JimRockford

Hi,I have a 1990 Camaro all stock,305 tbi 105k miles. I had an issue about 5 months back with the car bucking under acceleration,it turned out to be a bad ignition coil. I bought a new delco one and replaced it 4 1//2 months ago and it ran fine until 2 days ago when it would start bucking under load and missing at idle,same as before. Is it common for these coils to fail that quickly? I never replaced the ignition control module,could that have damaged the coil,or could the last bad coil have taken out the ignition module? The cap,rotor,plugs and wires are all new and were replaced 4 1/2 months back and it’s ran great until 2 days ago.
It still goes 80mph down the freeway just fine,it’s onky under acceleration just as before. I’m going to buy another coil, and see if that fixes it again, I just wanted to know if I should replace the ignition control module first

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Get a module (or whole distributor) and coil from these guys:

https://performancedistributors.com/

Unfortunately the Delco stuff is no guarantee of quality anymore. Yes they are owned by GM, but they "fill out" their catalog with whatever they can get from china or otherwise when/if the original supplies are sold out, the vendor stops making them, the price is no longer acceptable, or a myriad of other reasons. GM doesn't make the coils in the Delco box. They own the Delco parts distribution channel - the part in the box is made by the lowest bidder. Quality is a secondary concern to cost. The DUI coils are like $60 though you will need the matching module. With these you can also run a .060" gap.

GD

JimRockford

Thanks,I wasn’t aware of that. I deliberately bought a delco one new in the box,didn’t know it would be the same junk as buying one from Autozone. Thanks for the tip. Just to be sure you are talking about the ignition coil,right? I had never replaced the module because the ignition coil solved the problem until about 5 months later

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Yes the ignition coil. If you go to a hotter coil you need a matching module. Get both from Davis Unified Ignition. Then increase your gap to the gap used on the Vortec 350 (.060").

GD

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Does DUI make their own, or source them from here in the States? Or are theirs coming from China too?

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

I have no clue on that. Only that the parts are made to their specifications.

GD

JimRockford

It seems nearly everything is made in China now. Really sad. Quality control is very poor. Can’t tell you how many times I get a part right out of the box that’s defective. Had that happen on a wheel cylinder a couple years back. The holes were drilled incorrectly at the factory in the casting and I had to return it for another as it wouldn’t mount up.

Think about it,the original coil lasted 28 years,the new one 5 months. It also didn’t even include mounting brackets,I had to drill the rivets off my old one and install it with screws onto the new part.

Is this a common problem with these coils?

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Gee thanks, Obama!

Dang ol tree hugger modern hippy useful idiots are to blame. Just like that retarded prop65 warning carefully applied to EVERYTHING so California cancer can spread to everything.

Ban anything that can harm the environment, improve the working conditions and increase worker safety, decrease worker exposure, regulate everything until there is no profit left for a company and they outsource all their polluting manufacturing, and labor based jobs to countries without regulation. People still work in sweatshop factories with dirt floors and exposed wiring, spraying lead paint, and working with heavy metals, smoke stacks still belch thick black smoke smothering the earth, but it's cool, those sweat shop workers and all that pollution is in Mexico or China, or wherever... Meanwhile an entire generation of Americans is unemployed, unskilled, clinically insane, and the product quality has gone to ****...

But yeah, the delco name doesn't mean much. It's not like GM is cranking out anything they have to stand behind with any ignition part you'll find on a thirdgen, it's just a name on a box.

Sure it's an ignition problem?

Tremo

If you don't mind breathing toxic fumes, drinking poison water, eating contaminated food and getting critically injured on the job, help yourself. I see you already live in a red state. Stay there please and watch Hannity.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Shifting the problem over to another country doesn't solve the problem, it just sweeps it under the rug. But hey, whatever makes you feel better.

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

If you really are concerned about the environmental impact of the parts being manufactured, there's no better place on earth to make them than here.

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Prop 65 is a complete waste of time and resources. When you slap a warning label on literally everything it pretty much achieved instant oblivion and became a laughing stock. It's the butt of every joke. No one pays any attention to the prop 65 warnings because it would be impossible to touch, breathe, or eat everything you come into daily contact with. So what do the warnings serve? They serve no purpose and warn no one of anything. Instead of the boy that cried wolf, we have the state that cried cancer! No one pays any mind to the obligatory Prop 65 warnings. If they did they couldn't function.

I'll be fine. I wear bitch mittens and filter everything through a cigar. 24/7. LoL.

