I have a 1996 Saturn SC2 5 speed, with 180 thousand + ...

Greetings! I would rec to start by checking fuel pressure! This plays an important part in your vehicles performance! Also check for air or vacuum leaks! This is very common! Open the hood and listen for a hissing sound when the engine is running. If it is hard to pinpoint take some break cleaner or starting fluid around the intake manifold and vacuum lines and see if the engine stumble or if the idle is affected. Be extremely careful when doing this!

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If it is an air or vac. leak what is the fix? I am not a mechanic and want to be sure I get what I need.

Thanks

Well if the intake manifold gasket is leaking, that it will need a new one. If it is just a simple tube or hose, you may just be able to button it back up.

One other thing, your throttle body may be carboned up and need to be cleaned! This can cause all sorts of idle and hesitation problems. This is caused by the throttle plate not seating properly. The First thing i would do is clean out the throttle body with some throttle plate and intake cleaner and a small brush. Another common cause would be the Idle Air Control motor. This is very common on older cars. The IAC motor gets lazy and cant keep up with the fast idle changes. Also when the IAC motor is out, I rec to check the passages for carbon build up. If they are plugged they need to be cleaned out.

Edited by amedee on October 24 2006 at 3:11pm

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