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Couple of comments and a request for help. First off, I drive the TA a couple of times a week, and the other day, I went to fill up with gas, and since it was over 4 bucks a gallon, and since the high test wast only a few cents more, I filled the tank with higher octane since it was already so expensive. I didn't think it would make a big difference, but it feels stronger, and I am chirping on shift to second gear on my 700R4, and that never happened before. Next, I noticed the engine running a little hotter the other night, and found that one of the 2 fans on my new radiator was not running. I troubleshot today, and the motor was dead. I ordered a different brand with little higher flow. While waiting for the new fan, I decided to hook up the door locks on the alarm system I installed early in the restore. At the time I didn't think unlocking with the key was a big deal, but I have been spoiled with my other cars having a key-less feature. I reviewed a couple threads on the subject and found the lock relay, I hooked it up per the cartoon attached, with the light green "+ unlock" going to the black relay wire, and the light blue "+ lock" going to the blue relay wire. Bench testing before hooking up, I hooked my volt meter between the alarm leads and ground, and when I hit the lock and unlock keys on the fob, I was getting around 11 volts momentarily on each one. When I tried it for real, when I hit lock, it arms the alarm and physically locks the door (yay), but when I hit unlock, the alarm disarms, but the door lock does nothing. If I push the button on the door, the unlock works fine. Any input would be appreciated.
I was gonna message you & ask how you were enjoying the Trans Am these days.
I know nothing about alarm systems. I do know that the power lock solenoids on these cars are weak.
As for the perceived power increase you're experiencing, two possibilities come to mind. 1) The higher octane fuel may be allowing the knock sensor to allow more ignition advance. 2) That freshly rebuilt engine may be starting to "break-in" and loosen up a little...
Thanks TL,
Good news. I was getting ready for our date last night, warmed up the engine, and tried the locks again, not having touched the system since hooking up the wires, and the lock and unlock is now working with the fob. Must have been that running the engine charged up the battery a little more. I am ordering a new set of lock motors today. I think the old ones are just tired.
Not sure if all you guys are aware, but I have the honor of being nominated for COTM for this month. I am in competition with a beautiful Camaro convertible, so if you enjoyed my thread the past couple of years, I would sure appreciate a vote. Thanks!
Some sad news, my wing-man for the restoration Nuke, passed away unexpectedly on 9/11, he was always by my side. He will be missed.
The hole in my heart was so big, I found another GSD at a breeder and drove 3 hours each way the same day to get a young replacement for my old friend. They are loyal companions. Here is my new wing-man at the breeders house
As Alan Jackson sang, old ones die, and new are born, and life was changed, disassembled, rearranged...
So sorry to hear about your buddy. I can definitely relate. We had to put down our dog this past spring. He was almost 17. It was way harder than I could have ever imagined.
Man, so sorry to hear about losing your friend, family actually. Dogs become part of the family, unconditional love.
And sorry to the others on here that have said they lost their dogs as well.
Very sorry to hear about the lost of your good friend. Been through this a few times over the years, and it does not get easier. Glad to see you made room in your home and heart for a new friend.
Hey everyone,
So I completed my restore a little over a year ago, decided to take the bird to the inlaws house about 30 miles away, doing around 80 on I-95 and the engine just dies. No sputtering or coughing, just dies. I manage to change a couple lanes and pull off onto the right shoulder. All new ignition system, fuel pump and relay, everything new. I am flummoxed. Engine cranks but no start, had to call AAA. The tow truck driver was cool, he had a 89 IROC, and helped me push my dead bird back into my carport. Anyhow, to make a short story long, I was getting gas to the throttle bodies but no spark, main coil and the pickup coil read good, so I ordered a new HEI module and that did the trick. I was disappointed that the new one failed with less than a thousand miles on it. After further review, you are supposed to put a layer of heat sink dielectric on the bottom side of the module where the mating distributor housing acts as a heat sink (to avoid overheating the module), but as you can see in the picture, it was bone dry. The new distributor came as a complete assembly, so I had no idea the dielectric was missing.
Funny the auto-assigned image number on the pic is image13!
While troubleshooting on YouTube U, I came across a funny video where a guy rated this part as the "worst automotive part of all time". He said that this part left him stranded a half dozen times in different vehicles. Worth a watch, he talked with a GM manager during a job interview who ended up being GM's CEO for 5 years.
I'm sure I'll take flack for this, but I never could stand the HEIs, since they came out. I had a few that were OK for a time, and one that was in a late 70s firebird, that gave me fits for over a year. Went thru it multiple times from colis, to cap+rotors, to modules, and pick-coils, and even the wiring that gets tugged on from the vacuum adv. I finally ripped it out, and put in a common Delco point dist, problem gone. GM was smart to dump it after 20 grueling years. As for the dielectric grease. Didn't ever help me out. Good luck with yours. I would keep more than just a module in your glove box. Maybe another dist.
Since I replaced the HEI module above, now I get a seatbelt warning light and buzzer that I never got before with the key on and/or engine running. Did some searching for seatbelt switch, but cannot find any locations or schematic. I know the buzzer is on the convenience panel, but cant find anything else. I replaced the old seats with Procar, but they had no switches or wires. Does the HEI module have any connection with the seat-belts? Thanks for any input.
