[16v] weird idling / won't rev up

[treed2@u.washington.edu (Toby Reed)]

I just went outside to move my car 100 ft or so around 1 am (about 10 
minutes ago) and it was behaving very strangely. It's raining and approx 
50 degrees F outside.. the car started right up and idled beautifully, 
none of the usual stumbling or initial fluxuation that I get when my car 
is still cold. However, stepping on the gas pedal had absolutely no 
effect. None. I could still move the car.. sort-of. The fact that I 
couldn't rev the engine above idle made that difficult but I inched along. 
It didn't stall out or anything when I was all the way on the throttle - 
it just acted like I wasn't even stepping on the gas. It was eerie! I 
can't tell if the cold weather is causing it (if it will be gone tomorrow) 
or if something just failed by coincidence - I don't know. It didn't feel 
like the throttle cable was loose or had snapped - but maybe it lost that 
little metal clip or something. It was sure strange..

The weirdest part was how smooth the engine was idling. Well .. smooth is 
the wrong word. But usually at idle my car kind of sputters a little bit 
in the exhaust and has occasional misfires - it's a somewhat uneven firing 
sound and the engine shakes a bit. Tonight i crouched down next to the 
muffler and it was "clean" and regular.. no raspy sputtering or misfiring. 
I haven't heard my car do that -- ever! What the hell?

I can't go outside and troubleshoot it now since it's the middle of the 
night and I have a fist sized hole in my muffler (and neighbors that want 
to sleep).. but I will definately take a look tomorrow.

Any ideas would be appreciated..

-Toby

--
'87 16v

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