A month ago I took my 97 NA 850 25 miles on a rough dirt road en route to a hike. Since then my car has been driving pretty rough. Took it to a mechanic who changed some vacuum lines. I thought it helped for one day but then it went back to driving rough. Last week I opened the airbox to find a missing air filter (could you believe this!!!???)--I've taken my car to two mechanics in the past few months, one was for an oil change so not sure how long I've been driving in dusty Phoenix without an air filter but I'm just hoping it was removed after my dirt road trip. In any case, I placed an air filter as soon as I saw it was missing. To try and address the rough ride I cleaned the MAF. I ordered a transmission mount and front right motor mount which are en route. Planning to change the oil as well as wires/plugs/rotor/distributor.

Anything else I should do to address the rough ride?
Anything to do to clean out the engine from the dust that likely went in? A buddy mentioned some seafoam stuff.

Thanks!

 

Problem solved:

Front right motor mount. See pic below--it was crumbled to those three pieces just sitting there floatin in the breeze. It was a very quick and super satisfying fix.
fcpgroton.com for the part and the video on how to install.

I still think I'll try the seafoam for a good clean out.

 

Also for those who don't know (like I didn't) what a security torx bit is to take out the MAF to clean it is I have attached a pic of the screw head and the security torx bit. I picked up a bit set from harbor freight tools for $3.

 

I remember several years ago being on a road trip....stopped in SLC to get my oil changed....found out several weeks later the tech in SLC had stolen the k/n air filter and didn't even bother to put a standard filter in to replace what he had stolen...

Thanks for posting the motor-mount scenario...it will help others.

 

That pouring in is ok if you have a carb or a straight shot to the throttle body but otherwise you're better off finding a vacuum line and letting the engine suck it in.
That or buy the seafoam that comes with a special straw that slips between a joint in the intake and is designed to be used on FI cars.