"I hear a lot about the flame trap causing some of these problems. I'm not exactly sure but I think I found the flame trap on my car but it is capped off on one end. I don't know if this is the flame trap or not. Would it run if it was capped off? I can post a pic of the part if needed. Any help would be appreciated."

On the left (driver's) side of the block, underneath the intake manifold towards the back of the block (right above the starter) is a plastic box sort of thing bolted to the engine. This plastic box is an oil/vapor seperator. On top of the seperator is a fitting about 1/2" in diameter that has a short hose connected to it. This short hose is sized to fit the seperator on one end and has a bulge on the other (about 1" in diameter) into which a plastic fitting with a small and a large hose fitting connects. Inside this plastic "Y" fitting is a white plastic thing with about 100 little holes in it. This is the "flame trap". The small hose from the "Y" goes to the intake manifold and the large hose goes to the air intake before the throttle. The purpose of this whole mess is to ventilate the crankcase through the car's intake rather than straight to the environment. If the flame trap gets clogged up or if the small hose (or the nipple at the intake manifold) gets clogged up, the engine will build up excessive pressure in the crankcase which can cause the rear main seal (and other seals) to leak.

The moral to this whole thing is that the flame trap shouldn't be plugged off -- if it is, unplug it and hook it up correctly. Replace the flame trap parts (as they only cost about $2 or $3) Also, I don't think that the flame trap would cause the bad running you are experiencing. You can check quick and dirty by removing the oil filler cap. This will relieve excessive positive crankcase pressure (if it is present) and if that's causing your problem, it would go away. Actually, there should be slight negative pressure in the crankcase as a result of the intake sucking through the flame trap. Some advocate testing this by loosening the oil filler cap and just setting it on the valve cover so that the gasket covers up the hole but it isn't locked at all. If it stays snug, doesn't rattle, it's an indication that the engine is being sucked through the flame trap -- the slight negative pressure keeps the cap in place and non-rattling.

Look at the IPD website and you will find something that they call a "flame trap relocation kit." You can view the instructions for this thing on line -- it has pictures of the flame trap parts that I have described above. Also, the FCP Groton website has pictures of the flame trap, "Y" fitting, bulgy hose, etc. The IPD kit is a little pricey for what it is, but I bought one anyway so that I can service the trap regularly without cutting my hands and wrists up trying to cram them behind the manifold and everything else on the left side of the engine. Oh, one other thought. There is a brace that goes from the intake manifold to the left motor mount bracket (as I recall). This comes of and goes back on easy and makes getting to the flame trap/seperator somewhat easier.

As to the bad running problem, maybe it's the catalytic convertor as suggested, I don't know. Unfortunately it's neither easy nor inexpensive to check that out.


Good luck.

Harold