First off, my name is Chris and I got an 1988 Formula back in June for my first car. It has ran great but when it shifts, the car seems like the engine and tranny buck when shifting about ~3000+ rpm. Other than that its an all around great car. Heres the problem though, on my way back from school today as i was going through the gears, something strange happened when I went to hit third. The rpms shot up to redlne even though i wasn't on the gas, but they went back down nearly a second later so i just thought of it as a just a quirk, since the car is from 88. Drives fine afterwards, and I get to a blind intersection. You need to pull out and get up to speed quickly before another car comes around the bend or you'll get hit. So I go through first, shift at 5k, go through second and go to shift at 5k and the rpms shot up again while I'm on the clutch and my foot was OFF the gas. I tried putting it into 5th but it wouldn't stick so i shut it down before the 2.8 blew and coasted to a local shop and checked things out. I let it sit for a few minutes and checked to see if the throttle cable was sticking but everything was fine. Started and drove fine like nothing happened afterwards. What could this be? Also when the car is cold in the morning the throttle is pretty unresponsive until at halfway then the rpms begin to climb. Perhaps this has something to do with it? Also the car has a Hypertech chip and a 160 thermostat if that helps at all.

Things to check

1 Floor mat caching the bottom of the throttle

2 Sticking throttle cable

3 Sticking throttle

My vote is on #1

Is your engine bay completely stock? Make sure something does not interfere when you close the deck lid.....also look at cruise control if you have it.

quote Originally posted by phonedawgz: Things to check 1 Floor mat caching the bottom of the throttle 2 Sticking throttle cable 3 Sticking throttle My vote is on #1

I went out and checked the floor mat but that want in the way and even when i tried to forcibly make it stick under it the mat just got kicked up, maybe if there was velcro on the front of it it would have stuck. I checked the throttle cable again and it wasn't sticking either. When you say sticking throttle do you mean the butterfly in the throttle body got stuck fully open?