Ive just picked up a ALDL cable for my 88 Trans Am 350TPI and already have the computer equipment ready to go for hookup.

Right now my car only has 53000 miles on it (more each day as I drive to work).

Heres the problem
(Its weird) Everyday, even after sitting in the parking lot for about 2-4 hours it spits out a cloud of blue grey smoke then clears right up after about 2-5 seconds later. It also takes a bit to get it to catch and start up. On the odd occasion it will catch, and then sputter and die unless I give it some gas to keep it going(runs rough for about 30 seconds). I also notice that pretty much all the time I hear the low hum of the fuel pump working before I turn the engine over. Sometimes it does the hum and clicks (im assuming it turns off with enough fuel pressure) other times it hums and keeps humming until you turn the engine over.
Also noticing a fuel odour sometimes.

Now can I use the WinALDL to find out what is going wrong with it and what should I look for when I finally hook it up to the car?

Would WinALDL be able to tell me if I have a leak in the fuel system through the codes that it logs?

Any help would be appreciated as I would love to have the car running at 95% performance if not 100% without having to shell out a couple hundred bucks to have the mechanics sit for 2 hours trying to find out whats wrong.

 

You would be better off with Moates software. It too is free but runs at the higher baud rate and provides more data. www.moates.net

As far as the startup problem it may help to data log the startup. At the minimum you would be able to see if the CTS is reporting correctly. A problem would be that you don't have a baseline to compare the startup to. Although something may be out of place enough to be spotted.

As far as the blue/gray smoke on startup the blue may be from bad (dried out and cracked) valve stems seals. Common on these engines.

As for the fueling I would first check teh fuel pressure with a gauge, along with fuel pressure leak down after engine off.

RBob.