Celica surges under load

I have a 1990 Toyota Celica GT, 5spd, 5sfe engine (unmodified). It has just over 80,000 miles on it. Bought the car April 2003 with 48,000 miles. When I'm going up a hill it starts to surge (or buck) under steady accelleration. If I give it more gas it appears to go away. Could this be a fuel problem or a clutch starting to wear out or what? Fuel filter, dist. cap/rotor, plugs, air filter, was just changed. Checked for visible vacuum leaks --- none found. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Reply to
djstorer
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I doubt if it is a worn clutch at 80,000 miles unless it was driven very hard. A clutch is smore likely to give you problems when starting out than while under way.

Surging is generally caused by a vacuum leak or a fuel problem.

Buy, borrow, or rent a vacuum gauge and some extra vacuum tubing and have the gauge in the car with you to see if there is a drop in vacuum when the condition occurs.

check the black plastic intake hose between the air filter and throttle body for cracks. while you're at it, make sure the cover for the air filter canister was re-installed correctly when the air filter was changed.

Reply to
Ray O

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