misfire?

1994 GEO PRIZM
4 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
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GAYLE10
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My 1994 Geo Prism's engine shakes and sputters while I am driving. As I push on the gas peddle it moves slow like it does want to go very fast.
Jan 15, 2011 at 7:57 PM
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KASEKENNY
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There are a couple of things that could cause this.

This could be a misfire, or it could be a vacuum leak. So, we need to start with a vacuum leak and find out if we have anything with this and go from there.

Here is a guide that will get us started:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-an-engine-vacuum-gauge

If there are no vacuum leaks, then we need to move onto a misfire. Here is the info on this so that we can start crossing these things off the list:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-misfires-or-runs-rough

We also need to check the fuel pressure and find out what is there when this is happening.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator

Weak pressure will cause exactly what you are seeing.

Lastly, we will need to check for codes. You may want to start with this but if there is no light on then there may not be any codes, but we should check.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/checking-a-service-engine-soon-or-check-engine-light-on-or-flashing

Let us know what you find with all this info, and we can go from there.

Thanks
Feb 8, 2022 at 9:25 AM