I have an '86 firebird with an LG4 in it. A couple of days ago, I went to leave work and when I tried to start my car, it would rev up to about 2k for a second or two and then die. If I kept pumping the gas, I could keep it running (roughly), but it won't try to idle at all. It runs smoother when I have it reved up to 2500 or so rpm. A couple of times, while it was dying, it backfired too. I had a friend of mine try to start it so that I couple watch from under the hood and see if I could notice anything. One time it backfired and I think that I saw a little smoke come from between the carb and the intake manifold. If that gasket is leaking, would enough air be bypassing the carb to lean out the mixture and cause my problems? This would sort of explain why it smooths out when I'm revving it too. With the throttle plates open, the vacuum wouldn't be pulling at the leak as much. The only other thing that I can figure is that my fuel pump is dead and that I'm only getting gas in the carb by pumping the pedal. Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.
Cole