my car is spitting and sputtering like CRAZY!!

ok so me and my friend are going to the movies in my maverick, and my car starts spitting and sputtering a little bit, it gets worse as we get there, and by the time i get home i can barely make it up my driveway it's so bad. i stopped on the way back to check the plug wires, because i had changed the plugs that today. they were all nice and tight, along with the coil wire. the spitting and sputtering is inconsistant, my friend said it may be the fuel filter, i think he might be right, my mechanic timed the car a few days ago(by ear) and it ran fine for the past few days, than it just acted up. anything it could be? i'm praying fuel filter

 

I had the same problem and it was the fuel filter. Then I had the problem again and the fuel hose coming out of the tank was kinked.

If you're getting good spark and don't have any vacuum leaks, it's most likely a fuel issue. Worst case is it's a fuel pump, which is easy to change out (or just go electric.)

Hope it helps.

 

u know what...i think i put the fuel inlet nipple to close to the fuel line outlet, because when i changed the plugs i glanced down and saw that the rubber connector was kind of bunched up...*races outside in the snow with shorts and a t-shirt to check the car...*

 

Snow? It's like 95 degrees outside, dude.

 

lol i live in new york, we just got almost 2 feet of snow

 

change the filter(they are mega-cheap)..if its still bad some dirt may have gotton into the carb or perhaps the choke is closed. Are you running pionts still or electronic..if points I would try a new condensor and make sure the points have a gap(used to use a match folder to get by). What are the gaps on the plugs? Make sure the dist hasn't moved(bolt should be tight)...wires are on properly. not sure what else it could be..perhaps someone else will have better advice than what I have..

 

You guys just helped me out with a similar problem.If it isn't a fuel issue try a new coil.Heck i had 2 bad used ones in the garage,was really throwing me a curve ball in figureing out the problem.
Derek.

 

i did the points and condenser, i dont think it would be the choke, because it was sputtering through out the warm up, and while warm, i'm gonna change the filter tomorrow, the plug gap is .035, i gapped the points a .017(point gapper works best ) and i did each plug one at a time, so those are good. thanx 4 the advice...i'm hoping it's the fuel filter, or atmost a bad coil

 

Last time my car spitted and sputtered was after I rebuilt the carb and forgot to put the needle back in. My first instinct was that it wasn't getting enough gas, turned out it was getting TO much. Funny thing is I drove it to school for like two days with no needle in the carb before it really started acting up. :16suspect

You may want to invest in a timing light and see what your timing is really set at. I thought I was pretty good at setting my timing by ear. Infact, I drove around for 10,000 miles with my timing set by ear. But then I found my dad's old timing gun, and boy was I wrong. I had it way advanced. I set it back down to 6 degrees BTDC, and picked up alot of torque and nearly doubled my gas mileage.

 

One more worst case scenario is that you have jumped timing.
Meaning that the timing chain has jumped a tooth or two.

 

i changed the fuel filter, and it still does it....this is very frustrating....where can i find a fuel pump for my car(stock, nothin special)

 

Any auto parts store.

 

think they'll have them in stock for my car?

 

I would diagnose the problem instead of throwing parts at it. Why buy a fuel pump if you haven’t tested it and determined it is failing? You may be new to this, I don't know, but replacing parts that don't need to be replaced quickly becomes costly and frustrating.

 

how would i diagnose the problem...?