Can anyone out there shed some light on a few nagging performance issues.

The symptoms:

1) Loss of power
2) Previous replacement of Distributor
3) Lags on start from 1st, sometimes wants to stall
4) When a/c on the rpms flutter and car wants to stall
5) When a/c on and on Highway the temperature begins to climb


I think it may be time to replace the clutch ( 165k on original )

Any other ideas as to why I'm have these problems??

/Rookie

 

when's the last time you tuned up your car? and if you did....what did you have tuned?

 

I would say yes you need a new clutch among other things. I bet you need new piston rings with that type of mileage. I would get a rebuild. As far as AC it always robs power and if your car is getting hot with it on you might have a bad compressor. Other things could need replacing.

 

before you go out and rebuild your engine, get a compression test done and see what kind of numbers you get.

 

What kind of car we talking about here? I would also suggest getting a compression test...when was the last time you had a valve alignment?

Shingo

 

air filter, plugs, wires, timing, j00 know?:thumbup:

 

To check the clutch, , engage the hand brake, slowly let out the clutch, if the motor dogs out and acts like it wants to die, your clutch aint too bad(Not a test you want to do too often). If the rings are bad, compression/leak down test will diagnose. Sounds like some thing with the AC, more so than the motor to me. Could be the ignition timing messed up too, which can make you run hot. Does it run hot with the AC off?

 

A variation of the test above is to do the same thing except put the car in 2nd gear. If your car doesn't stall and die then you need a new clutch

Shingo