Now at a staggering 201k, how is your maintenance record? Was your leaking original intake manifold replaced with revised orange silicone gasket? Have you also cleaned your MAF/IAT sensor on intake? How old are your spark plugs, upstream A/F sensor, and air filter? How much oil does engine consume? What type of oil, and how many miles between oil changes? Was your ATF replaced every 60k ?

 

I have the updated intake gasket. The MAF sensor needs cleaning that hasn't been done.

Put new spark plugs at around 122k. upstream A/F sensor is original. has new air filter.

Engine consumes very little oil that I can tell, from the dipstick. No more than 1/4 of a quart between oil changes(was 1/4 of a quart low with my last oil change, Had a leaking oil pan so some of it went there), I change the oil between 5k-7k. Been using Pennzoil Platinum 5w30(the one made from natural gas)

Changed my ATF around 90k and again around 180k.

Sometimes it would shift late or wouldn't shift unless i slowed down a little bit. That hasn't happened since I last changed my ATF.

It actually is going faster when it does it, just not as fast as i think it should. It does seem intermittent.

The engine sounds fine, as far as i can tell it still sounds the same as I got it, but that was 9 years ago. And it usually shifts fine, majority of the time it shifts right when it hits 4k rpm's, other times 4.5k rpm's.


First steps I will take, is clean the MAF sensor, and put in a new A/F sensor. Once my car cools down I will pull some spark plugs and see how they look.

What brand of A/F sensor is good?

 

Was it the subject of the PCM recall?

 

ONly recall I have had was on the ECM, and that was replaced

 

this is what the spark plugs look like, they all look the same

this is a pic down the spark plug tube. Looks like I might need to replace the valve cover gasket soon.

 

it sounds like due to your driving speed (30 mph) and your transmission being in 5th gear you are not depressing the accelerator pedal enough to get the trans to downshift from 5th to 3rd gear for the acceleration you desire. try manually downshifting your trans into 4th gear before pressing the accelerator. This will cause your engine rpm to increase which should give you better acceleration. You can even manually shift into 3rd gear then 4th then back to 5th for much improved performance. Sounds like your simply going too slow for the gear the trans is in. Trans will upshift quickly into it's highest gear to save fuel b lowering enging rpm. Problem is this causes lack of quick acceleration.

john

 

Get a Denso # 2349052 upstream A/F ratio sensor.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1434445,parttype,5132

If you're up to it, I'd also replace exhaust manifold flange gasket (donut), which would be burnt out by now.

FelPro # 61106 http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1434445,parttype,5836

Dorman # 675221 http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1432915,parttype,10741

Your spark plugs show some oil burning. Switch to a high mileage oil (available in synthetic and synthetic blend) to condition your valve seals... Cleaning MAF/IAT sensor will help as well.

Spark plug ground electrode is well worn and rounded off at the tip, and your gap is now much larger than 1.1mm... http://densott.com/

Denso Iridium TT # 4701 http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1434445,parttype,7212

 

If you're up to it, I'd also replace exhaust manifold flange gasket (donut), which would be burnt out by now.

How difficult is it to replace?

 

I'd recommend investing in a cheap 3/8 impact, 1/2 if you don't have an air compressor for that job. I was able to undo mine, and another's by hand, but seeing as to how you are in a state that uses salt, rust can be a nightmare.

 

Ya i will prob save up and get a good cordless one.

Ya here the tend to overdo the salt and chemicals in the winter.

 

I used a 1/2" drive breaker bar and extensions... An impact won't always be strong enough.

 

After replacing the spark plugs, It seems to be doing better.


and if exhaust manifold flange gasket is bad, will it make the car louder in the front. I do notice that the car makes a bit more noise when revving the engine, Sounds like its from the exhaust side. (that or i am hearing things)

 

didn't want to start a new thread for this.

What would cause a delayed shift.

Mainly notice it when i shift out of park into reverse or when i shift into park. Sometimes when I shift into reverse from park it will take longer for it to engage. And when i shift into park same story there is a click when it goes into park, will make the click sound sometimes around 10 seconds or so after i shift into park.

It seems random and doesn't always do it like that, which is odd.

Fluid is good, and level is good to.

 

Also wanted to add, that when speeding up to get onto the interstate, at times it doesn't want to shift into second. After a while it will shift. It wont always do it which makes it hard to find out what is causing it.

 

Pick up filter (screen) could be partly clogged or displaced, or its housing may not be well sealed at the mount... Was all of the fluid replaced every 60,000 miles, and what type of ATF is in it?

 

I believe it does it at operating temperature sometimes. Will do it before operating temp to, just not all the time. Maybe does it a couple times a week.

I use valvoline max life, replaced it 6 months ago. Also replaced the filter at that time. I been replacing around every 70,000.

Most of the time it shifts right when it is supposed to. The only times I really notice it is when I need to get up to speed to merge onto the highway. It will go up to 6,000rpm and I have to let off the gas, then it would shift.

I'm not sure if this is related, but also sometimes when accelerating, and the rpm is around 4,000. It feels like it starts to misfire.

I know my dad has the same problem with the misfiring at that rpm, due to a bad crankshaft position sensor. He gets a cel for it.

I don't have any codes. Im not sure, maybe a sensor starting to go bad and not throwing a CEL. Though I don't think that would cause the shifting problem.