engine trouble

[richfolsom]

I just bought a 1991, and I love it. Today, I drove it out to the lake(about a 1 HR drive). After about 30 min, I stopped and got gas. 15 min later, the car started sputtering. It had never done that before. I rolled into a gas station and the oil was a little low, but not below the min mark. I added some more just in case. It started fine and ran for another 10 min then the same thing happened. I put more oil in and it ran fine til we got to our destination.
My question is: what should I look for? I can take pictures and post. I'm new at all this so I am open to anything.

[dmwhiteoak]

And this is a 1991 what ? I don't believe this is oil level related. Fuel or ignition would be my guess.

[narfire]

Perhaps try backing the fuel cap off a bit.

[richfolsom]

Sorry. Typing on my phone. Its a 1981. Are you saying don't tighten the fuel cap as much?

[narfire]

I was just guessing a vent might be plugged and air is not replacing the fuel used and starving the engine of fuel. Backing off the gas cap was one way to check this. But only 10 minutes of driving, before sputtering I don't know for sure if it would be enough time to be an issue, but no harm in checking and if it still occurs, cross that off the list of possibilities.
Chris

[richfolsom]

Thanks. I'll try it. One other note along those lines. When I opened the gas cap to put gas in, gas shot out everywhere

[So Cal Mark]

the fuel tank shouldn't be under pressure. When you kept adding oil, had the level dropped each time?

[richfolsom]

No not really. After these responses I'm wondering if opening the oil cap may have released pressure somehow? I loosened the gas cap a bit today and haven't had any issues yet. I also never had any issues until I refilled with gas, so it has to be related.

Thanks everyone for your help so far. I'll keep you updated.

[So Cal Mark]

overfilling it with oil can create some problems, is the level correct or overfull?

[richfolsom]

No, I think it's good. I only ended up putting a quart in.

[124JOE]

the crank case vent "for the oil"has a tube running under the intake
if its kinked youll have problems

[richfolsom]

ok, I made it home from the lake with the "loosened" gas cap. Now I guess I'll start looking around for crimped tubes? If anyone has any suggestions where to look, let me know.

Once again, thank you so much for your help so far.