sputtering?

[Prankster]

all the sudden my old 89 buick regal custom with the 3.1, has devolped a problem with spitting and sputtring, or just up and missing.. my conclusion is either bad gas, fault coil pack or something along those lines.. it just happens sometimes, im running some gas treatment to see if i can get the problem to resolve. it happens mainly when driving, but in neutral/park it still does it so its not like its the trans causing it from what i can tell..but like if you shut the car off, or of course the few times ive had it happen, it resolves, but comes back down the road. but tonight it just started to happen when i started it up.. its got no power when it happens, which you would expect due to it missing. i guess my question is what do you all think.. if its not water in the gas which is what it acts like kinda cuz it would surge in gear from missing to fine to missing to fine and has a distinct smell but cant place it.. what could it really be?

gary d.

[FastGT31]

i had a similar problem with my 3.1. i had everything checked from coil packs to fuel pressure with everything checking ok. the mechanic at time (summer 2000) noticed the spark plugs had been changed (by previous owner) and were actually champion plugs. i switched them out for standard AC Delcos and the problem disapeared entirely. the whole fix cost me like $8. i guess these engines dont like champion plugs, for whatever reason.