GD

JimRockford

I know the Brake cleaner spray they sell out here had to be reformulated and now it doesn’t work anywhere near as well as the old stuff did. The “special blend” ethanol in the gasoline thing is stupid too,as it doesn’t burn as efficiently as the old gasoline did and according to several automotive publications actually gets slightly worse mpgs that the old formulation.

JimRockford

Still waiting on a replacement ignition coil,they shipped the wrong one.

on a different note,the car has started having the “service engine soon” light come on shortly after it started “bucking” under acceleration yesterday. The check engine light then went off a few minutes later. Today I got on the freeway and again it started bucking under load and shortly after the check engine light came on again.and stayed on until I shut the car off. Then it went away when I started it again.

i don’t have a service manual for this car,can someone tell me how to read the codes,or do I need a scan tool?

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Super easy:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Aldl+code+reading

GD

Drew

iTrader: (58)

thirdgen "scan tool" is a paperclip, a notepad and pen, and basic counting.

Jumper A & B, turn the key to run (not start), watch the check engine light and count the flashes. It'll flash each code three times so you don't get confused. First code is 12 which tells you the ECM is in diagnostic mode. 12, so you'll get one flash, a short pause and two flashes, followed by a pause then one flash, a short pause and two flashes. After the third 12 it'll move on to the next stored code. When it's done displaying all the stored codes, it'll flash 12 again three times and repeat. When you've got the codes written down, turn the key off, remove the paperclip, and look up the codes in the service manual.

JimRockford

Stupid question,but why don’t the Camaros have an access panel for the port like the firebirds and trans ams do? It’s looking like I have to unbolt the “hush panel” under the dash to get to it.

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

Same reason the Pontiac engineers put a removable panel on the passenger lower section of the dash so you can access the upper heater core box screw with a long 1/4" extension. Apparently they actually gave a **** about serviceability. At least more-so than the Chevy guys did.

The Firebird interiors were always nicer than the Camaro interiors - comparing similar trim level models. Is there even a Camaro equivalent of the GTA? If there is I'm not aware of it. Pontiac was just a tier above Chevy in those days with a higher MSRP to match.

GD

JimRockford

I agree with you completely General Disorder,as far as third gens and second gens go I have owned nothing but firebirds and trans ams. In my opinion the Pontiacs are the best looking of the third gens.. I have an 88 GTA with t tops and digital dash and had several earlier third gen trans ams I wish I kept.
this is the first and only Camaro I’ve ever owned and I bought it because it was a one owner low mile car in extremely good condition.
I don’t care for the interiors of the Camaros either. I don’t like the instrument cluster layout,or the dash design, I always felt it looked like something was missing on the passenger side of the dash where the firebirds all have a pouch. I mean no disrespect to Camaro lovers. I don’t hate the Camaros,but the Trans Ams have always been much better looking cars in my opinion.

GeneralDisorder

iTrader: (1)

I agree 100%. I don't hate Camaro's. There was a poll on this forum a while back and it showed like 55-60% of members preferred the Firebird styling over the Camaro. I have 4 Camaro's and 3 Firebirds and the birds definitely get the most love and attention.

What I don't understand is the prices of IROC's. You can get so much more (often nicer kept) birds for way less money.

GD

vinny R

The "Ironic" thing to me about the IROC is it really is just a decal package and center caps. It is not like you got more performance or better handling. I had a 2nd gen formula and the interior of those cars were so much nicer than the Camaros of the same year. I bought my Camaro because I always have wanted one, but it is not an IROC. When they sold the IROC new it cost you extra for that decal, I guess this ix still holding true!
BTW GD to your point, I was at BJ in WPB this year and I low mile 85 IROC went for 25K. Some one bought a 89 TTA Pace car with 40K for 18K

JimRockford

Yes,I’ve noticed that too. It seems like Camaros have always been more popular. I’ve gotten more compliments and people wanting to buy this Camaro then I have on any of the trans ams. Go figure.

JimRockford

There is one interior styling feature that I can say is better on the Camaro,at least in the 1990 model, than on the trans am and that’s the shift plate design. It is designed so that it has an sliding indicator to show what gear you are in. I always wondered why Pontiac didn’t incorporate that into their design.

Sweatlock

iTrader: (1)

My ‘92 Firebird has that feature.

JimRockford

Guess they didn’t have that feature in 1988 for the Trans Am. Do the actual letters change color like on the Camaro,or does it just have little dots that indicate what gear it’s in?