Hey, I think I may have messed up something bad, and I'm not sure what it is.

After driving my car pretty hard for about an hour, I was coasting for a bit because there was a car in front of me. When he turned off, I mashed the gas and heard kind of a clunking sound. From here, the car continued moving, but was not as powerful as it should have been (it was driving like I was in too high gear). It also seemed to be making a different sound, though I can't describe it.

I pulled off to the side of the road and as I took my foot off the gas, the engine died. I couldn't spot anything too irregular, so I attempted to start it, and it would not start. It started after I held my foot on the accelerator. From here, I drove it home, but it was very hard to get up hills (extremely low power) without stalling out, and I had to leave my foot on the accelerator or it would die.

I cleaned the fuel tank sock an Friday, and it has been driving fine ever since.
I replaced my spark plugs and cleaned my air filter last night, it sat overnight and then drove fine for several hours today before this happened.

Any ideas what could possibly be causing this? Thanks a lot!

 

Compression test: http://www.banzai-racing.com/compression_test.htm

Is the idle rough, and does it still have trouble starting? Both are symptoms of low compression.

 

Yep. Rough idle, and it won't start without my foot down on the accelerator. I don't have the equipment to do a compression test, but it sounds like I'll be needing a rebuild. Am I going to damage the car more if I drive it to a shop nearby?

 

You can borrow a gauge from an auto parts store. Just be sure to unscrew the schraeder valve. If it is low compression, the damage is already done. A seal can be damaged in a minor way, or it can break and be spit out the exhaust port. The later would damage the rotor, housing and irons.

A problem with the AFM could also cause problems with idling, as well as disrupt the entire fuel curve. This could cause similar symptoms, and would be a simple fix. Is the check engine light coming on at all?

 

I'm guessing it is either compression OR if you are lucky the MOP went bad (common failure in 89-91 FC's) and took out the ECU which put the car in limp mode. If it is the latter, you can get replacement parts for $100...do a compression check first.

 

No CEL. What does that indicate? And I guess I will do a compression test.