My Trans Am keeps stalling when I put the car in drive or reverse. When I start up my car starts up fine and runs well, when I put the car in drive or reverse the car stalls, the RPMs go up and down and then it stalls but it does not stall in park or neutral. I had my carb rebuilt, the problem stopped for a couple weeks and then the problem came back. Does this problem sound like a carb problem, if so what should I do. Also the guy that rebuilt my carb said I had a small vaccum leak might that be the problem? I need help bad, if I don't get the car up and running my parents are going to make me sell it.
Thanks

 

Ok, I don’t know if I’ll be much of any help for your specific problem, but I’ll throw out as many ideas as I can think of. Others feel free to chip in and/or correct me if I’m wrong about something…


First of all, what have you done to the car recently, besides the rebuilt carb?
Did you change the in-line fuel filter? You’d think that the guy who rebuilt the carb would think of such things, but you’d be surprised…
When I replaced mine it was dark brown (instead of light/soft orange) and covered in thick, gooey stuff. That can’t be too good for performance…?

Also, did the guy tune it for you, or just slap it on and hope for the best? (kind of what I did) It might be running rich, or lean. (Don’t ask me which one Oh, but do you see any smoke come out of the pipes when you start the car?) As for the tuning: I’m not sure exactly how you adjust it, but I do know that you have to open up the carb and screw on one of the two screws. A little bit too advanced for me, at least for now.

It could be something as simple as bumping up the idle or choke. Or it could at least be a nice temporary fix that would buy you some more time with the folks… Where is your idle at when you start the car? And what does it go down to when you put it in gear? Did this problem start before or after the new carb? Did you run on the new carb for a while before this happened? Does the SES light come on, and if so, did you grab any codes?

Man, this post is gonna be long. But lets move on. When you turn the key to ACC (or whatever it’s called) do you hear the fuel pump starting? I guess your pump could be failing, but I don’t really think so. You could try doing a flow test and see how much it’s pumping out. Hmmmm, what else….?

The vacuum leak probably has something to do with it, but I don’t really know how much. Did he give you an idea of how bad it was? (and/or where it was) If it’s a small leak, I think you should be able to compensate for it by adding more fuel to the mixture, but like I said before, I’m not too sure about this carb/vacuum leak stuff. Did you (or the mechanic) put on a new gasket with the carb? If it’s old and cracking it might add to your problem.

Hmmm, can’t think of anything else right now… When exactly does this happen? When you start it up for the first time in the morning, after the engine is warmed up, all the time? More info might be helpful.

Good Luck, and let us know what happens!

 

That is all I have done to the car in the past year or so. I did not change the in-line fuel filter but I was going to do it this summer. Yeah he rebuilt the carb, he put it back on and tuned it up for me. Wgen I start the car up the RMPs are around .75 and when the problem doesn't occure the RPMs are about .50 in gear. yeah the SES light does come on when it starts to stall. The problem started before he rebuilt the carb , after the problmr went away for about 3 weeks and the problem came back. No I didnt grab the codes yet I am going to do it this summer. Well he said the leak was small, and I dont know if he replaced the gasket. The problem is weird, like sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesnt. like I could start it tomarrow and it worksa fine, the next day start it and it stalls but if I wait a week and the start it it wioll be fine. I can drive the car I just have to put it in neutral when i come to a stop.

 

Hmmm, that is really weird. Maybe it has something to do with the outside temperature, or the moister in the air? I dunno. But anyway…

If that’s the only thing you have done to the car recently, I would recommend changing all the tune-up stuff. Like new plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, o2 sensor, crankcase breather/filter and maybe the pcv valve. You could do that one at a time if you want, because all together it’s gonna run you $50-60 or so.
(The wires and distributor cap/rotor are about $40-50 together) You could start by taking the distributor cap off and see how it looks like inside. Mine was covered with white, powdery, ashy stuff and obviously needed to be replaced ($18).

You could start with pulling just one plug and see if that needs changing. If it doesn’t chances are that the rest of them are ok as well. Then I would recommend changing the o2 sensor. I think they go for about $5. I changed mine a few days ago and it was so black that some time and space most likely got caught in there… Then of course fuel filter. It’s very easy (and inexpensive) to change.

As for the codes: It’s very easy to grab those as well. (You don’t have to wait until this summer is what I’m trying to say, unless you don’t have time to do it now of course)
You don’t need to buy one of those grabbers, as you may already know. Just use a paperclip and stick it in either ‘hole’ 5 and 6, or 6 and 12, depending on what car you have. Then turn the key to ACC but DON’T start the car. That could fry the ecm. Grab the codes, and come back to this page and enter the codes in the search engine.

And like I said before, if you want/need to drive it now you could always bump up the idle a little bit and see if that helps. I had the same problem before when I first got my carb, and I had to bump it up and lower it back down probably 6 times before I got it right (same with the choke). Yours might have been ok when it left the mechanic, but now needs to be adjusted a little bit… It’s worth a try. (Although, since you got a code there must be something else acting up as well.)

 

Well Ill give all of that a try I have two weeks of school left and Ill see what I can do. I changed the wires plus and cap and rotor two summers ago but i put platinum plugs in and later i was told to put AC Delco plugs in so ill do that this summer. But like I said I see what i can do.

Thanks for all the help