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92' county runs like crap

1709 Views 13 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  leadfoot
During acceleration when it gets to 2200rpm it lurches and wont accelerate. The tach bounces between 2000-2400rpm until i press the gas enough to downshift where now at 3000rpm it accelerates cleanly. Once I hit 4th gear(65/70mph~2100/2400rpm)missing returns and continues unless i go faster or slower(above or below 2200rpm). It lurches like its out of gas but gets really bad when i use the lights or elec. defrost. I've checked the plugs,cap/rotor,wire routing. It really only started after i changed the oil and disconnected the battery to solve radio coding. 93oct gas lessens the problem slightly. The temp wont come up on the guage like the thermos stuck open. All this started after i changed the oil to full synth but has nothing to do with oil! Also my heater motor wont blow over 1st setting and wont blow HOT air. My radio wont respond to the code no matter what. No radio, no heat, and crap performance. Where's the luxury in this thing? Nothing has worked for long or at all with this sinse i got it.
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leadfoot said:
During acceleration when it gets to 2200rpm it lurches and wont accelerate. The tach bounces between 2000-2400rpm until i press the gas enough to downshift where now at 3000rpm it accelerates cleanly. Once I hit 4th gear(65/70mph~2100/2400rpm)missing returns and continues unless i go faster or slower(above or below 2200rpm). It lurches like its out of gas but gets really bad when i use the lights or elec. defrost. .
Could be fuel pump is close to death.
No radio, no heat, and crap performance. Where's the luxury in this thing?
If you want a fault free car, this is not for you...

Your problem is most likely spark or fuel related. It wouldn't hurt to change leads, plugs, coil, rotor, cap. Possibly fuel filter, clean injectors, fuel pump. None of these things will go amiss on a nearly 20 year old car.
Thats where im stuck. It feels like a fuel starving issue while driving, though getting markedly worse when taxing the electrical system makes me think otherwise. Do fuel pumps pull more or too much voltage when they start to fail? I checked the vaccum for the fuel pressure regulator. I got a fuel filter but havent got it on yet. I'm waiting for a thermostat. I'm hoping that the miss will go away if the timing goes back to normal temp control. If not maybe the fuel filter will help. I also think the vaccum switch at the heater flap is leaking because I no longer hear it working when I move the switch. Is there a way to get in there without dropping the heater assem.? Im gonna check he grounds too. Do oem cap and rotor really make a difference? I feel like Im missing something in the electrical system somewhere.
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Had a similar problem. Turned out the connection to the MAF was dirty (not the MAF itself). Cleaned it with electronic cleaner and it was fine. Probably not your problem, but it takes no more than 5 mins to try it.
leadfoot said:
Where's the luxury in this thing?
you have to be rich to own one! or a good mechanic.

About your faults, heater resistor in the opening just above the hood, the three cutouts. that will explain speeds.

temp wise, probably a clogged heatercore, my 2001 is clogged, someone added rad sealer to fix problems. you could drain your antifreeze and take both hoses off from the engine bay area and flush both directions. might get lucky. Is your temp gauge working?

TPS - throttle position sensor. try the wreckers
I did spray out the MAS and it seemed to help a little, about as much as cleaning the cap, rotor and plugs. I wiped off the plug to the MAS too. My temp guage is working because it registers the rise in temp under load. I have to change the thermostat. Right now Im just waiting on parts. Really seems to be electrical. With the lights, defrost and seat heat on it becomes almost undrivable. An inadequate grounding is the only thing i can think of. I just changed the alternator(lucas rebuilt) and belts. Charging and batt tests were good. I'm going to clean and gap the distr. pickup to see if that helps.
leadfoot said:
Where's the luxury in this thing? Nothing has worked for long or at all with this sinse i got it.
Oh wait now i get it. The luxury isnt in the car, its in having the time and money just to keep it running! :lol: ... :doh:
I had similar symptoms and suspected all sorts of possibilities that might have made sense. Oddly enough, I found that the cause was actually just a couple of plug cables' connections in the distributor cap. The metal clips on the distributor ends were not expanded enough to make good contact in the distributor cap. Mind you, this was with new plug cables and a new distributor cap! I discovered this only by accident when checking the plug cable layout for a friend who thought he might have gotten his wrong. In tracing mine out, I happened to find that a couple pulled out too easily. Bent the ends out a bit for a tighter fit and my problem went away!
My 95 was stumbling under load and got worse until it would only stay running smooth at idle. It had just enough power to keep moving.

I went through the electrical and ignition systems and finally found that the fuel pump was running but only putting out about 10 psi.
I just replaced the pump and it is running better than it ever has. :dance: :dance:

I guess all the work I did on the other stuff really paid off in the end!

Brian
after all that mess i think i fixed it permanently by bending out the capside contacts on the plug wires. I feel a little silly that it wasnt all that complicated but at least I didnt go buying abunch of parts I didnt need. It runs great now. :dance:
Granny said:
I had similar symptoms and suspected all sorts of possibilities that might have made sense. Oddly enough, I found that the cause was actually just a couple of plug cables' connections in the distributor cap. The metal clips on the distributor ends were not expanded enough to make good contact in the distributor cap. Mind you, this was with new plug cables and a new distributor cap! I discovered this only by accident when checking the plug cable layout for a friend who thought he might have gotten his wrong. In tracing mine out, I happened to find that a couple pulled out too easily. Bent the ends out a bit for a tighter fit and my problem went away!
I had similar issues recently and found the same problem as you with regard to the leads entering the dizzy cap. I have also found that my rough running was due to the spark plug tips unscrewing slightly and creating a bad connection between plug and lead. Its nice to find a no cost fix!
Bad alternator or poor connections at battery will cause all kinds of strange problems. Also the white wires on the coil sometimes loosen and give poor performance Isn't this fun ? A few little problems and we've got you spending $500. You have to spend a few hours a month checking things out and doing preventive maint. This is a classic car. If you want a Rover with a warranty it will cost you $35,000 or more. Once you get a handle on things these are great cars to own. Everywhere you go people will tell you they want one, and you can laugh at them and say "no you dont ". Also on the radio problem there are lots of radios for these cars around with codes for $40 - $50.
classicjack said:
Bad alternator or poor connections at battery will cause all kinds of strange problems. Also the white wires on the coil sometimes loosen and give poor performance Isn't this fun ? A few little problems and we've got you spending $500. You have to spend a few hours a month checking things out and doing preventive maint. This is a classic car. If you want a Rover with a warranty it will cost you $35,000 or more. Once you get a handle on things these are great cars to own. Everywhere you go people will tell you they want one, and you can laugh at them and say "no you dont ". Also on the radio problem there are lots of radios for these cars around with codes for $40 - $50.

I just wanted to say how much i agree. :clap: I've been wanting one since I first saw one in 92'. You really have to stay on top of it mechanically and know what your doing. With that said it I have to say that I now LOVE my truck! I have owned many Toyotas and Jeeps and repairing and driving them was satifying but my RR is rewarding in comparison. Thats really the true measure of automotive engineering.
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