OK here's the problem... 16 year old car all OEM. The car ran great when I got it ( even tho it has over 225K on it ) but now all of a sudden it takes like 12-16 times of starting it for it to turn over and stay running ( altho extremely rough loping then dying ) but once I maintain the throttle @ around 1500 2000 and the car warms up it quits and drives like a scalded dog. the injectors are 72 a piece at advance ( not including the gaskets seals o rings ) and I plan on putting a 350 in it eventually but I wanna milk every mile out of the existing motor that I can due to lack of funds for a motor/tranny swap.

 

Check fuel pressure - classic signs of low fuel pressure due to dying FP or clogged fuel filter....

//RF

 

OK I know the FP was replaced not long ago and the filter looks like @#$% so I just got back from advance with a new filter and a can of Sea Foam engine treatment so we'll see what happens after I change the FF ( it looks like the idiots put the old one on backwards ) and while im at it im gonna put the gas tank back up where it belongs ( they didnt put that back up after replacing the FP ) Idiots can do wonders to cars

 

OK update: I changed the filter and put sprayed some of that sea foam in the TB and it still cuts out and dies but not near as bad as before, but once the engine is warm it kicks into high idle till you drop it in gear then it hits low idle and runs fine. Im gonna tap into the fuel line and put a pressure gauge on it so I can tell whats flowing to the TB. Im pretty sure its just trash in the lines and the worn out injectors even tho they spray pattern for them looks ok

 

If you didn't finish off the sea foam put the rest in the gas tank, it will clean the lines. It helped my Camaro, worked wonders for my Ford. (never had any treatment make that much of a difference)

 

I have a little over half the bottle left so I'll dump it in and see what happens. Still gonna get that in line FP gauge

 

OK I bought a rebuild kit for the TB and the car starts right up now, installed the FP gauage in line where the only rubber area was ( where the washer tank used to sit ) and its reading 8 psi at idle and drops to 6-7 under revving no leaks in the system but it should have 13 psi and the exhaust still smells rich as hell

 

'the project

1) 8 PSI dropping to 6 is a clear indication for FP replacement - time to replace FP - drop the gas tank and install later model vortec truck FP from 95+ truck. To be sure check fuel pressure regulator spring. On rare occasions they break resulting in low fuel pressure. Most often FP + FP filter replacement is a cure.

2) Due to lower fuel pressure fuel atomization is poor. During cold idle ECM is operating in OL and does not correct for NBO readings. After two minutes and if CTS reads above 60C ECM will attempt to enter close loop. If you have original NBO it is probably lazy and ECM will revert to OL again. Check codes see if you have any.

//RF