Here's what I have for you to keep in mind:
- '92 TPI 350 .040 over to 357
- New fuel filter
- New MSD cap, rotor, super conductor wires
- New DUI (Performance Distributors) Screamin Demon HEI coil and ignition module
- Delco plugs gapped to 45 (I think)

Ok my car is strong for a basically stock 350, but in the past few months it has been struggling a bit, and the RPMs flutter a little as they climb, like an erratic miss. I bought the MSD cap, rotor, and wires and the DUI coil and module along with a new fuel filter and installed them all. Unfortunately, I installed a remote starter solenoid at the same time and upon test drive did not know that my positive cable was against the exhaust manifold. It burned through and shorted out after a quarter mile, and I don't remember how the car ran. When I opened the hood, the battery cables were GLOWING red from the short. They were ruined, but nothing else seemed to be affected. My dad is an electrician and said that a short only affects the shortest distance to the power source or ground, I can't remember - but it made sense that only the battery cables were affected. Eventually I got it fixed and all, but now the car runs like crap and even threatens to die at a stop (low rpms). No codes have been thrown or anything, but the car is much more rougher than before and is really annoying. Where do I begin and what are some less-common or less-obvious things to try to solve this problem? Ask if you need more info, and thanks for the help.

 

Forgot to mention - the idle rpm was low too, but that might just be a side effect of the engine struggling a bit.

 

Are you sure you don't have any plug wires that decided to take a nap on the manifolds like your battery cable did? It sounds like one of your plugs isn't firing.

 

Check the battery and see it the short did not damage the battery. A battery not charging properly and about to go out can cause rough running at low rpm.

 

I forgot to say that when the short happened, the car died immediately. The short zapped the battery dry immediately, so we worried. However, it charged back up just fine and holds the charge, and works normally as far as i can tell. As for the roughness - it extends all through the range, not just at the low range.. The plug wires are all routed very well - I've burned wires on the manifold AND I've had them crossfire between wires, so they don't touch each other or the manifolds.

Something of note: the DUI coil I bought is supposedly one of the best ones we can get is quite powerful, and I accidentally mounted it backwards so it is closer to the distributor cap, maybe half an inch away. I don't know the specifics of an ignition system, but could this cause problems or am I being paranoid? The coil is already mounted just a few inches from the cap in the stock position so is this a problem? I dont know if its like an "Electromagnetic field" thing or something like that. Also, is it possible that I fried any sensors or anything like that? Considering I'm not getting any codes and what my dad said, I would think not.

 

Come on, guys - please!

 

I'm sure there are some experienced guys here that may be able to help, so I'll bump this back to the top. Maybe your ecm is fried?? Maybe you should have your dist. checked out. Maybe it's messed up? I don't know much about electronics. Post this topic in the electronics forum that might help.