GoldenSwordZ28

Well, the subject is pretty straightforward there... but I'll give you the exact symptom.

I go out in the morning, and start the car up, she'll crankup and seem fine. Then about 10-15 seconds after the engine is going, it just dies... no matter if I give it a little gas or not. Then, the second time I crank it up it will start and stay going.... Until I put it into gear, then it dies. Now, this will happen a few times until I manage to get it going down the street. Now, heres another problem in the same vein. I'm going down the street after all this has happened, then, I stop at the stop sign, after I get ready to go I give it gas and she'll die on me. Just putter out. I can get around this by giving it BARELY any throttle at all until its in a higher gear but even then, if I gun it, or try to take off at any reasonable speed, it'll start out sounding ok, then it will DROP in RPM's and start to putter out again. I also noticed that when its puttering out if I ram the gas pedal down I can keep it going, but this is in no way normal. And I also notice then when I DO ram the pedal down I hear a weird almost poping noise in the engine compartment. Nothing to loud, but a poping sound, like if you poped one of the plastic air filled packing stuffers, and then it may or may not die out.

I just had some engine work done on it not to long ago which included:
1) Changing the Timeing Set because the timing gear lost its teeth.
2) Replacing 6 Push-Rods because they had been bent
3) Having he engine removed from the car slightly so that the teeth from the gear could be removed from the oil pan.
4) Had the Harmonic Balancer Replaced

All of this and then when I got it home it was having some choke issues which I thought were causeing some of my above listed problems, so I swaped the carb from my '84 Z28 onto this car. And it seemed to clear up the issues with the choke, but I still have the issues I listed above, as well as the 'Service Engine Soon' light on all the time.

The car is a 1986 Pontiac Trans AM with the 305 V8 LG4 Carbed model. Its got a TH-350 in it right now I think (It only has 3 gears). Which was put in by the previous owner, and seems to have some problems. Since this was supposed to have a TH-700R4 in it I don't know what kind of problems this could cause, but thats what I know about it.

Hopefully someone will know what the problem is, becuase its making driving this car a DRAG.

Thanks in advance guys!

Adam

GoldenSwordZ28

One other thing I might add is, that the engine won't bog if I slam it when its not in gear, it will still die out the first time or so, though usually the second time it will fly up to 2,000 RPM's until I tap the gas, which brings it down a little under 1,000 RPM's.

Well, thought this may help a little

Adam

Vader

GSZ,

Presuming you still have the original carb, ECM, and wiring harness, you should scan for error codes for a hint to the problem.

GoldenSwordZ28

How is that done? I know I've seen it around here somewhere...

Adam

GoldenSwordZ28

Anyone have any other input on what this may be? Or have any info to help me to get the codes? I know you have to use a paper clip or somthing.... but I can't remember.

Thanks!
Adam

GoldenSwordZ28

Oh, and, do you think that this may be a problem with the Tourqe Converter? I'm still useing the same type of carb, but, it has one more vaccum area on it... its off of an '84 and I'm putting it on my '86... could there be any problems with doing this?

Just thought I'd ask....

Adam

dunerida82

Fuel pump.

GoldenSwordZ28

Hmmm... its mechanical on the LG4 Carbed engine in '86 still right? That thought had crossed my mind, but I never really thought about it to much..... I guesse I'll just get it replaced to be sure.... thats the only way to be posotive.

Thanks dunerida

Adam

89rsIMPRTETR

it could be your fuel pump, but it also could be a bad charging system, have your alternator and battery checked out b4 you go out and buy a new fuel pump

Vader

GSZ,

First, you'll need to acquire a GM OBD I ECM Diagnostic Trouble Code Retrieval Tool (commonly known as a paper clip to TGO members).

With the engine and ignition turned off, locate the ALDL connector under the dash, just to the right of the steering wheel in the driver's foot well area on Firebirds, and on the left on Camaros. There should be a small rectangular cover over the access hole in the lower dash trim.



Insert a tool as described above (paper clip) into the 'A' and 'B' terminals on the ALDL connector:



WITHOUT STARTING the engine, turn the ignition to the "RUN" position. Watch the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) - it will begin to flash. This is also commonly called the "Service Engine Soon" or "SES" lamp. The first code will flash three times, and will usually be a code '12'. This is encoded by one flash of the lamp, a brief pause, then two successive flashes of the lamp. Each code will repeat three times, so you should see a "Code 12" flash three times. Any other error codes will follow in numerical order, and each code should flash three times. After all codes have been displayed three times, the "Code 12" will again flash three times, then all other codes will follow as described earlier. This cycle will continue until the jumper is removed or the ignition is turned off.

After you have made a note of all error codes, turn off the ignition and remove the jumper immediately. If you forget to remove the jumper and attempt to start the engine with it in place, you could damage the ECM. For this reason you should remove it immediately.

Once you have a note of all error codes, check this file for the decoding:

GM Error Codes.pdf.

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open/print the file.

felo72

If you had bent pushrods and wiped out a couple teeth out of your timing gear, did you ever check the cam and lifters? And did you set the lash correctly on the rockers for the pushrods you replaced?

GoldenSwordZ28

I've no idea felo72.... I wasn't the one that did it, I took it to a shop. And I don't know if they did it either... I assume they did, since I would never know to check things like that... I don't even know what those things you mentioned are. They said that they checked the Cam though, and that it was ok. Oh, and the timing gear stripped completely. The chinesium teeth fell off of the gear.

What can I do to check that other stuff?

Adam

felo72

To save myself from writing a book, go to the library and get a Chilton's manual on Camaro's. Check out "how to set valve lash" and that should tell you if they set the valves right or not.

What happens when they are torqued down too much is the engine becomes harder to turn over because of the added stress on the valvetrain. Setting the valve train for a hydraulic flat tappet cam is the most unprecise method there is when building an engine, but it's one of the most important also.

The only way to check the valve lash is to go through the whole process. It should only take about 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour depending on mechanical ability.

Now to see if you wiped out a lobe on the cam is another story, just start by checking the oil and rubbing it on your fingers, if it turns silver, you have some problems.

GoldenSwordZ28

You'll never believe this, but I found the problem today... After having it in the shop, aparently they played around with the Distributor Cap and Rotor.... and all that Jazz. Well, I went out and fixed a tons of the problems with my car this morning, and while I was doing so, I accidently bumped the Distributor cap... moving it a little. I thought "Oh shyt, I messed up the timing" so I had my little brother get in the car and start it up while I adjusted the timing. Well, I was adjusting it and everything seemed fine.... except for this nasty rattling noise from inside the cap. Well, I tell my brother to turn the car off, and after he does so I proceed to remove the cap do see whats banging around in there. Now, I was completely amazed at what I saw. Aparently when the car was in the shop they took the rotor off and when they put it back on, used some wierd looking screws.... only, they must have never screwed it on. Because the screws were laying under the thingy that spins the rotor and the rotor was flopping around inside the cap. I was amazed, angry and excited.... because this was such a big thing that it could have been causing massive amounts of problems with my car. Needless to say I got a new rotor and the proper screws, screwed it on, put the cap back on and made sure everything was all hooked up right, and cranked the car up.... OMG, I didn't even know my car was capable of torqueing in idle, or feeling so good when the gas was pressed. After checking fluid levels and filling them to there respectful levels I proceeded to take the car for a test drive, no bog, no problems, and she'll spin the tires now from a stop, and chirp them in gear. Its insane, I didn't even know that my car was capable of these things But alas, its all better now.... and I must thank you all for your help. Wierd problem, and I dunno if this has ever happened to anyone else... just thought I'd let you all know

Adam