problem with car...

My '97 GP has a problem when I accelerate. I push on the gas pedal and the car will not respond. The motor doesn't sputter or miss or anything, the RPM's just do not go up. Then all of a sudden it will "catch" and accelerate fine. It's much more noticable when the motor is cold. It has new plugs and wires and they all have di-electric grease on them.

I'm going to say maybe a bad tps?

Do you have any SES codes? I had that problem, was an 02 sensor

check out your throttle cable

Yeah, has to be throttle cable, especially if you can't duplicate the symptom by moving the throttle open under the hood.

First I would not recommend Die-electric on Plugs in a 3800, they tend to heat and crack...dont know why but it is due to the Die-electric. Second lack of power ... Is the MIL (Malfunction Indication Light)on?? Do u have lots of exhaust flow ?? Feel the Exhaust tips. Does the engine rev up when u get on it slowly, but at hard tip ins does notta??

I hate to be pessimistic, but it could be a transmission problem if the above suggestions don't solve the problem

Not getting any trouble codes. Throttle cable moves freely. I have gotten a few whiffs of a rotten egg smell from the exhaust but not very often and its only after high rpm's from passing someone. The engine accelerates fine with little to no throttle. I was almost thinking it has something to do with moisture getting into something because it only does it when I leave for work at 5am. These cars do not have a distributor that can crack and allow moisture in and I was wondering of the coil packs could somehow get moisture in them? Could it have anything to do with the cold air intake that is on the car?

If you are getting a hint of rotton egg smell, I will bet its the CAT... if it was a failing coil, you would def get a code, the code for a cat doesnt trip till its really needing to be done

x2 with ifit, thats a dyin cat.

moves with little to no throttle but when you get on it it bogs down then catches? No codes my guess then would be your cat is on it's way out. The only time the cat will throw a code is if it was no longer functioning. The rear O2 won't tell you it's clogged just that it's not converting the volitiles it's supposed to.

perfect excuse to upgrade to a 3" downpipe!!

You would need something like this in order to check it, but it wouldn't surprise me if that cat was on its way out...gremlins never rest!

I think its your cat because you have the same symptoms as me when I had my cat replaced in 2005. It bogged and shake when I accelerate then all of a sudden it would accerlerate back to normal and when the cat was replace the ses light came on because of the rear O2 sensor.

Why would this problem go away after the car has been running for awhile if it was the cat? When the car runs in open loop while it's cold does th extra fuel to the engine cause the cat to not be able to handle all the exhaust? I'm not doubting anyone, I've kind of figured the cat needed to be changed but I was really leaning towards something electrical since it only happens when the motor is cold or early in the morning when moisture has a chance to build up.

Im not to sure about the technical reason why it happens, but I do know a cat will cause heavy throttle loss, ussually only cold when it starts to go out, but more and more you will feel it stumbling on itself even when warmed up.