Hello new to the board although ive had my third gen now for about 10 years.
so heres my problem
i just had to do a heater core replacement and so i took apart what i had to, in the process i removed the computer unplugged it so i could have more room in there, anyhow i got everything back in there and went to start my car and nothing happend just cranked so i then realized i had forgetten to plug the computer back in( had a friend working with me so we were doing different things). so i plug it back in and take the car out for a ride its now chugging well it idles rough especially when in drive(automatic). it kinda smooths out when i put in nuetral but still does it slightly. any how... i have a 350 gm crate motor swap(that i didnt do ) owner before me swapped it. it was a regular 88 camaro. so could me trying to start it while the comp was uplugged reset it or mess it up, also its a TBI if that matters. i did uplug it and plug it back in with the battery connected..
Before i did the core it was running fine. not doing this.
I checked it over three times to see if i uplugged somthing and not put it back but everything looks good nothing unusal.
Thanks for any help you can give.

 

TTT anyone?

 

Shouldn't have damaged anything plugging/unplugging. You may have blown a fuse if something that was unplugged grounded out. Check engine light on? Check that, then everything else a fourth time.

 

Check you didn't leave a vacuum line unhooked under the dash.

 

im gonna change the plugs and see if it helps
i also will check fuses
Car starts and stays running just has a shaky idol now it bounces kinda when before you could hardly feel it running
theres vaccum lines under the dash...? where..? i didnt unplugg any but maybe one broke or came off while i was working in there.

 

ok so i havent changed the plugs yet but i was in there today and was looking around near where i was with the heating tubes going into the firewall i was pushing things out of the way and so i happend to notice a tube just laying in the back just behind the distributor cap so i then started the car and felt it ...nothing then i was feeling around and saw an open connection fitting so i figured thats where it went ....its just a staight tube no boot on it. i traced the wire around the distributor goining down the left side of the car if you were sitting in it , then it goes to a T peice up just behind the head light where one goes into a diaphram of some sort and the other goes down under the fender into a ball.
can anyone tell me what this is.

 

Vacuum line. Goes up to the cruise control servo and the ball under the canister is the vacuum reservoir. The line that is disconnected is possibly the vacuum source for the HVAC but I can't say for sure. If disconnected the HVAC will stay in defrost, the system uses vacuum to actuate the duct dampers.

Cap it, plug it or reconnect it and see if there's a difference.

 

i reconnected it adn the idle evened right out
so would that explain y my heat was working weird when i would use differnet settings?
i just thought it was because i broke a peiece of plastic under the dash..
THanks For your help it was a vaccum line then.

 

Yes, that was why your heat was doing funky things. The default position is defrost, when the vacuum source disappears the dampers stay in the defrost position. Safest failsafe when you think about it.

 

yeah , thanks
One more thing now... i wanted to check to see if the car was sending any codes so i jumpered A&B terminals in the diagnostics port and nothing happend with my check engine light, i thought it was supposed to flash or somthing, although my check engine light has never come on since ive had the car,
but after i did that i took the paper clip out and then started my car well now it wont stay running it stalls out if i dont give it gas? and when it gets to operating temp it gets very close to stalling barely stays running.
what gives now? i hear this is how you adjust your idle did i mess it up now ...
i know i have no idea what im doing. I must learn to just leave things alone.
how do i fix this? can i just disconnect the battery and reconnect it to clear my misdoings out. ill try that tommorow.
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is A&B terminals the top right most two squares in the port.?
When you are looking at the port.

 

is A&B terminals the top right most two squares in the port.?
When you are looking at the port.

 

jumping a&b terminals should not have effected the idle. Once jumped the cel should flash a 12 code. You are supposed to scan your codes with the key turned on, but without the engine running. Should flash 12 repeatedly, unless there is an error. Then it will flash 12 three times then flash all the error codes three times each.

I thought reconnecting the vacum line evened out your idle? It started running rough against after the code scan?

 

Your service engine dash light is probably out. It should light up for a second every time you start the car. Check that.

Pulling codes should have no affect on the idle. You've done something else.

 

it seems to have corrected itself on its own i started the car and turned it off several times, disconnected and reconnected the battery and it seems fine now.
im in the process of a total tune up so i just want to make sure everything is running the way it should.
I have never seen my check engine light come on What do i have to do to get it to work.. my other lights work well i should say , the only light i have seen come on is my seatbelt one which comes on when i start the car.
also when i jumpered the port i heard a clicking noise. what was this?

 

The clicking is probably the IAC maxed out when you have the terminals ground and the key on the IAC exsends all the way out that might have been why your idle was choppy at first aswell

 

If the clicking came from the carb it's the mixture control solenoid and is perfectly normal.