ran into an issue this morning driving into work. the little rig (89 sidkick 1.6l) started out running fine but then after leaving a stop sign i noticed it bogging down bad the more throttle i give it. if i accelerate slow it does ok to about half throttle but then will start boging down.  if after i get it moving i jam down on the gas the rig will start to slow down. thought what to check how to test etc?

thanks!

Absolutely the first thing to check is the fuel filter.

Yep, sounds like the filter

hmm well it woluld be nice if it was something that simple (cheap) i will take a look tonight (manual is at home)

Well, if you're at work, most probable issue is water in the gas - so a bottle of HEET may help you get home.

Hmmmm, I've had this when my alternator broke... Don't know how far you live from work but If you also start experiencing radio stopping and tach falling down like there is no rpm going on. And finally, the motor dies in front of a toll portal, it could be your alternator  
But my first guess also is the fuel filter  

sugar in the gas tank or a potato in the exhaust pipe.

ok well i made it home barely. if i let the rig sit it will start up and go decent for a minute or two. the longer i drive it the worse it is.
i changed the fuel filter this evening and put some heat in it. still no joy.

here is a little more i noticed this evening. if in first gear i get moving and then give it full throttle it will bog down bad and slow drastically as soon as i let off the gas say to half throttle it will pick back up and accelerate. floor it and is dies again.

next?

check your coil wire,if you have another rig around swap it out.

clogged cat, check to see if it glows nicely in the dark after running hard, mine did.  had two of them go on me actually.  

well i let it sit for about 30 minutes went out started it up and drove it for about 5 minutes and it was bock to bogging down.... so that its un drivable again.

I had a truck come into my work one time with a kind of similar problem.  The cat had melted into a couple big balls of crap internally and when you got onto the throttle hard it would perfectly plug the outlet of the cat, or if you went up hill it would roll back and do the same.  It was a V8 with a cat on each bank so it was only killing half the exhaust flow.  After awhile I isolated the noise the chunks were making and figured out what it was.  It had blown intake gaskets too which didn't help matters much.

Andrew

Check your fuel pressure, could
be a failing or weak pump, should
be around 36 PSI

ok well the cat does not glow either i drove it around again this evening after dark until it was bogging down real good and then hopped out... no dice on the glowing cat.

wild goody doesnt it take a special banjo bolt to check the pressue? can it be bought at the parts store and then hooked to the compression tester? is there another way or location to check the fuel pressure?