My car has felt sluggish for a while, it always drives differently but now its even worse. When i'm on the highway it's not a steady drone exhaust tone, it's more like an erratic hmmmm hm hmm hmmmmm hm type thing, it's hard to explain, obviously lol but am i just not giving my engine enough air or do i need new plug wires or clogged cat or what, i'm so confused.

90% of the time its plugs/wires/coil (look in the chiltons manual or similar for how to test these). after that i would check the fuel filter, and then the rest of the fuel system (injectors, etc..). it far easier to rob the system of fuel/spark than air. it might also be a sensor (again, consult shiltons for the tests), but i would check out the other stuff first.

awesome thanks for hte help. I got morosso plug wires like 4 months ago, i dunno if they are crappy or something but i dont know when they are supposed to go bad. How do i check the fuel filter? and how much to replace?

i dont know of a way to "check" the fuel filter, but its pretty easy to replace.

first, lift up the back seat and disconnect the wiring harness from the fuel pump. then start the car and let it die (this relieves fuel pressure...but is not necissary, i changed mine withour relieving pressure and only about 10-15 oz.s of fuel came out). remove the battery. then remove the brake fluid resivior from the firewall and set it aside (dont disconnect the lines, just the bolts that hold it in place....tie it up to another part of the engine). directly below that, you will see the fuel filter. the bottom bolt is pretty easy, but the top (banjo) bolt is a PITA! that is mainly because you need a lot of leverage to break it free, and in the position it is that is a hard thing to get. use a friend to hold one of the wrenches and a breaker bar on the other if you need to. i managed to get mine off myself by basically laying on the engine to gain leverage (and im pretty weak). have a rag underneath it to catch any remaining fuel. then you just reverse the steps.

someone (i dont know who) has a really good writeup w/ pics on how to do this. you might want to try searching to find that out. the whole thing shouldnt take more than 45 minutes, even if youve never doen car stuff before. dont let a shop charge you more than 35 bucks to do this for you (if you arent a DIYer).


EDIT!!! for some reason i thought you said you had a 95 eclipse. the writeup i just gave if for a 95-96 eclipse. if it is a 97-99 it is totally differnet. you can still find info on how to do it by searching though.

Thank god I have a 99....fuel filter in the rear pass wheel area...wahoo!