Rep Power: 715

I believe that I have a massive airhose leak. the car symptoms are When im at a red light or something parked, the engine will sorta vibrate (Its not the motor mounts, had them checked) it just vibrates, then as soon as the light goes green i press to accelerate and it kinda studders for a second. Also the oil rings around the valve stems need to be replaced sometime.. Keep in mind I have 180,015 miles on this engine .....fvckin sucks, im paranoid about my milege.
Any help with the engine vibrate prob? like where the air leak might be located exactly? or the engine studder prob. Thanks.

1994 white t-top camaro, v6 3.4. Transmission from a 95 camaro.

 
Rep Power: 1069

easy way to check for vaccuum leaks is use a propane torch (on but unlit of course) with engine running pass it by each rubber line and mating surface, if you get a change in engine rpm therre's your leak. Something I would advise is doing a compression check, and if possible a leak down test if the cylinders leak air it will do that also

 
Rep Power: 910

based on the symptoms its an ignition problem. replace the plugs and wires, thats the cheapest. then if it doesnt work, you've got a bad coil.

however if it is a vacuum leak there are very few hoses on the 3.4 vital to its operation, so they are all in the center of the plenum and can easily be checked.

when i did my cam it ran the same way as you describe, it stumbled and hesitated. i thought it had to be extremely lean but it turns out it was just bad plug wires.

so do a visual check of the hoses first, then check each plug wire by removing each one, one at a time from the coil packs. oh and be careful cuz 40,000 volts doesnt feel good. i've had it right in the crotch (went from my hand to a ground...the metal tool box next to me)

 
Rep Power: 715

Man, thanks folks for the big help. This problem has been aggrevating me abit since i had this car. Im planning on buying a 97+ (w/t-tops) v8 around september. Also gonna keep the one i have to play with. Also, I was right under the hood while the car was running to listen to the engie as it studderd, I would hear sorta like a small spark snapping sound then it would studder . It would repeat about every...60 seconds or so...

 
Rep Power: 1069

you have a bad wire, I would clean the engine before doing much (a greasy engine will have spark issues also)