Sorry folks but can you help point me in th eright direction?

I have been working on my sons 1983 Z28 305 Crossfire. Man is this a pain. Nothing is easy from plugs to filter to even adjusting the power steering belt.
I had to replace a couple of intake studs in the passenger side head..... not sure why they were pulling and I cleaned the TBI and tried to run a bit of fuel through. Smells terrible as it has sat for years. Now I find that the riser on the passenger side for the SMOG system(the chrome collector tubing from the exhaust header up to a 90 degree fitting) has a crack in it right next to the joint. Where do I post a request to see if anyone took one of these off and might part with it?
Again, sorry but not sure even what it's called to be accurate.
Dan

 

go to crossfireinjection.net He is excellent and has good solid advice. I sell a lot of parts for the dual TBI units, but he has the knowledge and expertise to guide you in the right direction.

Good Luck!

Sean

 

There is also a parts wanted forum on this Board.

 

Find out what part it is by calling crossfireinjection.net and then post it in the Parts Wanted section like the Moderator suggests. I am sure there are enough guys out there who may have what you need.

Good Luck

Also, FYI... I hear D.C.S. is coming out with a new manifold for the crossfire injection. Someone just posted it today, but I heard about it a few weeks ago thru some other sources. May be something you guys might be interested in.

 

I can. I had and modded an '83 CFI Trans Am for 12 years. I loved that thing...and miss the hell out of it now.


You should try working on my current "winter beater"; a Stealth RT Twin Turbo. After that, anything else is a dream to work on!


That thing (heat stove tube) is just for directing heat into the intake or throttle bodies when it's cold or cold out side. You don't need it....at all. Unless you're doing some type of authentic restoration. Either way, you can buy that "chrome" flex tubing specifically for that application from any parts store for hardly any money at all. OR you could cut off the cracked portion of your current heat stove tube, and stretch it a little to make up the diff. On my car, I ditched the thing and never missed it.

-Tom

 

Thanks Guys. I really appreciate the info.

OK Tom, What all can I get rid of w/o causing the computer to throw a code?

Dan

 

Man....you can do SO MUCH to that thing, w/o throwing codes, if you make the proper accomodations. The bad thing about that particular ECM is that it's SO slow, and SO "dumb". The good thing about that particular ECM is that it's SO slow, and SO "dumb"....you can get away with a lot, and easily "trick it" into working fine. To wit: my old TA in it's latest format when I sold it, had a 400CID engine, 224/234 cam, heavily ported intake, bored throttle bodies, Lid spacer, headers and full exhaust w/no cat, no smog pump, no EGR...and it ran awesome; 24 mpg highway, stock like idle, and about 320 hp. This was w/the stock computer, no ECM "tuning" at all. Bone stock.

So IMO, what can you "get away with"? A hell of a lot. You can ditch the cat, EGR, smog pump & all A.I.R. stuff for starters and the ECM will never know. As you progress further, you will need to make changes to timing and fuel pressure/injector size to keep it happy, but it's just like ANY engine that you change or modify; FEED IT WHAT IT WANTS! Doesn't matter how you accomplish that.

 

WOW. Thank you so much Tom. I just got back from a test drive and the drivetrain was smooth. Thank goodness after I replaced the intake rocker studs and I put a little JB weld on the Heat riser tube you mentioned as a temp fix.
I have a question though. THe injects on this thing are noisy. Sound like a rainbird sprinkler. Tick, tick, tick.... you can really hear them. They also have a definate spray but they really didn't seem to vaporize the fuel like I thought they should. Do the injectors really work like this? They appear to have been burnt at one time so I am not sure of their actual condition. The car is runing a bit rough. Idles fine. Low RPM's are a bit rough then it smooths out after the rpm's pick up. It sat for a long time before I bought it and I am trying to get all the bad fuel out of the system. I just got done with new plugs, fuel and air filters and inspected and cleaned the distributor cap as it looked fine.
Thoughts?
Thanks again. I really appreciate everyones help.

Dan

 

If you need spare parts, I have the complete system from an 82 305, less the ecm.

 

With mine i was able to remove all of the A.I.R. system
-pump,diverter valve,converter air pipe,manifold air
tubes,did have to keep the EGR and the charcoal canister system."burnt" appearance of tbi units and the
ticking are normal(the black is just old fuel residue,carb
cleaner will remove most of it) system can be modified
to run real strong.

 

Hi,
I need the heat stove tube that Tom mentioned for the passenger side and the (valve) that connects between it and the rubber hose but mostly just the heat stove tube alone.
Thanks
Dan

 

After you get through a basic tune up (sounds like you mostly have), and get some decent fuel in there, I would double check that both TB's are in synch, check for vacuum leaks (ususally around the lid gasket on CFI cars), and see how it runs. It's possible that simply RUNNING it if it's been sitting a while, will help it run better, just b/c or the the cleansing nature of new gasoline and oil, through the injectors and rings, respectively.

The Injectors are pretty loud. I could hear them from inside my car but never minded that noise as it's part of the particular car's "mechanism". Teh spray should be conical and even, but it's definiltey a "wet" spray. It will never come out in a "plume" or atomized very much. As long as it's a nice conical shape, and even all the way around the "cone", that's as good as it gets and it's good enough. Remember; it's only running 9-13 PSI fuel pressure, and since it's stock, Probably much closer to 9 than 13.

Again, I wouldn't worry about the heat stove pipe. Not necessary, inless you're trying to make it original appearing. Are you missing the air cleaner assy snorkle too? The snorkel is where the valve should be (called a Thermactor Valve) for the heat stove pipe. Maybe we're talking about different items here...

