I have a 1988 GL 1.8 SPFI 4WD wagon. In August I noticed that when the engine started up cold sometimes it would die or if I shifted it into neutral and let the clutch out that would be enough resistance to kill the engine.
After learning about how the fuel system can be clogged over time and how (and how not) to clean it I put a can of BG 44K in and an Italian tuneup later the engine runs quite smoothly and quietly except for a rapid (fuel injector?) tapping sound coming from the intake assembly directly under the air intake boot.
However, something that the FI cleaner didn't remedy is that for the
1.5 years I've owned the car it has been stuttering, hesitating, and just plain going slow on accelerations. Sometimes it can get into the groove and run at ideal performance but mostly it feels as if it's laboring along afflicted by some malady which impairs it's power and perhaps fuel efficiency.What things can I try? I've thought about disassembling the air intake apparatus to see if anything is out of tune or swapping out the spark plugs (which actually look fine).