Thanks, I will look inside the rubber boots of mine to see if there is any evidence of that.

It's weird though, it only stumbles when the A/C compressor is running. RPM doesn't change but it will shake for a second intermittently when the compressor kicks on.

I guess this could be a coil pack on its way out. I replaced the spark plugs, reset ecu, and cleaned the IAC valve.

 

My car never stalled. It would hesitate at idle and off the line, but once off the line it wasnt too bad. My problem sounds nothing like whippets2k or Torque Obsessed's problems though. AC compressor causing it sounds like a power rob. If the car runs fine without the AC on, then this is completely different I would assume.

 

it shakes cause when the compressor kicks in it puts a load on the engine....its really nothing to wory about..pretty normal actually...

 

It has never done this before. It started after the car started out of the blue - bucking horribly, was misfiring and gave me a blinking CEL with misfire codes.

After a diagnosis I replaced my spark plugs and the car runs smooth overall and codes haven't come back.

Now I get the strange intermittent "shake" intermittently when the compressor is running since I changed the spark plugs. OEM and gapped correctly. It's not a constant shake, it's like a quick stumble but with no RPM change.

Could a valve been damaged (or something else) when the spark plugs went to hell and I got the CEL?

Strange and annoying...

 

how long did ur check engine light blink for??

 

I drove down the street about 1/4 mile @ <30mph and pulled over. I got the car towed to my house and only started it again after I replaced the spark plugs which wound up getting rid of the CEL. I was at 98K miles and was due for a spark plug change anyway and that wound being the issue, the spark plugs were really worn down.

So now I have this stumble problem when the compressor is on. Also, if the compressor is on and I start in 1st gear there is hesitation a bit on accelerating until about 3K RPM, at that point it feels fine.

 

reason i ask about ur blinking check engine is because when it blinks this indicated that something is happening that is causing massive cat converter damage...u might have heated it to the point where internal parts of the cat had melted causing some restriction...i recommend u take it to a shop and have them pull the freese frame data on a scanner...also u can take it to a local smog shop and have them run a test smog check wich means that they will run a full smog test without calling any of the CARB or BAR...just a test....this will also help to see if ur car has been damage...u can also check ur cat....shake and tap it...it if it rattles its usually bad...

 

I have a MY 01. Mine has been struggling to idle at times once warm and even stalling occasionally for maybe 6 months or so. I really started to notice it after i installed a throttle body spacer so i wasnt sure if it was to blame for the idle problems or not. My coolant to the throttle body and the IACV had already been bypassed for a while without any issues. No cat on the car so thats not to blame. I whacked the map and had no improvement so i replaced it with a new map and still had the issue. Its always been zip tied so it wasnt coming loose. So fast forward to this thread. Thanks to who ever posted the pictures and info on the stock throttle body. I had no idea there was a set screw under the throttle cable lol. I started messing with the adjustment on the throttle body first by trying to set it a little higher but found i could get it steady at 1000 it always wanted to be around 1300 and creep up randomly after input from the gas pedal. I have a vafc btw so it makes seeing throttle input and % right there, very easy to see and adjust. So I backed out the throttle body set screw a little and played with the tension on the throttle cable. I found that when the tension was wrong on the throttle cable it would stick and leave a small percentage of throttle open. When i would put my foot under the gas pedal and lift up to unstick the throttle cable so i wasnt idling at 4k it would stall instantly. Hmm, so i played around with it more and got to where the set screw is now set just right that the car holds its usual 800rpm idle, but is tight enough on it to where its not i guess allowing the throttle body to fully close. I have the throttle cable adjusted to where its not sticking and hanging up anymore and ive found that now when i put my foot under the gas pedal and try and lift up which before would stall the car now has no affect. I havent had a rough idle or a single stall since. So its maybe the set screw could be just like 1/4 turn too lose. This may not solve everyones issue but that turned out to be all mine was. The set screw lock nut was a 7mm and the set screw was iirc a 2.5 or 3mm allen head.

 

Thanks for the added input on the TB adjustment screw!

And I apologize that I havent taken a picture of the coil yet. I didnt throw it out though! Pics asap, I promise

 

Ok heres the picture of the inside of my faulty coil. You can see a white trail where there was arc.