I just recently bought an ’89 IROC with a 350 TPI. The true mileage of the car is unknown but we strongly believe that the car has 155k miles on it. The car has been redone with new paint, interior, tranny rebuild, and most importantly a replaced bottom end in the engine. My concern is that the top end of the engine including the TPI system has gone 155k miles without replacement. The car looks great and runs strong (except stalling on starts) and I want to keep it for a little while but I’m worried that something major in the engine or electronics will crap out on me. How many miles have you guys gotten your L98s to go before something other than the rotating assembly in the engine went really bad? What are some of the common electrical problems that these motors see at higher miles? It stalls when started and it sometimes takes two or three times to start it and have it run. Before it dies it feels like it’s choking and the RPMs drop and it idles rough. As soon as you tap the gas it dies immediately. Holding the brake while starting it seems to help. The service engine light is always on, too. Should I be worried about this problem and dump the car or is this something that can be worked out relatively cheap? Thanks for your help…

 

I'm not an expert here, but here is my advice:

The engine should be good for a long while as long as:
-Oil was changed regularly
-The motor was never overheated
-The motor wasn't constantly beaten on

As for the choking and stalling - it's most likely emissions equipment that is failing or clogged. Could be a bad PCV valve, bad ignition wires, worn spark plugs, clogged fuel injectors, clogged air filter, clogged fuel filter, worn fuel pump....many things. Hard to diagnose without the right gauges/tools. Just keep trying new things until the problem changes.

As for the service engine soon light - just get a code reader (or a paperclip) and put your car in diagnostic mode -- see what codes your computer is giving.

If your not an expert on cars yet, i'd suggest to start learning Keep reading and playing around and you'll learn in no time.


------------------
Corey Turner - Toledo, OH
91 9C1 - "Project Potent Rodent"
www.geocities.com/kidkid911/index.htm
-350ci / Ported Vortec's - 10:1 Compression
-Crane '509 lift hyd. roller cam / 1.5" Roller Rockers
-Ported Holley 670cfm TBI on a Edelbrock Multipoint EFI System / Paxton AFPR
-Heddman Full-Length Headers piped to Dynomax 2.5" True Duals / DM Turbo Mufflers
-K&N Dual Air Inlets running to Ram Air II Hood
-MSD 6A Ignition Controller / MSD Blaster 3 Coil / Accel wires-cap-rotor
-Ed Wright Fastchip in a 7747 ECM
-Flex-a-lite 210 Electric Fans - 160 Thermostat
-700R4 w/ a B&M Shift Kit
-3.43 Posi-Rear
-Ram Air II Hood, Custom spoiler

 

Well, thanks for the advice, but the bottom end has been replaced. I'm not worried about the mechanical condituion of the engine, just the reliability of the electronics.

 

You can't rely on "mileage" to determine when something will fail. I work on 2002 Model Year vehicles (already, I know!) and replace components w/ less than 1,000 miles, and I also replace componenets that have 100,000 miles on them. Its the luck of the draw. I may say your ECM is good for 200,000 miles, and it may crap out tomarrow on a beer run. You can't predict it.

As for your concern, it almost sounds like a MAF sensor problem, but its hard to say from the vague description/diagnostics you have done. I would check the codes and see what pops up. Here is how to check for codes: DTCs

------------------
FREE CARFAX Record Check

If you live in Southeastern US, check us out!
South East Thirdgen

GM Master Tech
ASE Master Tech + L1
Savannah, GA

'87 Trans Am
S/D TPI retrofit including functional PassKey,
22# injectors,
Whatever chip I feel like burning,
JET AFPR, Ported Plenum,
TB Coolant Bypass, Custom Cold Air,
SSM SFC, KYB Shocks, Boxed LCAs, Wonder Bar,
8mm Accel wires,
Flowmaster Exhaust,
16" GTA rims,
Corvette Servo,
3.73 Posi
4wheel Disc Brakes
Summit 1-5/8" headers, 2.5" Dynomax catback.

Best 1/8: 9.519@72.74

'97 Bonneville SSE

 

140,000 on all my original electronics, except for distributor cap and wires. It's never failed to start right up.

------------------
92 Camaro RS 5.0 5-Speed (Quasar Blue)
T-Tops
14" Open Air Cleaner
3.08 Posi-trac
Edelbrock TBI Intake
Crane cam
Ported & polished stock heads 3 angle valve job
HyperTech Chip
SLP Headers (Ceramic Coated)
UltraFlo cat-back exhaust

74 Dodge Dart Sport 360 (11.2 1/4 mile)

2000 Dodge 1500 Ram Sport

[This message has been edited by DartByU (edited July 30, 2001).]

 

206,000 miles, my only problem is my headlight motors, and antena motor, other then that, not a single problem. even the dash lights are bright.

------------------
88' GTA 350 MODS---> air foil, K&N, Shift Kit, 180* therm, TB bypass