Hello all, I am new here and hope to gain some knowledge about my new GTA! It is a 1987 with a rebuilt 350. 160,000 miles- 10,000 on new engine.

First off, it has some issues. It runs well for the most part, but here is what I have to deal with:

1. Missing emission control equipment. (EGR valve, cat., AIR, etc.) Charcoal canister is still there though!

2. Looks like the intake manifold has been swapped for a later model unit because the cold start injector harness leads to nowhere and there is no injector on the current manifold.

3. Some kind of battery drain going on. The alternator charges fine, but if the car sits for more than a week, the battery is flat.

Overall the car looks well taken care of. While I may be a novice on this forum, I am no novice to cars and I can tell when a car has been well-taken care of. The guy put a lot of money into some aftermarket parts-(edelbrock cat back/TES headers, siamesed intake runners/ported plenum, roller rockers, comp cam, aluminum driveshaft, accel coil/cap, morroso wires, etc...)

Anyway, I feel I have a very solid platform to start on but want some input about what I should do about the above-mentioned issues.

Where should I start because I'm ready to rip into her before winter comes!

Thanks

 

Just buy a new battery

 

mffan,


Welcome to the board and congrats on the GTA! This site has loads of information so enjoy all that this site has to offer and don't forget to do a search

As it pertains to your bird:

1. I would address the missing emissions equipment. The egr also helps with gas millage besides the obvious smog tests. Here is the for the vacuum routing:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...-diagrams.html

Don't forget the egr solenoid and to use good quality vacuum lines not the pep boys cheap dressup lines they have in their accessories dept. I used them once just because its a change from the usual black lines but needless to say they only lasted a few weeks of heating up under the hood and the lines split.

2. You could get away with not having a cold start as long as it was compensated for in the chip tune. The main draw back is that it might not pass visual with out the injector present.

3. Don't buy a new battery. Rather charge it up, and while its charging check your grounds. Make sure they are all secure and trace the ground wire to check for any cuts or burns.




Rabi C.

 

Thanks much onfire,

As for the emissions equipment, does the diagram you linked to show the system in its entirety? i.e. not having a cat. will be ok...all tests aside? Also, I am not familiar with how to modify my chip. As far as I know it has not been deleted because it runs real rough on initial cold start up, but then fine after it gets up to temp. Thanks

 

What should I contribute to the car not wanting to idle on initial cold start? Any ideas? Do you suppose it has to do with the cold start injector not being used?

 

Another quick question:

The car has edelbrock breathers on it. Does this make any difference in the emission system? It looks like the old breather hoses were pulled and the nipple where it goes into the throttle body was capped off.

Any ideas on the rough idle on cold start up?

Help, anyone?

 

mffan,


The link shows the body wiring for the vacuum break down its figure 24 at

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

and figure 13 is the breakdown for your sensors etc "components"

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

For your question about the cat... your car was built with it in mind besides the fact that you wont pass smog or the visual. In my opinion, I would honestly just get a high flow cat you really aren't "freeing up" any substantial horsepower by not having it.

About modding your chip.... On this site there is a whole section dedicated to learning how to tune your chip properly. Everything you need is there. Its just going to take some time and plenty of reading! Its not as bad as you might think.

Since your ninth injector wiring is still there I would recommend putting on in. The injector helps with the cold starts. Though if you did not install one it won't be such a hindrance outside of a prolongated cranking at cold start. If you are having an issue holding and idle then that is a different story. At that point I would recommend cleaning your spark plugs, check your fuel filter for proper flow, etc. Your car needs air/fuel and spark to run so go down the usual suspects before you spend money.

Yes do reinstall your pvc routing. This is important. You can also see the vacuum routing in the diagram in the earlier link. The only place where you can have a breather is on the passenger side. It takes in air from the passenger side via your breather or through the tb. Then on the driver's there needs to be a pvc valve installed on the valve cover hooked up to a vacuum port on your manifold or the back of your plenum.


Rabi C.

 

Thanks again for your advice onfire-thats why I love this forum. I am going to do as you've suggested and replace some of my vacuum lines and go over and test some of my sensors. In the mean time I discovered that my tps was way out of adjustment, and set it to 0.54v. I also checked the initial timing and discovered that it was off by about 4 degrees, so I reset it it about 2 degrees advanced.

These changes have completely solved my cold start rough idle problem. Hovever, after taking her for a spin and getting on her pretty hard at times, I have found that the car seems to have lost some mid-range power. About 2000-3500 the power is just not there as it was BEFORE I made the above adjustments. Any ideas on what may be causeing this power loss? It still has the "***** to the walls" low end and high end power.

I plan on checking valve adjustment when I get off work tonight. Please share your thoughts!

Thanks

 

mffan,

when you adjusted your timing did you disconnect the tan wire before you did the adjustments? If not follow this link:

https://www.thirdgen.org/settingtiming

If not make sure you do it this way. Also how are you plugs? Make sure they aren't fouled up and gap them appropriately.

Glad to hear your ride is running better. Post what you find.


Rabi C.

 

Thanks again onfire,

Yes, I did disconnect the tanish-brown connector as I set the timing. It made a HUGE difference in how the car idles, and how smooth it runs overall. I am going to do as you say and change my plugs out and gap them accordingly. The plugs that have been running in it are those Bosch Platinum +4 plugs-plugs which I've never been a big fan of. I will let you all know my findings.

Thanks!

 

mffan,

Before you buy new plugs, try to clean them with a wire brush but if you still dont like the way they run I would recommend some ac delcos. Depending on if you have iron or aluminum heads, just match up the heat range and stay away from those rapid fire or what ever specialty plug they have going. The good ol' standard plug properly gapped will do your engine justice. I believe they come pregapped at 0.35 but its always bets to check.


Rabi C.