Strange Problem
 

On my way home this evening I had a problem with my 85 GSL-SE. As I went to accelerate out of a stop light with the accelerator floored, the RPM promptly climbed but the speed was slow. I couldn't even accelerate up a hill in fourth gear. Any ideas as to what is going on?

so your rpm's go up but you are not gaining speed??? sounds like the clutch is slipping.

Yep; if the RPMs are climbing but road speed is not climbing proportionately, your clutch is not fully locked.

Could be a worn clutch or pressure plate, broken pressure plate springs, oil pollution of the friction disk, or a sticking throwout bearing or slave cylinder.

Thanks for the input but I have some further questions.

This weekend it seemed to develop a new symptom, I get a strong gasoline smell. Could this also be caused by leaking fuel injectors?

The clutch feels ok, and i think that I replaced the clutch about 50,000 miles ago and about 10,000 miles ago I redid the clutch cylinders (both master and slave). I'll have to take it in to have someone look at the clutch to be sure its not the pressure plate as this has never been replaced. How does one get oil polution of the friction disk and what is the fix, remove and replace?

The problem seems to be getting worse everytime I drive the car.

Problem was not the clutch, it checked out good.

Thing sort of acts as if the choke is stuck and the engine is getting too much gas. I also noticed that the gas consumption is way up, I burned close to a quarter of a tank on a trip that normally takes an eighth.

I'm stuck - is it injectors or something else in the fuel system?

Oh course gas consumption is up, the engine is turning more rpms than it did before for the same distance traveled. How did the clutch check out good?

I'm also getting an occasional misfire in the engine and lately I can not seem to get the RPMs above 4,000. The mechanic I took the car to could not find a cause to the problem but ruled out the clutch becuase it grabbed when he popped it several times. Would a leaking injector cause this probelm?

Reach inside the air filter housing to see if the afm flapper is stuck.

First off, you need to separate these problems; they may or may not be related.

Your first issue sounds like the clutch disk is gone. After 50k miles, I'd expect you'd have some wear, but I don't know how you drive, and if you're an autocrosser, you're on borrowed time at 50k miles with track time on it. Replace the clutch disk is the fix on that one.

Your fuel smell could be leaky injectors, OR it could be a leaking fuel rail (pulsation dampner or lines). You need to grab a flashlight and look under the intake manifold for fuel pooling. Because of the intake vents right behind the hood gap, any engine smells get sucked into the cabin, and is why you're smelling it.

Excessive fuel consumption could be #1 or #2, above, or could be both. Take a methodical approach to figuring this out, and we'll work with you from there. If you see pooling fuel under the intake manifold, it's likely the fuel rail itself, or the lines going to it - you're seeing 45psi out of the rail, so even pinholes will spray fuel like a geyser. Get in there and check it out for safety's sake.