Hi,

I drove my car to church, all was well. Came out 2 hrs later. Started it, and it died. Started it again, and it died. If I held the gas pedal down a bit, it would keep running, but very roughly. Drove it home, jerking and bucking. Let it sit for half an hour, tried to start it and idle it. It will only keep running if I keep the rpms up, and it still is rough. This came on all of a sudden. Yesterday it was fine. Guess I shoulnn't have gone to church. ha ha.

Fuel pump? fuel filter ? some electronic part deciding to die ?

It is TPI and has the fuel pump in the tank.

Thanks

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88 GTA Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

Possession by the prince of darkness. Go back to church.

 

vacuum leak

check all those hoses coming in/going out of the throttle body and plenum

change the fuel filter if you have any suspicion

 

Thanks, I'll check the vac hoses. I put a new fuel filter in just 20K miles ago, but I guess it could be clogged.

I just dumped a bottle of drygas in, and after I ran the engine (roughly) for a few starts, I guess the dry gas got through to the injectors and now it is running much better !!! But it is still threatening to stall out at idle. Hmmm. Maybe all that heavy gas peddle has fouled some plugs a bit, just a guess. Anyway, itis now "almost" cured. I am hoping it was just water in the gas. It rained yesterday pretty hard, but I drove it for about a mile today, before any problems, so who knows. Hoping it stays fixed !!! Anyone who has any other ideas please post, since I am paranoid that the drygas fix is a fluke.

Thanks

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88 GTA Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

Wasn't me! Wasn't me!

Usually I get blamed for this kind of crap...

Incidentally, that hard rain may have also infiltrated the ignition system, causing weak spark and flashover. Remove the distributor cap and check it and the rotor for signs of moisture.

Check the ignition wires after it gets dark outside. If you see a light blue corona surrounding the wires while the engine is running, you might have poor insulation and could need new plug and coil wires.

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Later,
Vader
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"Let the bodies hit the floor!"
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

Thanks, Vader. Well, I just tried to start it again, and it is back to it's roughness again. I got the code, which was '53'. My CHilton's says an 88 GTA should not have a '53' at all, but in newer years a '53' is 'system voltage overcharge (high battery voltage)' . Think water could be in the ignition somewhere causing a short and 'high voltage' ??

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88 GTA Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder than normal.

 

I pulled 2 plugs out and they were totally pitch black with a thin layer of carbon. Maybe I just need toreplace the plugs. I know they have a minimum of 30K miles on them. (30K since I bought the car and I haven't replaced them). They were not black when I checked them 30K miles ago!

Could my plugs have caused this problem ? Would that cause it to happen all at once like this ? Yesterday the car was fine, now stumbling and bucking.

Vader, I tried to get the cap off, but it looks like I need some sort of really short phillips head screwdriver to get to that awkward screw behind the cap.

 

GTA,

For the distributor car, either a stubby phillips or a ¼" nut driver or socket. You really should get the cap off to see.

The plugs probably got carboned from incomplete combustion, due to choking, rich mixture, or poor ignition.

Another thing came to mind as well. If it rained really hard and you were driving, you very well might have injested some water vapor in to the intake and saturated the air filter element. Once wet with water, very little air will pass through, effectively choking the engine.

As long as you have the plugs out, you should replace them. 30,000 is plenty, even on good plugs. Consider a complete tune up while you're at it. The aforementioned cap and rotor, test the wires, new filters, coolant flush, etc. It's probably time.

And your code '53' could also be a VATS fault - again possibly water related.

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Later,
Vader
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"Let the bodies hit the floor!"
Adobe Acrobat Reader

[This message has been edited by Vader (edited June 24, 2001).]

 

You just Need a Little Divine Aid, from the Prince of Darkness.



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60 Ranchero - Project ( Money Hole )
85 Sport Coupe LG4 - Daily Driver 14.82 @ 91.1
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