cherryvalley

Alright, I've had just about enough with my damn car. I love it to death but I've had it for over a year and I just cant get it running right. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will. I'm going to try and write everything that I possibly can about this car and hope that SOMEONE out there will know where I'm coming from and possibly suggest something, other than junking it, that may fix my problem.

I bought the car about a year ago from a buddy of mine who is in the towing business. He tows, has his own garage, and does body work. His cousin/friend owned this car since almost brand new but he wrecked it somewhere close to 2000. My buddy then acquired the car and had it in a storage garage for almost 6-8 years. He got out of that garage and he put it behind his chain link fence which it then sat outside, wrecked (front end damage), without a hood. Granted, there was a mat over the motor. Alright, so now I buy the car, I bought it cheap. I took her home and wanted to get the body work done first.


That was my first step on my third gen journey! I was crusing right along. I jumped right on the body work, which got fixed by alot of elbow grease, some $$$, and a hammer. I ordered a 3" cowl induction hood along with a right side fender and a front clip. I found them all within a month and slapped everything on.


Now, I didnt even worry about getting it painted yet, I wanted to get her on the road. That is where all the trouble started. First things first, wouldnt start. Alright, I was told the distributor was bad anyways. I changed that and she still wouldn't start unless ether was used. BINGO! I heard her run. Next thing was new plugs and wires and the basics (air filter, fuel filter, oil change, oil filter, etc.). New fuel pump came, and that was my worst mistake ever. In my opinion, unless you have a lift, I will pay someone to do that because I will never do one again. I ended up taking the easy way out and cut a whole through the trunk about the gas tank. I got the top off without bending the fuel lines, and if I did, very little. I put the new fuel pump in and I could get the damn sock on. I got her on as best as I could and said screw it. I put her in the welded everything up and then got her ready for a start. She started but the fuel pump was very loud and noisey. Oh well, she ran, just ran very rough and wouldnt idle and would stall out. The only way I could keep her idling would be to put a penny on the throttle and that would give her enough gas to stay going. Now I began changing EVERYTHING! I put a new wheel in her, new vacuum hoses, new wheel bearing, new brakes, cap and rotor, new bottles for antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid, new wiper motor, new pump motor, gave her a total tune up! She began running good, good enough anyways. So then I decided to break down and give her a paint job, courtesy of my buddy who I bought the car off of. (not free )


I'm very proud of the way she turned out. Now she began running like crap again. This is when I began changing everything! I changed the TPS three times. Two aftermarket and this last one GM. Seemed to fix it for a week or less and she would began stalling and bogging. Brand new ecm, brand new EGR, brand new coil, brand new plugs, cap and rotor, cleaned out the cat's and put a new exhaust on her. Every time we changed something, I would take it for a day or two and bring her right back because she would go back to her same old self. Bogging and stalling, bogging and stalling. I changed everything I could possibly change! There is nothing new that I know of besides injectors and the motor itself.

Long story short: The problem I have now is that she will bog and fumble, and die out for 2-4 seconds and come back screaming while under half throttle or wide open throttle. Or going up a hill etc. When the car is really pulling/pushing, she does it! This normally only happens when she is hot though. I drive about 20 miles and she starts acting up on the 18th mile. When the car is in nuetral, she doesnt do anything like this. I can rev her and hold her at any rev and she doesnt really miss. (anything has a cough once in a while.) She idles at about 800-900 most of this time. She only stalled twice lately for no reason at all, but I'm sure if I keep pushing my luck she will start it again. Is there anything I could possibly be missing? I heard awhile back someone suggested something about the tranny. She isnt the best tranny in the world, she slams in gear, not too bad, but you know. Its a 91. Please help me as best you can! If you have any questions or anything let me know, I will get you the answer ASAP! Thank you soooooooo much! I have wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too much money into this car than I want to, but hopefully if I get it fixed. I will love her forever!

cherryvalley

bumpppp. anyone got anything?

FlamingPhoenix

After reading that whole story, the only thing that comes to mind is the fuel pump, have you put a fuel pressure gauge on it? also could be a faulty injector, have you checked them?

cherryvalley

I'm buying 6 new injectors within the next couple of days, and I really hope it wouldnt be the fuel pump. I dont have a fuel pressure gauge, but need be I will get one. Thanks for the reply.

MFlove68

hey i'm going threw the same problem myself, if you've figured out what the problem was would you mind telling me

zzjakect

Man I feel for you! I do agree that the fuel pressure should be checked because that may cause the issue. Fuel filter changed? Fuel tank corroded? Injectors may do it.

In any case the car looks nice. The color is awesome and I like the hood. Good luck and keep us updated. I'm sure you'll get it fixed at some point.


When I was a kid we had a cabin in the Poconos. Marshalls Creek near Stroutsburg.

victorgarcia264

sorry to interrupt guys, but im having the exact same prob. as cherryvalley. I already replaced EGR, purge canister,canister purge valve ,plugs and wires, fuel pressure regulator,gas cap, O2 sensor, TPS, and fuel pump. Every time i would fix one thing she would respond just a little bit better. But now I'm stuck on this problem and its bugging the heck out of me. Some one please Help

FreeSpirit

Did you ever figure out what the problem was?

cherryvalley

Low and behold, 2 years later and the car runs as strong as ever! I put the new injectors in...still did it. I then bought a GM fuel pump directly from the dealer rather than an aftermarket one. She ran, and still runs like a champion. Thanks to everyone! I'm only 2 years late on the thank you's.