i've been a member for awhile and stop by to read and sift through information, but have never posted. i have owned my 98 z-24 for over 3 years now.

i had the engine stumble during warm up, and the sputtering going up hill, for awhile. fuel filter didnt help at all, cleaning the carbon out of the EGR did help, but didnt cure it (couldnt afford a new one) new plugs made it better but didnt cure it. after this i wanted to test my fuel pressure, and a buy a OBD II tester (i still plan on getting one eventually) but when the weather got hot, it got worse, then the car actually shut off while driving, it would start back w/ some coaxing and got us home, but did it again on the next sweltering day. there were a few good days in between.

knowing hot weather will tell on a battery i checked mine w/ the engine off and was getting 12.3, not dead but i was hoping for 12.6 or better. since that one was in the car when i bought it, i went and got another, it was due anyways... that was going on 3 weeks ago. my problem is cured. hasnt done it since. the battery fixed me, even though it had plenty of juice to crank it w/ ease it was still too weak for the ignition system over all, and my sluggish drivers window--she's good now too.

i do know the cleaned up EGR valve, and new plugs (the a/c delcos i took out were shot) helped the problem, but they didnt cure it, i'm just saying my battery was my final weak link. its running like new again. apparently a marginal battery isnt good enough and i thought it would be good info.

i would have never guessed it, to be honest i thought i was gonna have to pull the tank and change the fuel pump. anyways i figure someone out there might need to know this one day. its not hard to break out a volt meter and check the battery. if this is already common knowlege i appologize, but i figured it was worth me finally posting.

"Matthew 7:21 ---> Acts 2:38 ---> 1 Peter 1: 17-25"

what kind of battery did you have, and what kind of battery do you have now? What should the volt reading be anyway?


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

matthew christian wrote:what kind of battery did you have, and what kind of battery do you have now? What should the volt reading be anyway?

the one i took out was a duralast gold, the new one was one of the autozone silver batteries. i want to see 12.6 or more when i check one.

"Matthew 7:21 ---> Acts 2:38 ---> 1 Peter 1: 17-25"

hmmm, did auto zone check your voltage for free? Like they do for the check engine light?


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

well, I got autozone to check my battery, and it was 13.1 volts. So all is good there. My problem also got better when I changed my plugs, but didnt cure it, maybe I will try cleaning my egr. WOuld the egr throw a cel code if it were bad? And could you give me some insight on where exactly the egr valve is located and how you went about cleaning it?


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

hey man, I cleaned the egr and intake and replaced my filter, and the problem isnt solved, but it is going ALOT better... Alteast it isnt embarresing to pull out of a parking lot now. Thanks for the info, and I will keep digging through my engine to figure out what the hell is going on!


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

glad to here its getting better, one other thing that should be checked is your grounds. make sure they are clean. (battery to chassis and engine to chassis) yes 13.1 is a good battery but a corroded or dirty ground will make a weak point in the system.

"Matthew 7:21 ---> Acts 2:38 ---> 1 Peter 1: 17-25"

well, I am going to do the BIG 3 tomorrow, and that will solve any issues I have with bad grounds. I will let you know my results. But I dont think this is the issue either, but you never know until you try eh??


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

I am also wondering what plugs you are using. Maybe this could be an ignition issue. I had bosh +4's in there and switched to a stock delco plug gapped at .050.


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.

i used the bosch platinum 2 plugs, i had heard bad things about the stock ac delcos on this forum, though i couldnt say. i havent had these plugs long enough to compliment them. but so far so good. she's running great.

"Matthew 7:21 ---> Acts 2:38 ---> 1 Peter 1: 17-25"

hmmm. Seems odd. It actually got better when I switched to a stock plug. I am going to do the "Big 3" today and if it is a ground issue, I think that should fix it eh? Any way, I will post my results on here.


98z24, lowered 2", aem intake, cat-back striaght pipes!, cop ligths in the front and rear, 18" liquid metal's, primer black, tint, full audio and video.