my last motor made it about 5000 mile so do another compression test.

That sounds normal. Its probably just condensation.

The reason I say to find yourself a mechanic is b/c you keep jumping to seemingly unrelated conclusions based on odd assumptions about what you are afraid might be wrong. No offense but you don't seem to have enough knowledge of this car (yet) to properly analyze the problem and getting it wrong can put you in a worse position or just leave you chasing your tail. If you want to learn, then have at it but you will need to invest a significant amount of time and research into doing that.


The spark plugs are fine. They haven't "exploded". They just have some oil leaked on them probably spillage from the oil filter when performing an oil change. The fact that you described them as exploded is worrisome.

In my opinion, you should start by doing a compression test. That will save you a lot of time and money and rule out that issue.

If that checks out OK, you should start troubleshooting the throttle body mechanical settings. That affects the TPS and if the TB mechanical settings are off, the idle will hunt/surge and follow the behavior that you described. Once the throttle body mechanical settings are properly set, you can check your TPS to check if the low and wide voltage readings are within spec. You should also check the dashpot.

After that is done, you can start looking for vacuum leaks that might cause the idle to be hunt/surge/fluctuate.

You can use the search button and refer to the threads in the Archives and FAQs for all of these troubleshooting procedures. I've used them all and those threads are excellent. The FSM also has the test procedures and diagrams etc.

If you still can't figure it out, have the car trailered to a rotary mechanic.

yeah im pretty terrible at analyzing, but good at fixing, so thats why I have just been always thinking of random culprits.

As for the spark plugs, I had just never seen any that looked like that on the outside so I though that oil had been leaking out, and the fact that once I changed them I immediatly had better idle I just assumed that they had gone and exploded (I really didnt have any other words to describe it, as I was surprised to see them like that) themselves.

My vaccuum also seems normal, according to my gauge, but I will have a compression test done and go from there. Thanks again for your help and understanding.

they are-were fouled out.