I have a 1988 GXL in good condition. But as I accelerated onto the main road near my house at about 3.5k-4k RPM the engine began to stutter and I had almost complete loss of power. I shifted into second to see if acceleration would return but at about 3k the engine just stuttered lost power and I was forced to pull over where the engine stalled. An attempt to start the car up was successful but the engine and trans(plus the entire car) shook and stuttered. The engine sounded very very choppy in its rotations but while in neutral it could hold an idle. Not much experience with a problem like this. Any suggestions you can make are very helpful as the car is just sitting dead in my driveway.

Thanks,
Alex

 

Sorry bud, mine did the same thing. Time for rebuild.

 

If you have a signicant loss of power (1/2 I'd guess) then you have lost a rotor. Could be worn out apex seals or a gouged housing. Either results in a loss of compression and a complete failure of that rotor/housing.

How many miles are on the engine?

Mine gave up at 91,000

91 convert

 

do a search (or look through the archive) for "auxilary ports". Those are supposed to open up around 3800 RPMs; right where you say you are having a loss of power.

Also, the secondary injectors will come on around that time. There is a thread in the archive that says something about checking the ground wires on the engine wire harness and ECU to make sure they are properly connected. Lossing this connection may cause the secondary injectors to fail to come on if i remember correctly.

 

Yea I was afraid it was blown.... just had to get other 7 owners thoughts... rather dissappointed the engine blew but I'm going to make it stronger faster and more powerful

Alex