when you open the throttle, then it senses the air in the MAF and supplies more fuel into the cylinder, so if the MAF sensor were bad or disconnected, you´d stall when you opened the throttle, but this is the opposite of what you are saying.

How is the compression on the cylinders?
Have you checked the timing?
Do you hear any unusual noises in the engine?

 

[DeathSlinger00]

how do i know how the compression on the cylindars is fine? timing not sure. and when i bring the engine´s rpms to a higher rate (around 4000-6000rpms) while in gear i hear a kind of whistling noise. dont know if thats normal

 

[siragan]

you run a compression test. any mechanic with half a brain can do this.
timing can be checked with a timing light if you´ve got one.
where is this whistling noise coming from? does it still whistle even if you´re in neutral? do you feel any loss of power?

 

[DeathSlinger00]

it only whistles when in drive, maybe reverse, but havent reached a point where i was going fast enough to hear it in reverse. it seems to come from somewhere under the hood in the passenger side. it´s not excessively loud, just kinda sounds like i have a turbocharger.

 

[siragan]

I´m guessing you have an automatic? It´s probably a shitty pulley. Probably not what is causing this sputtering problem, but something you should have checked in the future.

You may want to check out the crankshaft sensor and the throttle position sensor. I´m not a seasoned mechanic by any means, but checking to make sure that everything is hooked up is a good thing to do.

Are you getting any idiot lights in the cluster?
When in neutral, is it difficult to rev up to, say, 4000rpms?

 

[DeathSlinger00]

no idiot lights and it revs up the same as always. yeah, it´s an auto