PLEASE HELP ME figure out what is wrong!

[superj243]

the car ran fine yesterday with no problems untill i got the geat idea to clean the motor for apperence purposes. to make a long story short the moter got sprayed down with water and degreeser. -(i didnt cover up anything.)

so now the motor runs perfect untill the temperature gage gets to about 120-140 degrees and when this happens, when the motor gets to 3000 rpm's it bogs down to 1900 rpm's and then goes back up to 3000 rpm's and repeats this proccess all while i am holding my foot steady on the accelerator.

i have already checked: FUEL FILTER, FUEL LINES, CAP AND ROTOR, COIL, BATTERY, AIR FILTER AND HOSES, VACUM, I HAVE TAKEN OF THE DISTRIBUTER AND MADE SURE IT WAS DRY.

PLEASE! any help would be verry nice right now. im so upset. this is my first car!

it is a 1980 280zx anniversary edition, fuel injected. no mods. all original.

Edited November 5, 2010 by superj243

[AndysPlit]

What year is your Z?

[5thhorsemann]

check the carb bowl vents and vacume circuts on the intake manifold. Sounds like a fuel issue.

[superj243]

sorry for not including. it is a 1980 280zx anniversary edition, fuel injected

[5thhorsemann]

so much for bowl vents, try blowing the thing off with a leaf blower, might dislodge a pesky water droplet.

[superj243]

i dont think it has anything to do with water left within it. i really think it has to have something to do with the fire,

[5thhorsemann]

Sounds temp sensitive, like a sensor is tripping and the issue shows itself, could be injection circut or fire, you didn't pressure wash the motor, did you? (gasp)

[superj243]

no. i did not pressure wash the motor.

[5thhorsemann]

how did you clean it?

[S30Driver]

You probably got water / de-greaser / moisture inside the TPS (throttle position sensor).

It's the small black box that sits on the side of the throttle body, has sets of contacts inside that will short if moisture gets inside, telling the ECU to cut fuel.

Unplug the cable from it & see if the problem goes away, then blow it dry with compressed air or heat, clean the contacts.

Cover it with a plastic bag when washing the motor area in the future...

[superj243]

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH JAMES IT WAS THE TPS!

my car runs amazing again. you have just prevented auto zone from making hundreds of dollars off of me. one day i hope to be half as smart as you. please accept my friend request.