rtatsutani

Alright, found the exhaust/header leak and it was coming from my flex pipe. Had that changed out, car was nice and quiet once again. Drove it around for about 10 miles and the sputtering was still there under the same conditions (very low load between 2000 and 3000 RPMs). At medium, and high load, mid and high throttle, the car ran through all gears and RPMs perfectly. To describe the feeling of the sputtering more clearly, it's kinda like when I used to have the VSA unit installed and forgot to turn it off and spun the tires. it's exactly like that feeling but just at a much slower sputter and lower RPM. I guess like popping a clutch in and out kinda quickly over and over.

Drove it around for another 20 miles later today and the problem got better and better and eventually dissapeared!

My assumption is that the car was cutting power somehow (gas, air flow, timing???) when the 2nd o2 sensor was getting weird readings since the exhaust was escaping the flex pipe.

For those of you who have this exact problem, I would guess you have an exhaust leak somewhere pre-o2 sensor. Or you have an o2 sensor or cat that is bad, but not bad enough to throw a CEL.

I only drove my car for 30 miles after the problem was fixed. I will keep you guys updated on the longevity of the fix just to make sure it was not a random coincidence that it ran well today. But my car has sputtered for months now and this is the first time it has actually not done it for more than a mile.

All you gear heads, speak up and give us the real technical reason this fixed the sputtering issue.

DelawareCLS

Interesting...definitely keep us posted please.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

I thought that slight studder was normal? All 3 of my CL's did it. It was random though. Only common thing was a low rpm. I could never do it on purpose.

rtatsutani

Maybe the only normal thing are crappy o2 sensors. I drove it around today and I definitely do not miss the stutter. It is running smooth. It also shifts much smoother, and doesn't have that random lurching when shifting into 2nd or even coming out of park or neutral into drive and reverse. It's like a brand new car!!!

kyle77777

Iv had the same problem since I bought the car in July 06. Since then I have had the O2 sensor and coil packs replaced and it still does it.

rtatsutani

exhaust leak, header leak, flex pipe?

kyle77777

XS Power headers are going in next month. Maybe ill be able to eliminate another possible cause?

03sixer

Mine is a 6 speed and has done that since I bought it. However, mine only does it when the car is cold. Maybe there's a slight crack that is expanding once the car is warmed up that is causing this. My car is under warranty. I took it to the dealer and those ass munches coudn't find anything.