Idle stumble I have tried everything Please Help!!

[SrS13]

I Had cleaned the MAF sensor and when the car is on it gets 14V and it sends out 1.16-1.19V.

[sx moneypit]

If that is at idle that is within specs.If you rev the engine it should climb to about 3 volts. Are your ignition components in good shape?I have seen some ignition rotors burn through and cause some weird symptoms.

[sx moneypit]

I'm heading home i will check back in the morning.

[SrS13]

The stumble begins at idle an it gets worse as the cars stays on or is driven for longer periods o time. It gets to the point where the engine stalls and eventually dies it looses all power and I can't rev up to 2k or go faster than 10mph

[zachattack_5491]

I had the same problem, I did every possible thing and my problem ended up being my plug wires. Not sure why your compression went down after the gasket swap, but I'm running at 130 across all cylinders (my ka is on its last leg) and it runs fine. I wouldn't think too much about the compression being the sole contributor to the stumble.

[SrS13]

I think I found the problem. The spark plug wire from cylinder#2 was arcing. I took a wire from my honda and installed in place of the one on my 240 and the stumble appears to have gone away. I drove it a little and no stumble no stalling and when I put the arcing wire back on the stumble returns. I had no idea a bad ignition wire could cause so much trouble. I never checked them because they were new I had replaced them from with a new set I bought from Autozone less than 3 months ago.

Does this sound right? would this be what was causing the loss of power after the car was driven for a few miles?

How is it that that this arcing wire could cause all the symptoms I was having?

I will continue driving it and see how it does.

Thanks again to all who offered input

[sx moneypit]

First of all, i am glad to see that you found your problem.I have been a professional auto technician since 1977 and i have had my a** bitten more than once by an ignition problem that felt like a fuel system problem.Your ignition system was putting all of its power out on the arcing wire , after it got hot it just made it worse.I would definitely put a new set of wires and a new cap and rotor on it.Don't buy cheap s**t get the good stuff!

Modified by sx moneypit at 10:56 AM 2/12/2010
Modified by sx moneypit at 10:57 AM 2/12/2010

[zachattack_5491]

I think I found the problem. The spark plug wire from cylinder#2 was arcing. I took a wire from my honda and installed in place of the one on my 240 and the stumble appears to have gone away. I drove it a little and no stumble no stalling and when I put the arcing wire back on the stumble returns. I had no idea a bad ignition wire could cause so much trouble. I never checked them because they were new I had replaced them from with a new set I bought from Autozone less than 3 months ago.

Does this sound right? would this be what was causing the loss of power after the car was driven for a few miles?

How is it that that this arcing wire could cause all the symptoms I was having?

I will continue driving it and see how it does.

Thanks again to all who offered input

Yeah, that sounds right. I had the exact same problem, and the last thing I checked was the spark plug wires. I cost me about $300 and 2 weeks of my life. I was amazed that one plug wire was causing everything.

[zach-Ka]

Just so you know, my friend had this same problem on his ka. Ended up being the fuel pump.