My 97Gt feels sluggish when i want to accelerate.

[Alfonsov909]

Hey im new to the Forum, i have a 97 GT pretty much stock, Just CAI and short throw shifter.

So i noticed that when driving the car, if i try to floor it and gain quick acceleration my car starts to no shake but feel sluggish, I noticed that if i put in New Spark plugs the car will act as if nothing was wrong, great acceleration and smooth. but it only last a day or so, then its back to being sluggish. any idea on why? i do regular maintenance and dont beat on the car.

 

[nightfire]

It's because you have a stock NPI GT.....

 

[KillNThrill24]

^Hahahaha TRUF!

But no really check your wires and coils man sounds like it's time to replace them

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[96blak54]

Other tips,
Clean the maf sensor
Clear out the egr valve
Check all vacuum lines for leaks

 

[Alfonsov909]

Thanks guys, ima spend my next weekend replacing my coils and cables, and cleaning up anything i can

 

[Musturd]

Yea , it's because your car is sluggish . The average person runs 15's with these and my 7000lb cummins is faster then that .... So yea your right they do feel sluggish

 

[the5.ohh]

Change the coil packs, plug wires.. Do an oil change recently? If not, do one, obviously a new oil filter, put a new fuel filter on too, sometimes they like to get clogged.. Other than that, the car is slow, like all 94-98s doesn't matter if they're 5.0s or 4.6s, they're slow unless you mod them.

 

[Musturd]

They're slow period , the only way to wake a npi up is with some sauce or a blower .... Sure you can do pi intake manifold or complete pi swap then were talking ...

 

[MustangChris]

yes. we've told him NPIs are slow, but it sounds like he has legitimate mechanical issues....

You likely wont need to replace your coils. They are pretty bullet-proof. Inspect them for cracks. If you do want to replace them, hit a junk yard and find a set of OEM Units. Aftermarket units are usually junk.

As stated, clean your MAF. You can buy a can of MAF cleaner for $5.00 at the local store. Use that to clean both the MAF sensor as well as the IAT sensor (located right behind the MAF in the intake plumbing.)

How do your new spark plugs look? Take them out and let us know if any of them appear damaged in any way.

finally, the spark plugs are located in deep valleys that collect water and dirt. Is there any water inside the spark plug holes? Are the boots on the end of the wire corroding in any way?

 

[96blak54]

I totally agree with the pre-98's being slow,...heck....my '96 was an absolute turd,..but it still ran like a top! Not sluggish at all.
Definitely a gremlin somewhere

 

[Goldmember]

Clean out the throttle body, too. Sometimes a thin layer of crap can build up behind the plate and screw with your throttle response on tip-in.

I'll second staying with Ford on the coil packs. In a pinch I used Duralast (neverlast) coils on my old '97 because of a random multiple cylinder misfire. They were toast in less than a year. Sometimes, OE is best. This is one of those cases.

Always start with a good base line and rule out basic tune-up items.

 

[Alfonsov909]

after all it turned out to be the Intake Manifold had a leak and was causing the engine to mis-fire

 

[96blak54]

Crazy issue! Im glad you got it figured out!