hard start/sputtering/stalls

4.6powa

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ok, i want your guys opinion on what could be wrong...
on my 95' i bought the car for $300. it idled rough and had no power. brought it home, and it has got progressively worse. when the car would idle, it would start to smell like rotten eggs. (which leads me to believe it is a cat) there was no check eng. light, but i pulled the codes anyway, and the major one was an o2sensor code. (another strike for the cats)
the car now takes about a min. to start feathering/holding the gas down ect. when it does start you have to pump the gas to keep it running. it shakes the whole car, and runs very poorly. let your foot off, and it dies. i cut the 3rd cat off, and no difference. it has backfired through the intake twice while trying to keep it running. (runs similar to taking air box/mass air out. it sounded like it had an exhaust leak up front when i bought it, and seems to have gotten louder...
while doing a koeo test the engine started making a screeching noise and just stopped and has ran even worse since. i felt all the pullies and all seem tight, and good to go... (engine still makes a slight screech)

my guesses would be still...
1. remaining 2 cats (off manifolds) are clogged..(yet had exhaust exiting from car (still would right?)
2. cam/crank sensors? what would it do if faulty?
3. i heard something about freeze plug type things in the intake blowing out creating a vacume leak?

sorry for the huge post. i just didnt want to leave anything out so somone can make their best guess... thank you very much for reading this far.
 
Cats are likely fine, they rarely go bad unless MAJORLY abused.

I would check the O2 sensors, however they should not cause a port start issue are I *think* their inputs are not used for two minutes from a cold start.

It could be a number of things. First you need a fuel pressure reading. If low it could be the pump or pressure regulator or probably a clogged filter.

It could also be bad coil packs or wires. Heck, maybe they are even wired up wrong?

IAC could also be the problem, pain to replace.
 
wouldn't the coil packs/ iac throw a code?
also, it will do this all the time... not just startup/idle wouldn't that rule out iac? not trying to shoot you down... just wondering..
 
Not necessary. I had a bad coil pack - no code. You can not fully depend on the computer to tell you what is wrong, it just makes it easier.

A bad IAC is more noticeable at cold start up and idle. But once warmed up it behaves better, usually. Also the IAC is not critical unless the throttle plate is closed, once open (higher RPM) the IAC is no longer critical.
 

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