THis morning i went to start up my car for school, at first it would turn over, and not start, i pulled the key out tried again and i had to give it some gas for it to start, and it wasnt even a smooth start. It ran kinda jerky and iv also noticed a sound difference, when i got home this afternoon i opened my door and reved up the engine a little, the exaust sounds more like a big truck now than a sports car, and it sounds like something is loose or rattling inside the exaust. so i think the problem may be lying within that, but not to certain. I checked the spark plug cables, everything seems to be in check, and i also checked the distributer cap and all seems to be in order.

**Edit**
This couldnt be caused by the grade of gas i put it, could it? i'v just been running regular

 

no one has any ideas?

 

did it smooth out when it warmed up? if so, probably cylinder head temp sensor.

 

i think so, i mean i just got in the car and went to pick up some pictures from CVS and everything seemed to be fine, fired up right away and everything, but other times it gives me trouble like in my original post

 

Could it be the Fuel Injection system?

 

i just thought of something, I put some gas in my car that was sitting in one of those little red plastic gas tanks that was sitting there for i dont know how long, could this be causing my car to run rough like it does?

 

Rattling in the exhaust? Maybe something is in there, like a broken O2 sensor. That would also cause it to run rough before it warms up, would it not?

 

Where is the 02 sensor located?

 

i have the same problem in my 84 n/a. I had magnaflow exhaust put on, and it seems like every time i rev it up in neutral, i get a small rattling sound. Its not that loud and barely noticable, but still sorta bothers me. My car will turn over just fine, but it has a rough start in the cold weather. Its like it wants to rev up, but it sorta jerks, it will do that for about 2-3 minutes and then she sounds like a beast again. Just so you know, you are not the only one with this problem

 

if it does it till it warms up it is most likely the cylinder head temp sensor.

 

is that a hard part to replace???

 

you decide. link

 

alright, for a guy with very little experience working on engines or the parts surrounding it, it looks like im headed to a professional hehe. Thanks for the instructions and all, but i dont think im capable of all that. I dunno what half of those parts are.

 

buy a chiltons and read it, and make friends with car guys. the best way to learn is to just get your hands dirty. i've never taken my cars to a mechanic, and never will. just used manuals and websites like this, and the help of my stepdad.

 

might as well hehe, i dont mind doin the small things, i just dont know much about the engine. We have people at our base hobby shop that can help with questions about cars though, so maybe ill just bug the hell out of them.

 

Check your just after your exhaust manifold on the driver side. You might be able to see it by just opening your hood, but just get your car in the air and it'll be cakes to get to.