Runing rough under load

JGM

Member
:
1996 Protege
'96 Protege, 1.5L. Has recently developed a stutter when idling in gear, or when accelerating under load (such as from a stop or up a hill). It feels like a pure miss, but the OBD codes do not show any misfires, rather the codes indicate a fuel problem (too lean/too rich).

But it will run all day in neutral at any RPM or when not under load.

Problem gets worse as the car warms up. No apparent relationship to wet/dry air conditions. The wires and plugs are relatively new.

All I can think of is injectors, but this came on pretty suddenly for that. I've put in some STP injector cleaner but I've seldom seen that do much.

Any hints appreciated.
 
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I had a similar problem with my car. There was no CEL, but the car would be sputtering under load.

I basically replaced all plugs and a plug wire that seemed bad, and the problem went away.
 
Mine does the same thing, did full tune up and its still there. Then I messed with the timing, turned the dizzy and it seems to have went away.
 

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