Hello everyone- my son has an 87 IROC wth the 305 engine. The car has about 120,000 miles on it but it has been sitting about two years without being driven and probably started twice in that time. I took it out one day this spring to get it some exercise but it sounded like it was running on three cylinders. I could hardly keep it running but it would always start, but not stay running. One time when it was running in the garage I looked under the car as it was running and the pipe between the cat and the muffler was glowing red hot. I immediatlely shut it off and let it cool down. Suspecting a clogged cat i cut the exhaust pipe in front of the cat but it still runs the same. Also replaced injectors, fuel rail, etc about three or four years ago. It almost acts as if it is starved for fuel but the glowing pipe suggests otherwise. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Harleydave,
I'm kind of having the same problem with my 88 305 tbi. Did you also notice a smell? Mine runs for about 2 seconds then dies unless I keep pumping the pedal. then after a few minutes I notice a hot metal smell and the exhaust seems very very hot.

 

sounds like we have the same problem, it seems to just get continually worse over time for me. Wish I knew what it was, it wont even run anymore. Please let me know if you ever figure it out. Someone suggested timing but I cant even get it running to check that.Thanks,Dave

 

Sounds like an ignition problem. Condensation under the distributor cap can do that. The cylinders that aren't firing are sending raw fuel into the cat, where it is ignited, causing the cat to glow. Not at all good for the cat.

Pull your plugs as well. Could be fouled or bad themselves in some way.

 

Bad gas? I got some bad gas from Arco (Never been there since) once and had a header that was glowing red. I let the car sit while I tried to figure out what was wrong. Gas went bad so I siphoned it and filled it back up with good gas. Ran fine, never had that issue again. I can't explain why or how, but it's something to try.