Sputtering 1999 Le Corolla

[Rolla_Girl]

I have a 1999 LE Corolla that makes a "sputtering" type sound when the engine is straining, especially up hills. It is much worse if I drive through a puddle and have water splash up inside.

She has always done this a little bit, ever since I bought her. At first, it was only when I drove through puddles. It's slowly gotten worse to the point that she does it almost all the time.

I've taken it to a couple different dealers and shops, and NO ONE CAN HEAR IT. In fact, they say that she's running great for a car her age with almost 90K miles. Grr! And yet, everyone who rides in my car with me comments, "Wow, your car is kind of loud, huh?" when she starts doing it.

She has NO problems starting, and never kills. Just sputters. It's making me nuts. Anything that takes strain off the engine helps... Belt dressing, new spark plugs, even just cleaning the engine...all helped the problem, but nothing solved it. My thought was it was an electrical thing (because it gets worse with water) but 1999 Corollas don't have distributor caps, and I'm not sure what else to check?

The fact that she's ALWAYS done this but didn't get fixed during warantee period because the dealer couldn't hear it makes me kind of nuts. But I just can't take it anymore, and want my rolla purring! If anyone has any thoughts, or experience with this kind of thing, please let me know!

Thanks!