Let me rephrase my sputtering issue - '87 C3.2

[Tippy]

I created this thread days ago:

'87 C3.2L bucking when taking off question

about the sputtering/bucking and sometimes backfiring issue I am having. I got excited when I dove into my AFS and saw the jumper wire was pulled off the wiper and the wiper contact was popped out from underneath the other contact bridge - but it did not solve the issue.

What I've addressed so far:

1. Cap
2. Rotor
3. Fuel pressure
4. Plug wires
5. CHT sensor is still tight in head #3
6. Vacuum leaks - but still want to block off large vacuum hose going to the brake booster, etc. I've yet to do

So, this is what it does:

1. Sputters and backfires when taking off from a stop
2. Any load while driving below 2000RPM causes bucking and sputtering and sometimes a backfire

I've read this can be:

1. The Cylinder Head Temp Sensor
2. Worn out "track" in the Airflow Sensor

Some other mentionals others have had work for them:

1. Bad DME relay
2. Cracked breather hose

But these two I don't think would fix my problem IMO but I will try soon.

For now, I am going to do the AFM "repair" and see if that works. If not, I am going to buy a new CHT sensor even though I have the 2-wire now and looks fairly new.

Any other thoughts?

[Tippy]

I checked the ohms of the Cylinder Head Temp Sensor and got 1.082k for engine COLD and ambient temp of ~100 degrees.

Drove it around until the temp gauge read just above the low limit and took it home as the other fix I tried did nothing (wipe AFS "track" clean).

It has sat for about an hour and the ohms now read 1.084k or thereabouts.

The engine is somewhat warm but the values haven't really changed. Is it toast then?