A
alexpi_ak
Guest
I'm brutally poor right now and there's no way I can afford a mechanic, so I'm really crossing my fingers that someone can give me advice on how to diagnose and fix this problem myself.
My car is a '92 Buick Regal which is in exceedingly good shape for its age. Only about 43,000 original miles on it. Good upkeep. I hadn't driven it for a few months because I had job-related alternate transportation, but that's changed since I've been laid off, so I started using my car again last week. It had been sitting undisturbed in a carport in temps ranging from 20-60 F.
As soon as I started using it again, I noticed the engine was running rough. It had been quiet and smooth before, but now it chugs constantly, especially when idling. It feels like it's going to choke out when it's being barely accelerated.
And it's eating gas voraciously. Yesterday, for example, I put about 1/4 tank's worth in, which normally gets me around 80-100 miles without a problem, but ten miles later it was nearly on E and I was wondering if I was going to make it home. I thought it might just be a problem with the gauge, but the engine noise seemed to increase as the fuel level indication decreased, so I'm thinking it's not just instrumentation.
I've considered a fuel leak, but there's no fluid pooling underneath the car, and I don't smell burning fuel at all...
Any ideas...?
My car is a '92 Buick Regal which is in exceedingly good shape for its age. Only about 43,000 original miles on it. Good upkeep. I hadn't driven it for a few months because I had job-related alternate transportation, but that's changed since I've been laid off, so I started using my car again last week. It had been sitting undisturbed in a carport in temps ranging from 20-60 F.
As soon as I started using it again, I noticed the engine was running rough. It had been quiet and smooth before, but now it chugs constantly, especially when idling. It feels like it's going to choke out when it's being barely accelerated.
And it's eating gas voraciously. Yesterday, for example, I put about 1/4 tank's worth in, which normally gets me around 80-100 miles without a problem, but ten miles later it was nearly on E and I was wondering if I was going to make it home. I thought it might just be a problem with the gauge, but the engine noise seemed to increase as the fuel level indication decreased, so I'm thinking it's not just instrumentation.
I've considered a fuel leak, but there's no fluid pooling underneath the car, and I don't smell burning fuel at all...
Any ideas...?