How difficult and safe?

[TheEdgeofSanity]

so, my car has 152,000 on it now and I've noticed that it's hesitating really bad when it's opened up to full throttle for passing. I changed the plugs at 93K so its almost 60K on the current ones. I know they're supposed to be good for 100K but would a higher mileage engine possibly wear them out faster?

also, I want to clean the top end of the engine and it seems sea foam is the only option without tearing the engine apart. I am very hesitant to try this because it seems that pushing all that nasty carbon crap through the combustion chambers, valves, and cat could be bad for the car. so how risky is this process? I don't want to kill my car.

thirdly, I want to take the intake apart and clean everything such as the throttle body, the MAF sensor, and whatnot. what will I encounter in there and what should I use to clean it? is there a write-up anywhere?

Overall, I've realized that I am keeping the alero until I get out of college in 3 years and it needs to last. I plan on having the tranny fluid changed again and doing a coolant change this year. anything else to keep this beast going for another 50K?

[Fuzzyspudkiss]

I would check the plugs first. My Alero was hesitating and stuttering at the higher end RPMs(ran perfect up to 3,000 rpm) and it turned out that one of my plugs was cracked...and they had 80,000 miles on them...

edit: And I've heard of people seafoaming their cars...I talked to a mechanic once and he said it was OK....

[sleepyalero]

you can seafoam it just dont do it alot. because if you do it and there is nothing to clean in the motor then it will just start eating whats clean. just do it once and be done with it for a long while.

[Lucalare]

Plugs lasting 100k miles is garbage. My car had 80k on the original plugs and they were toast. I've used carb cleaner with the engine running to clean a throttle body before, just make sure to let off if the engine starts to slow down cause that stuff doesn't burn. They also make some special cleaner for MAFs.

[XanderWiFi]

Plugs and fuel filter may be the culprit.

There is a write up on how to clean the MAF and also a write up for seafoam if you have the 3400.

Sounds like you just need a tune up.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

Originally Posted by XanderWiFi

Plugs and fuel filter may be the culprit.

There is a write up on how to clean the MAF and also a write up for seafoam if you have the 3400.

Sounds like you just need a tune up.

I just had the fuel filter changed and was told the fuel pump is "weak but not in bad enough shape to change just yet" whatever thats supposed to mean. I run good quality fuel system cleaner through it every 5,000 or so which I hope keeps things a bit cleaner. My buddy's mom's chevy venture with the 3400 has 230,000 on it with the original plugs so i think alot has to do with how the car is driven.

I plan to sea-foam the car then check the plugs after and change them as necessary.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

also, can you tell if a MAF is bad by looking at it? My car shifts bad after its warmed up and i have been told the maf could be bad and causing the computer to lower trans pressure

[C.CLARK33]

Recently had the same problem your having it ended up being the coil misfire on #5 but before that i changed plugs,plug wires and the cat.Make sure you seafoam before you change the plugs..

[comanche]

I'm going to vote for the MAF as a possible culprit.
Had a similar problem.

Seafoam.... yes try it!
I try it on all my cars. I never notice any difference, just a bunch of smoke, but I keep hoping for magical running and 100 mpg...

[Redog]

How dirty is the MAF? My wires were covered in crud and crap. Change it and at first the car didn't like it, but after stalling, and then restarting it and shifting into drive, with such a bang I thought the engine fell out of the car, it ran fine and responded better.

The PCM had to relearn for a new, clean MAF

My car was also missing and running like shit above 2000 RPM's. Turns out the "sensor catcher" or whatever it's called (the ring inside the balancer) was bent in one spot, which pulled the 24x crank sensor right out of the block

[TheEdgeofSanity]

ok, so what do I use to clean and how do I clean the MAF? also, how does all that tubing come off the intake? what other sensors are in there to watch out for?

[jhubbz]

Throw some anti-seize on the spark plugs. I've always had good results with doing that on cars that don't run that well. other than that maybe you should invest in some racing nascar spark blugz hahaha

[sleepyalero]

go to an auto part store, most have a special spray for cleaning the maf.

probably be able to use carb cleaner too, i used it on the tb when i had the UIM off the car.

[comanche]

Cleaning a MAF sensor with the "MAF cleaner spray" will remove a protective coating from the wires, which results in your needing to clean the MAF regularly.
(According to GM auto tech, as well as my auto instructor)

And with mine, I did have to have a crank relearn done as well.. not sure if that was related or not though...

[xXManwhoreXx]

I used brake kleen on mine... I have a box of that stuff though so I use it for everything

[Ryan from Ohio]

Seafoam the car first. Then clean the intake out. Then change plugs- so you dont foul them out. Probably not a bad idea to change wires.