usually after driving a while on the highway, about 45 minutes to an hour, the rpm needle will start to bounce around between 3000 and 4000 rpm's. it has happened in the past during lower rpm's but it usually starts doing it after driving for about an hour, and i don't drive for that long unless i'm on the highway which is why the rpm's are at about 3500 (about 70 mph). it does this "bouncing" at for about 5 to 10 seconds, and then it goes back to normal for a few minutes untill it does it again, and it does it at random. sometimes it happens once every 5 minutes, other times it does it several times whithin one minute. when this happens the car usually still driving fine, no acceleration or deceleration, but othertimes you do feel a slight sputter. like i said this happens at random. it is kind of hard to explain. i don't think the idle is lumpy or abnormally low but it does usually stay 6000 rpm's.

also, after driving ANY amount of time i noticed the engine feels extremely hot. i know it is summer and i do live in florida, and it is of course an engine, but it is WAY hotter than my girlfriends car or my friends car. EVERYTHING under the hood is piping hot, but the gage in the dashboard reads that its fine. maybe it is, but after driving about 45 minutes there is a faint smell of something burning, but i'm not sure what. there is plenty of oil plus i just got an oil change last week. i'm not sure if any of this is related to the rpm needle bouncing but i figured i would tell you and see what you think.

any responce on why this might be happening would be much appreciated