One morning I had it out, and it idled fine. Then while driving down the highway, it started acting strange. It backfires randomly, and when trying to idle, the revs drop too low and the car dies unless keep my foot on the gas a little bit. I drove it again that day and it was perfectly fine. Now it's doing it again.
What's going on?
A couple people have mentioned that bad gas could have something to do with it. A good mechanic friend said I should change the fuel filter, so I'm going to do that next weekend (If it's delivered by then). Any other thoughts/suggestions?

 

How are the plugs?They should be changed every 15k.

Were you running the A/C?

 

How do I check the plugs? Just pull them out and look at them? I have a Haynes manual, so I will look at that when I get a chance. I don't know when they were changed last. I've driven the car less than 2k miles since I bought it last year.

My car doesn't have AC, but I might have had the fan on.

And fwiw I do need to change the oil. Whether that's relevant to my problem or not, I don't know.

 

Grab sum starting fluid and spray it around if it idles up then it's prolly a vacuum leak.

 

When my TPS acts up thats how my engine runs..

 

starting fluid? what's that and how would I use it?

My dad mentioned putting some sort of additive in the gas. Maybe a cleaner or something I guess. I've never used gas additives before, so I don't know what's available. Is that a good idea or not?

 

ok, I will look into that, too.

 

Change those plugs!!! Make sure you use factory NGK plugs.
The fan should not cause any idle issues --- The AC could
When was the last time it had a complete tune-up?
Fuel filter should also be changed and your father was right about adding fuel injector cleaner. It won't hurt.

 

I'm not sure if it needs new plugs. I will check them before i buy any. I don't have the manual with me right now, so I don't know if it tells how to check the plugs. I assume it does.
I know which plugs I need. NGK #7 leading and #9 trailing. They should have those at any auto parts store right?

 

bro change the plugs anyways so then that way you wont have to do it later and you have one less thing to think about....




this is a good plug...