Hey guys, need some quick tech help. My g/f's '93 LX (with the BP-DE and ATX) suddenly developed a big problem. It accelerates extremely slowly (takes full throttle just to accelerate at a decent speed) and shakes when stationary. When she described it to me over the phone, it sounded like a transmission problem, but after driving it and checking it out, I'm pretty sure it isn't. The engine was trembling and basically just sounding sickly when the car was sitting in park. It seemed like a possible ignition problem (perhaps a dislodged wire, or fouled plug) but all of the wires were in place fine, and the car had a tune-up just a few months ago so the plugs and wires are nearly new. Is it possible that the distributor has gone south, or maybe one of the spark plugs has experienced a premature failure? Or something else you guys might suggest? She's taking it to a mechanic tomorrow (Wednesday) morning no matter what, but we would like to get an idea of what might be wrong anyway. Thanks in advance!

 

So, what did the problem turn out to be?

If I had to guess, I'd say either ignition wires or a valve-cover gasket leak grounding out one of the spark plugs.

 

I have a similar problem with my '93 protege....except for the shaking....it started when i'd go around a corner, it would shut down but start back up coming out of the corner. Then I got a tuneup (ie. new plugs and wires, distributer cap, even replaced fuel filter). It hasn't started since! I've taken it to three shops and they are all baffled! They've tried replacing the computer, distributer, and supposedly checked all wiring. I don't know what to do!