Hey guys, I have an 85 GSL w/ 60K miles in it. Everything is stock. Nothing has ever been replaced in this car except for the muffler and the average tuneup. The problem I have is that she feels sluggish on all gears. She only goes to 60 and very slowly. She turns on fine and seems to rev up pretty good on neutral. I changed the spark plugs, cap, rotor, wires. Does anybody know what the main cause of this would be? Where should I look first and is this something I should really worry about?

 

Does it slow down real fast when you take your foot off the gas?

Maybe somethings draging (e brake?)

Otherwise I'd say it's time for an exhaust and a carb upgrade

 

clutch slipping??

 

I think I'm on to something here, give me time to run some tests....................

 

timing; probably got retarded somehow.

 

Need more info. It could be a carb problem, but it may also be something as simple as a fuel filter that's past its "best before" date.

Is it consistently sluggish all through the rpm range, or does it start off fine and then bog down at higher rpm? Does the choke retract once operating temperature is reached? Do any of your rims become hotter than the others after a drive, even though you didn't do any hard or prolonged braking? Is the e-brake cable actually releasing when you put the handle in the full-down position?

 

The car is sluggish all though the rpm range. Once it hits 60 it won't go any faster even though I have the pedal all the way down. The power seems to come and go in small spurts when I play with the gears. I't never occured to me to check the brakes, I'll definetly do thia tomorrow. Is there any other symptoms directly related to the cat being clogged.

 

yea, clogged cat could be the prob as well. put a test pipe in it's place to check

 

Sounds like youve got a 12A.

 

I just read on another thread that a vacum leak could cause the brakes to fail. Well, my brakes are way spongy. I have to press the brakes all the way down and they bearly stop. I thought maybe moisture had gootten in the system. note- the breaks don't leak at all.

 

A clogged cat would be evident by a) sluggush performance, b) very little exhaust coming out the tail pipes at rpm and c) the "Overheat Exhaust System" warning light in the instrument panel alluminating.

If neither a) or b) are the case, let's move on to the fuel filter. It's the cheapest and easiest task, and it hasn't been changed, so do that next. The filter is about $5 at Napa and is located under the car on the drivers' side just forward of the fuel tank. The re and re is a 5-minute operation. If that doesn't solve the problem, what the hell--- it probably needed replacing anyway.

 

Sounds more like air in the system. Check the brake fluid reservior. I'm guessing it's way down and the fluid is dirty. Get someone to help you bleed the brake sytem. This will flush out the air and old dirty fluid and replenish the supply with new fluid. Have you ever bled a brake system before?

 

Sounds like the same issue I have, which has been narrowed down to a needed carb rebuild. Check your ignition and make sure that you have spark on the leading, otherwise I would consider a rebuild on the carb. Good luck..