99 Corolla Sputtering and Shuddering - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

arnoldx32 · 08-05-2009, 11:28 AM

As my first car, I just purchased a 1999 Corolla LE. It only has 92K miles. For the first few days, everything worked great. Plenty of pep and the ability to make the hole-shot. Just the other night, I filled the gas tank for the first time. This is when the problems started.

The engine starts great. Idles fine too. But, whenever I shift into drive, RPMs drop and the engine/car shudders back and forth. There is a definite miss in the engine. Power is reduced also. The engine sputters and carries on. Also, the check engine light blinks on and off for a few minutes before staying on.

I havent had the chance to hook it up to a computer to see what codes it comes up with.

I'm really hoping it is just water in the gas I filled it with. A day ago I put dry-gas in the tank. There has been no change yet.

Can anyone help me? Any suggestions or ideas?

fishexpo101 · 08-05-2009, 01:45 PM

Put and scanner on it and find out what code the ECM flagged. Could be a bad tank of gas (water or contaminated with diesel fuel - happens from time to time). Flashing CEL lamp is a bad sign - means that there is a serious engine problem at that time - car should not be driven until problem is resolved. Steady CEL means the car could be driveable, but should be checked out ASAP.

First that I'd do, aside from pulling the code, is to check the plugs. If they are really fouled up - then probably best to just replace them. Drain the tank, if you can - if anything, you can visually see if there is any "stuff" contaminating the gasoline so you can take appropriate measure.

Could be something completely unrelated to the fillup as well - could be any number of things at this point. But no sense getting worked up until you scan for codes.

arnoldx32 · 08-12-2009, 11:26 AM

I found out what was going on. Apparently, the people that sold me the car decided to wash down the engine. The side effect of this was water laying in all four wells where the spark plugs were recessed into the engine. So it was shorting out all four cylinders.

Using an air compressor, I blew the water out and changed the plugs. I also went the extra mile and put new wires on it. Everything runs perfectly again.

I'm so relieved this wasnt a major problem. Thanks for the insight and help.

fishexpo101 · 08-12-2009, 11:32 AM

Great to hear! Water in the plug wells, ouch. Yup, that will give you some headaches. Glad to hear it was an easy fix.