well whats up guys newbie here bought my first 3rd gen. well here we go its a 1986 transam gta. when I got it the fuel pump was messed up so i put A new pump and filter but now in order to start it needs starting fluid to get it going and you need to warm it up to stay on whats causing this? Also he said it was a 5.7 but i can't tell it has the tuned port from a 91 camaro. Also i looked at 5.7 tpi cars and they have the oil filler cap on the drivers side but this car has it on the passenger side. I carfaxed it and it comes up as a
5.0 TBI how can you tell the diffrence? Great website by the way.

 

I'm so confused.

So you have a 1986 Transam (I didn't think they made GTA's until after 1987 or so), with an unknown motor.
You think it has a TPI engine from a '91 Car (who told you this?)
But carfax says 5.0L TBI?

Ok, so carfax will tell what the car had when it left the factory, and if someone's replaced it with another engine, carfax's info is useless.
That being said, TBI was introduced after 1987 IIRC, so a 1986 Transam *should* have came with either a 5.0L 4bbl LG4, or an extremely rare TPI engine.
Is this actually a 1987 car? Did the carfax report give you the year? Perhaps a late 1986 model year car?

A TBI engine and TPI engine look vastly different. Got any pictures of the engine bay? Big one is the TBI has a round air cleaner like a carbed car, and TPI has the weird "octopus" thing hanging down on the sides. Like a big metal spider sitting on your engine.

 

There is no such thing. The GTA was introduced in 87.They ALL "say" that. It's the most common lie in all of used-car sales. The next most common one is something about "from a Vette".That means someboyd put the valve covers on backwards. Not hard to fix... just take them off and put them back where they belong.

A 1986 Trans Am would have a 305 TPI, which looks from the outside, JUST LIKE (almost) a 91 Camaro TPI. It would look EXACTLY like a 86 Camaro TPI, because it IS EXACTLY like a 86 Camaro TPI. Every part is identical except for the air filter arrangement, because the better-flowing Camaro design won't fit under the Firebird hood.

No 86 cars came from the factory with a 350. Period. ALL 86 V8s in these cars were 305s. Period. Whatever urban legends you may hear, whatever people may say about the 50 test mules, whatever other romantic drivel you hear that you may want to believe, don't. You don't have one. Believe that. That said, it is VERY EASY to put a 350 in place of a 305, because they are identical from the outside. So just because the car didn't come with a 350, doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't have one now. Unfortunately however, the lie as mentioned above, is disgustingly common; and people who don't know the cars well are tricked and stolen from by that method all the time. Probably less than 5% of all used cars that came with 305s like yours but are sold as 350s, are ACTUALLY 350s.

You can identify the motor size by looking at the block casting number. It is conveniently located in a conspicuous, easily accessed location; on top of the bell housing flange, behind the driver's side head, kind of right straight down from the wiper motor. A pic of one is attached. The number you want is 6, 7, or 8 digits long, cast in numbers about 3/8" tall, "3951509" for example in my pic. I hope you didn't get ripped off; but I have to say, the outlook isn't pretty. You'll probably find it's a 305.

Find that out. Then, put a bulb back into the Check Engine light socket (I'd almost bet somebody took it out so it wouldn't be sitting there staring you in the face.... typical used car sales trick). Get the codes using the paper clip trick you can find in the tech articles on this site, and go from there. The codes won't necessarily say "the such-and-such is bad, replace it"; that is, what they say, doesn't point directly to one part or another being bad; but they do give you a great start on where to begin to investigate.

 

Thankyou guys for the info . bad news its a 305 but does have some potential the Tpi is from a newer car but the engine is a lb9 . got some pics of it .


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Didn't lose out too bad, paid 500 dollars for it . I guess the gta badges it has don't belong to it . but on the bright side it pulls pertty hard its a work in progress.

 

That's a pretty sharp car for that price. A bit of TLC and it'll be great! I love that bodystyle actually.
Some cutwax might be able to take out that hood scar.
A shop vac and some time at the loonie car wash with the hood open will have that part sparkling.

Still though, needs starting fluid to start eh? See what codes it throws. I'm not an FI expert, so i'm not sure what causes that with fuel injection.

 

I see a ton of plugged vac lines and a MAF that looks sketchy at best.

You should probabaly hit up a junkyard and ket the air intake all squared away. Next, replace all the vac lines that you can, back to stock configurations.


Then, try to pull the codes and see what happens!
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On another note, you may want to install an alternator before the battery dies!!

 

good Eye .when i first opened the hood I was wondering where it was but it had been relocated to the bottom of the motor. The Bracket you see was where the supercharger was hooked up . he sold it seperatly he wanted 500 bucks for it. I do need to buy the bracket to put the alternator back to where it belongs.

 

yup saw the casting on it, it read

gm 5704/987
the numbers were stacked on each other . its a 305
the motor also has "636" on each side.