I recently noticed that my 96 ex stumbles when I give stomp on the gas pedal. I typically drive very conservatively, so this condition may have existed for a while, but I had not noticed it. The car accelerates well with minimal pressure, but when I ask for the car to accelerate quickly it almost seems like the transmission is slipping. Almost like a clutch chatter. This goes away at 2000+ rpm. I only notice it when at a low speed because otherwise it would downshift and be above 2000 rpm. This problem I can live with, but it becomes a safety issue when I occasionally need to get up to speed fast.

I have also had an oxygen sensor code come up very infrequently. I don't think this is related. Another side issue I had was a rough idle, but in the cooler weather, the car seems to be running much better now, even on warm restarts.

I have seen some posting suggesting vacuum leaks or fuel injector issues. I plan on giving the vacuum hoses a good look over tomorrow. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks again for the always informative answers that are provided here!

 

fix the o2 sensor problem coz its air fuel related and will affect your engine performance specially if its stuck in one position.

 

I replaced the rear 02 sensor and the acceleration problem persists. Anyone have a good source for where to look to troubleshoot the original condition?

 

performance issue,, try checking your main inputs like the tps and the map sensor with the scanner, what you are looking for is the responsiveness of your sensors to your demand.

you could also just try simple things first like clean the throttle plate and maybe try a fuel system cleaner and change the plugs.

 

Whens the last time you had a tune up? Replace the spark plugs, wireset, and distributor cap and rotor. Search seafoam and give it a try, i haven't seen a neg review on that stuff. i tried bgk 44 with positive results but its like 17.

 

I have had this problem on my 96 ex ever since I got it many many years ago and it hasn't change at all. Somewhere online there is an article with a recall (adjust throttle cable).
You noticed this issue when you step on the gas and it takes a good second for the car to react and sometime it doesn't even feel safe when you step on the gas with a car tail gating you.

 

that will definitely show up if you test the responsiveness of the tps sensor
mainly you will have hesitation problem.

 

I found a few posts that steered me toward the ignition. I never really checked for a good spark, so picking up parts was a leap of faith. In one thread the owner had the same cold start issue, warm restart probs and the loss of acceleration when the gas pedal was pressed significantly. His solution was to check the connections to the ignitor.

Another post with similar problems had a suggestion from TxGreaseMonkey who suggested replacing the ignitor (ICM) and the coil. I picked up both of these from Rock Auto for under $100. They were Beck Arnley. Immediately after replacing those, the car, which would not start in cold weather, started up immediately. First problem solved. I took it for a test drive and it almost stalled !! Performance problem not solved. I found out after some more driving that the problem didn't seem to come back. I also no longer have the issue with the hesitation/chugging when I do more than feather the gas pedal. According to TxGreaseMonkey, the ignitor acts like a fuel pump cutoff, which would make sense that I was having not only a fire issue, but possibly also low fuel pressure.

The entire swap of those parts took under an hour. I only had to remove the distributor cap to get at those parts. The coil was attached with two 10mm bolts and had two low voltage wires attached. The ignitor was at the bottom of the distributor. It was attached with two screws that were attached to a metallic "bracket". That bracked had to be removed first and it was held in with two phillips/regular screws right below the ignitor. There are four low voltage wires on the ignitor.

 

Well... the problem with the cold start idle has persisting for a week now. The car, which had a lot of trouble starting, used to idle pretty well as soon as it fired up. Drivability was always an issue, hot or cold.

Now the car fires up on a crank or two, which is great. The problem is that it has a very rough idle and if I try and drive right away, it has hesitation problems as bad or worse than before. It sounds like it is missing terribly.

But that is only until the car is warm. Once it warms a little, there are no noticable idle or performance issues.

I also have a check engine light on. I haven't borrowed the reader to check where this is from. I think it is my catalytic converter efficiency issue.