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Im driving a 1995 oldsmobile cutlass ciera with a 3.1 l V6. It gets bad gas mileage and has barely any horse power. It has quite a few problems and im wondering if anyone can offer some solutions.

1. The idle rises and lowers (like 600 rpm to 1000 rpm) which im thinking is a vacuum leak.

2. It hesitates and stalls out sometimes if you start the car and have the wheel turned as if you were backing out or cutting a corner.

3. It gets bad gas mileage and not much horse power. I could floor it and it doesnt jerk you back and you cant feel the power. Im not talking extreme power but it should have enough hp and torque to take off decently if I floor it lol.

4. Check engine light is on. I replaced the EGR valve because a scan tool said it was bad. It came back on and I never did anything about it. I imagine the EGR is bad again but somthing is making it go bad. Im guessing either the computer or O2 Sensor or the Computer. What else controls the fuel mixture?
I also replaced the pcv valve recently.

5. Basic engine noise, nothing horrible, it has 150,000 miles on it so thats to be expected

So please if you have any advice please lemme know or direct me to a person or forum who could help. The gas mileage and horse power is killing me

seriously, I'd say take it to a garage and get it overhauled.. it's time for a major tune-up on that thing.
after that be sure to do regular work on it, like oil changes etc.. take care of it.

i want a cutlass.. i found a late 80s (i think/hope) cutlass with a fricken kickass bright green paintjob, sweeeet. $1300, said it ran alright but the interior needed work.

well I dont plan on keeping it forever, i just wanna make It run better for the time being. I dont wanna pay out the ass doing it. That why I figured id ask you guys.

150,000 miles. and those problems. Yeah it needs an overhall. You can do alot of it yourself, and it won't cost to much. I spent about 800 on my grand am, and did everything but the machine work myself.

Plugs/wires, maybe the coils, 3.1? if so the injectors are problems around that mileage... Buy a book and a DMM it tells you how to test each injector.

Probably would be a good idea for a tranny fluid/filter change also.

For the check engine light change out the o2 sensor. If it comes on thats probably when your getting the bad gas mileage...

or take it to a shop, pay a tech the "diagnostic fee" and have him hook it to the diagnostic computer. get the print out of all the errors and problems it lists..
then go fix em all yourself.

you'll need to spend some money here.. just a matter of how much work you feel confident doing yourself. the computer can tell you everything that needs fixing though, in the engine.
brakes, oil, etc.. are all routine and need to be checked anyway

I did that before kiki and the morons said there was nothing wrong. I dont trust mechanics in my town. I posted on an automotive forum and got some good answers im gonna try.

Also if you take it to Advance Auto or Autozone they will do the hand held diagnostic for free now...

Intake gasket?