The first thing you need to do is remove that buzzer and throw it into the nearest trash can. I seriously doubt the ignition system affects the seatbelt indicator function...
There's a wire connector / plug on the driver side in the lower seat belt retractor. I believe that is tied to the seat belt light. You'll have to pry the cover piece off the plastic trim and remove the large torx head bolt. Then lift up on the retractor and there should be a wire hanging down from it. That connects to a plug in the wire loom under the sill plate trim. In my '84, I'm pretty sure the wires are both black. Not sure why your light would all of a sudden stay on, but maybe that plug isn't fully connected anymore??
The first thing you need to do is remove that buzzer and throw it into the nearest trash can. I seriously doubt the ignition system affects the seatbelt indicator function...
Hi there,
I am certainly no electrician, but maybe check your grounds? When ground wires go bad on a circuit, the electricity will find "any old port in the storm" to find ground. It might be that the ignition circuit found a ground through the seatbelt warning circuit (or the other way round). Check the wire connector at the seat belt buckle, and at the retractor on the sill.
A recent example, my buddy replaced a bad light bulb in his turn signal, and all of a sudden the fog lights blinked with the turn signal! He redid a couple grounds up front, and the fog lights went back to working as normal, and his turn signal worked too. Bad grounds can cause strange behaviors...
Thanks everyone for the great responses, I checked for plugs and grounds without too much dis-assembly, not finding anything amiss, I ended up taking TL's and TAJOE's advice and just pulled the buzzer module. Not only did it eliminate the annoying buzzer, but also extinguished the useless seat belt light, I always buckle up. Just need to make sure I dont leave the lights on or the key in the ignition.
I replaced the old seats with Procar, but they had no switches or wires.
Originally Posted by stuartswede
Thanks everyone for the great responses, I checked for plugs and grounds without too much dis-assembly, not finding anything amiss, I ended up taking TL's and TAJOE's advice and just pulled the buzzer module. Not only did it eliminate the annoying buzzer, but also extinguished the useless seat belt light, I always buckle up. Just need to make sure I dont leave the lights on or the key in the ignition.
I hate to be the worry-wart of the group, but I've always been a belt and suspenders guy, so here we go.
Is there any chance that when you installed those new seats that you pinched one of those wires for the seat belt buzzer and warning light, and it's just now worn through? (The coincidence of the timing with the module replacement being a...well, a coincidence).
My concern is that the buzzer and light are trying to tell you something...that there is a short or open somewhere. You eliminated the indicators, but not the issue.
I don't know anything about how that system is wired up, so I'm just guessing here.
Had plans for a nice Valentines evening with my two women, (wife and car). We left early in the afternoon, attended an art show where I have a painting hanging, then attended a recurring Tuesday evening car show on Hutchinson Island. We were headed to a nice restaurant for dinner, but on the bridge back to Stuart, the engine just died, I made it to the very small shoulder before coming to a stop, but everything was dead. The battery is only 2 months old and the alternator was charging all evening, showing around 14 volts when driving, so I knew it was not a dead battery thing. Turn the key to run, no idiot lights or anything, no fuel pump noise, turn to start, and nothing. No hazard lights or radio, nothing. I could not keep the drivers door open long enough to check fuses because of the heavy traffic. Checked under the hood for any issues, but found nothing. Had to call AAA again, remember I had that failed HEI module on I-95 a couple of months ago, and coincidentally had the same tow truck driver! He was the one who owned a 89 IROC! Needless to say we didn't make it to the restaurant, but the 3 of us, wife, car, and I had a great view of a beautiful sunset on the water while waiting for the tow. Next day I checked and all fuses were good. Still no crank or any electric, except did have parking lights, but no headlight pop up. Since all the fuses were good, I started checking the fuse-able links for continuity and couldn't find any bad. Jacked up the car, and got underneath, looking for any melted or grounded wires etc. Finding none, I was about ready to exit and just happened to wiggle the wires going to the solenoid, and saw a yellow ark at the bottom of heat protector for the solenoid wires. Thats not good. I wiggled again and it popped at the top of the tube. I quickly disconnected the battery and all the solenoid wires, and pulled everything out from under the engine. The wire that was arking was one of the two red wires that are ganged to one connector that bolts to the big lug on the solenoid. It came apart at one point where it was popping and only had one strand at the other end of the tube.
One of the two red wires was toast. The purple one and the other red one were OK.
Apparently the tube got hot enough from the headers to melt and ground one of the red wires. Here is the tube that allowed the short to ground
I repaired the bad wire and added several layers of high heat insulation, so hopefully prevent recurrence. Everything seems happy now, engine fired right up.
Happy Valentines Day
Last edited by stuartswede; Feb 16, 2023 at 09:39 AM.
Stupid design. My '83 is the same. When I replaced the engine, I replaced the fusible links, and put high-heat insulator tubing inside the metal tube for the wires to go through.
'Glad you got it figured out...
Glad you caught it before something bad happened. Or next time, and and your wife might have stood by and basked in the warm glow of your car burning to the ground.
Glad you caught it before something bad happened. Or next time, and and your wife might have stood by and basked in the warm glow of your car burning to the ground.
Yeah Dave,
Weird thing is it took over 1000 miles to degrade the insulation enough to short out to that metal sleeve. Taking the car tonight for a makeup dinner date.
