Engine Sputters/Stalls HELP PLEASE!!!

Hi everyone
 
I got a problem my 1998 Elantra 1.8 has a sputtering problem and finally stalled the other day its been happening for about 3 weeks maybe more at first I thought I got bad gas cause once it would get close to the last line of gas gauge it would start to sputter while sitting at a light but only did it sitting if you gave it a little gas it would stop sputtering or if you put gas in it it wont do it anymore tell it got down to that line again.
But resent I was pulling out of drive way of buddys house and it started to sputter but this time it stalled restarted it right back up and drove to nearest gas station put 10 in tank and it stoped after that.
But just wensday it sputtered a couple of time while sitting in traffic for over 30 minutes prety much just letting off brake and costing to next stoping point witch was a couple of feet and tank was almost half.
 
Any suggestions would help going to play around with it Saturday if you got any get to me hopefully before then.
 
Going to change spark plugs and wires and stick fuel injection cleaner in tank too any suggestions on witch kind to use or should I?

Possibly water in the tank since it acts up when close to empty...try a good gas treatment additive that will help clean up any water or other possible contaminants in the tank.

Yeah thats what I thought at first tell it did it just idleing in traffic on a half tank which made me thank it was something else .
Do you know any good fuel injector cleaners that take care of water in tank or do I need just a gas treatment? Do you know any good one of either?

STP makes an all season water remover thats made specifically to remove water...id try that first then it wouldnt hurt to use a fuel injector cleaner http://www.stp.com/fuel_water.html

Ok it stalls and sputters now no mattter how much gas you got in the tank so thinking its not water or bad gas now replaced the plus and wires and put fuel injector cleaner in tank and still does it if your sitting at a light or stuck in traffic and it dont matter if your in drive or neutral so anyone got any ideas of what it could be besides water in tank,spark plugs or wires?

Possibly the fuel injectors themselves are going bad if theres nothing wrong with the fuel.

But if it was Injectors wouldnt it sputter all the time and not just Idle?
 
But going to try when this tank gets low when its time to fuel up ill drop a bottle of water remover in tank to. Since already put injector cleaner in this tank fuel up.

Ok
Ive replaced the spark plugs and wires
PCV valve and fuel filter and put fuel injector cleaner in tank,and had battery and alternator checked and good and it still wants to sputter and stall at an idle
What should I try next iam thinking its the idles speed acutuator any other suggestions?

Check your oxygen sensor, this can cause engine sputter when needing replaced.

Something else, make sure that your plugs are gapped properly and the correct plugs are being used. I've been sold the wrong plugs before. I had to change my oxygen sensor @ 80,000 miles for the  same reason. Check your air filter also.

Yeah ive pregapped them berfore installing
Ive had a code reader put on car  but didnt pull anycodes cause sheck engine light was not on
 
If one of the 2 O2 sensors was going out wouldnt in cause a check engine light?
 
Also was thinking could it be Coil Pack?

Yeah, the check engine light will come on. Mine is a 2.0 liter, I drove it about 250-300
miles before the light came on. Have someone check your catilytic converter, it may be
collapsed on the inside. (rotted out).

Did you finally get it fixed???? My 97 is acting up and it seems to be pointing in the direction of fuel pump pressure, fuel filter and / or injectors. My #3 doesn't seem to be getting any gas. Loads of spark on all 4 cylinders and I'm getting really poor power when I put load on engine. Wants to stall and sputter. Anyway let me know what you found out.
Thanks,
Paul

Does your vehicle have a coil pack situated on top the engine. Sometimes when these become old the insulation on these break down.
 
If myour engine check light is on it might pay you to have it plugged in at a dealer and see if this gives you a clue.
 
Best of luck
 
Chris.

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Also, when my battery was going down, the idle got rough.  As soon as the new battery was in, it ran fine.

Thanks for all the Replies,
Finally fixed by installing Dealer HT wires. I thought I had spark but I quess it was a lot weaker than it should have been. The parts guy there was real friendly and suggested lots to check for but those wires did it.
Another happy Elantra owner

Just an update on my problem...Thought it may help someone else...
I had a subsequent idle problem that I finally nailed down as the input manifold gasket with the help of some Quick Start spray. I discovered a one inch section of gasket close to cyclinder #2 was gone, I temporarily repaired with RTV liquid gasket and will change the  whole qasket soon. What a difference in performance though. That gasket must have been going for some time because my engine now just purrs  and there's loads of smooth power when I need it. When I picked up the new gasket from my local dealership the Service manager was there and he had quessed it was either the 3 or 2 cyclinder since that's where the thinnest parts of the gaskets are.
Another '97' Elantra in the grove again........ Cheers....Paul

quote:

ORIGINAL: Casper84

Hi everyone

I got a problem my 1998 Elantra 1.8 has a sputtering problem and finally stalled the other day its been happening for about 3 weeks maybe more at first I thought I got bad gas cause once it would get close to the last line of gas gauge it would start to sputter while sitting at a light but only did it sitting if you gave it a little gas it would stop sputtering or if you put gas in it it wont do it anymore tell it got down to that line again.
But resent I was pulling out of drive way of buddys house and it started to sputter but this time it stalled restarted it right back up and drove to nearest gas station put 10 in tank and it stoped after that.
But just wensday it sputtered a couple of time while sitting in traffic for over 30 minutes prety much just letting off brake and costing to next stoping point witch was a couple of feet and tank was almost half.

Any suggestions would help going to play around with it Saturday if you got any get to me hopefully before then.

Going to change spark plugs and wires and stick fuel injection cleaner in tank too any suggestions on witch kind to use or should I?

Got the same problem with my Hyundai, after filling the tank recently the engine speed became erratic: it would race while driving (tach at 1800 forcing me to keep my foot on the brake in a 25 mph zone); when braking for a turn it would vary wildly between a couple hundred and 1500 rpm; if breaking quickly rpm would fall to under 400, would sputter and stall unless I would two-foot.  It continued to do this intermittently, sometimes stalling while cornering.  I took it to the dealer for its 60,000 mile scheduled maintenance; they found no problem except a possibly partially clogged fuel injector.  I used some OTC fuel injector cleaning stuff to no avail.  Took it to a very good independent mechanic.  He spent three days checking sensors, motors, valves, computer, draining and replacing the fuel.  Everything independently checked out A-OK.  So, ask for a second opinion... The second mechanic told me that my car is equipped with a electronic throttle control. So there is no adjustment. The idle speed is determined from the ECM. He scanned my car for trouble codes and found out that Hyundai oxygen sensor was shorted and needs replacing. So just replaced my sensor and the was fixed immediately.. I was able to drive the car the next day with no trouble of sputtering and stalling at all... Good luck!!!

It always comes down to a sensor.  It seems like the ones prone to failure are the O2 Sensor, the Throttle Position Sensor and the Crankshaft Position Sensor.  My car is still well within warranty, but as it gets older I'll have to remember this!