Questions and Answers

Hyundai Sonata Runs Badly Q. Mr. Ciulla, I have a problem with my 1991 Hyundai Sonata. It's a 4 cylinder automatic transmission with power steering, A/C. It has 66,000 miles on it. In the past I have had alternator problems, but they seem to have cleared up. The problem now is, when I start it up it runs rough, when I go to take off it bucks and hesitates gets real jerky until it shifts into second then it smooths out and after it shifts again it runs near fine just seems to lack power at that point.

Now if I give it just a little gas starting off it won't do it, it will shift okay and runs up alright, but still seems to have a lack of the power it used to have. The other thing I would like to mention is sometimes when it's in the upper gears it will rev-up before it shifts. When it's in gear sitting still it runs rough, but in park it smooths out. This all happened suddenly it seemed to be fine one day and the next it started doing this.

The only thing I could think of was after one of our nasty Florida downpours I went through a deep pool of water and it got all rough and tried to stall, but I let it sit and it seemed fine. Then this started to happen within a couple days. Hope I have given you enough to go on. I thank you for any help you can provide me.

Thanks,
Greg

A. I think the first thing to check is the ignition secondary side. Distributor cap, distributor rotor and spark plug wires. If it's been a while, then just go ahead and replace them. Chances are good this is where your problem is. Also check the distributor and coil wiring connectors for corrosion.