uglydave
New member
2002 2.5 TS automatic with 136,000 miles. Driving from Cape Cod to Portsmouth today, the car did great in traffic in Boston and great on the highway. I get off the highway in Portsmouth, come to a stop sign, accelerate and the engine hesitates wicked and fluctuates rpms badly. I lay off the throttle and then give her 3/4 throttle and the engine POPS! I backed off, gave her 3/4 throttle again and it pops again. The noise is a very distinctive "pop" from the engine. She continues to hesitate if I give her anything more than just a little throttle. So I pulled over and looked things over... one of the boots that covers the spark plugs had popped out a little bit. When I opened up the oil cap there was a decent amount of smoke that came out, and the oil has about a quart, quart and a half low. The engine was wicked hot, I mean everything in the whole bay seemed comically hot. On a side note, this is not the first time the car has been low on oil and been smoking when I opened the oil cap. But I have never seen a puddle from leakage or smelled burning oil or seen blue smoke from the exhaust. I let the car cool down and drove it the last hour and a half to Naples without going above 3000 rpms and barely giving it any throttle. Once I got in town I gave it 3/4 throttle again and it climbed rpms and shifted fine, no hesitation or pop. Any ideas about what the hesitation and pop could be from? I appreciate any input and help!