-Tom

 

You are right. Duh! The pressure is pretty low for it to atomize.

I am going to try to go for a spin tomorrow or sunday and see if I can get some miles on it, and some of the fuel through it. It's not old fuel now... well most of it isn't so I will run some cleaner though it as well.

Here's another... the fuel gauge bounces like crazy. I did have the fuel pump replaced when I bought it at the end of last summer. Ideas? Also, the temp gauge is pegged and doesn't move. Don
t you ground it to get this "pegged" reading to see if the gauge is working? It's always something...
Thanks.
Dan

 

The gas gauge goes wild b/c it's worn out and needs to be replaced.

The coolant gauge goes to "hot" b/c you either have an open or ground on the wire that runs from the cluster to the sensor; I can't remember which -open or ground. I think you have a ground though i.e. wire chaffed through and grounding before the sensor. (left cylinder head)

 

Great! Where does a guy get a replacement fuel gauge? eBay?
Thanks again.

Dan

 

UPDATE****

Well I am about to give this car away!

I took the dash out and found that the temp gauge needle was more than likely just stuck all the way up. The speedo, which hasn't worked since we got the car appears to be in great shape. Put it all back together and tried to start the car.

Now, the car did this same thing before I changed the plugs, checked the rotor and cap and leaned the TBI units.... so it is very disappointing.

The car just drags the starter. Kinda like it is hydraulicing. Sounds like a dead battery. It may be the battery although it is pretty new and I guess it could be the starter but I am afraid it has something to do with it running rough Friday night and the pulled rocker studs I replaced on the passenger side. If it was dumping fuel in and hydraulicing wouldn’t I see it in the oil? Would that pull the rocker studs out somehow?

Man this just sucks! This is the best looking car. Very, very clean and pretty well optioned ... but it doesn't matter if the car won't run right.

Thoughts? Ideas? Thank you very much.

Dan

 

hi i have a 83 firebird cfi and i pulled off all the smog equipment and put caps on the air tubes, it ran fine after that and it took .2 off my quarter mile time.

 

If it was "hydraulicing" on gas, your oil would reek of gas and be over full, and it wouldn't crank at all. Also, I'm not sure how hydraulic lock would have any effect on a rocker stud.

Get an inductive amp gauge, and put it on the starter wire...see what the starter is drawing for amps. Should be around 100 amps. Of you don't have an amp gauge, put a volt gauge on the battery. If the battery is GOOD, it shouldn't drop below 10v during cranking.

More than anything though, if you think it's hydro-locked, pull the plugs!

Statistically speaking, the most likely problem is that your starter is bad. Next most likely would be the battery, and then wiring.

 

Tom,

You are right on. A friend suggested either starter or battery. I think it may be the latter as I tried to start it after charing and it spun right up. Still had trouble starting, since it is missing, but it did fire. What is the best way to chaeck the miss. Have the codes read? What reader works on this car? Can one of the Autozone shops tell you if a cylinder is missing... say like a bad wire?
Thank you. With your help I hope to drive this for real soon. When I do I will post a coup eof pictures o fthe car.
Dan

 

1. A scan tool/code reader will only help you if your car is throwing a code (the CEL is illuminated). And even in that case, OBD I won't show a code for cylinder misfire. Also, w/OBD I you can retrieve fault codes with out a scanner, by inserting a paper clip into the ALDL connector under the dash and watching the CEL flash to reveal the stored codes.

2. Autozone or a shop darn well BETTER be able to diagnose a basic misfire...but I wouldn't trust them, which is why I do everything myself. To diagnose a missing cylinder:
*Get the car warmed up, and idling as smoothly as it's going to.
*Then unplug the Idle Air Control motors on the throttle bodies, so the idle speed isn't affected by the ECM during this test.
*Take a test light, connected to ground, and slide the probe into either the plug boot, or the distributor cab wire boots until you ground out that cylinders plug wire (using dielectric grease helps "ease insertion" lol). When you ground that cylinder, you immediately notice a drop in RPM and rougher running. That tells you that THAT cylinder -the one you just grounded- is working, contributing to the work load. You know b/c when you took it away, RPM dropped.
* Proceed to the next cylinder and so on.
*When you get to a cylinder that is NOT working, or contributing to the work, grounding it's spark will make no noticable difference to engine running. You've now identified your "problem" cylinder.

BTW, performing the above test and noting RPM drop for each cylinder, will tell you how effectively each cylinder is working, reletive to the others. If one cylinder causes an RPM drop of 200, and another causes only 50 RPM drop when grounded, clearly the first one is "healthier" and working harder.

*REconnect your IAC motors on the throttle bodies and proceed to diagnose why you have a dead cylinder (if you do).

*Check for spark
*Compression test
*Poor-mans-leak down test
You know you have fuel b/c all 8 cylinders share the same fuel...

 

Tom,

If I were to try to set the timing, after putting on new plug wires, are there things to consider for my engine? What woudl you suggest setting at? Issues? I see folks having trouble even with the distributor bolt. What is the best proceedure?

Thanks.

Dan

 

Back when My car was stock, adjusting the timing (advancing it) was the first "mod" I did to the car. The stock timing is very conservative. Basically, I loosened the dist bolt enough that I could rotate the dist with two hands, but tight enough still that it wouldn't move on it's own. Basically the engine will perform better the more advance you give it, up to the point where you get detonation/pinging. I advanced it to that point, then backed it off just a smidge.

I don't know why anyone would have issues w/the dist bolt. (?) It's a bolt. Put a wrench on it, loosen it.

FYI, With the timing set, fuel pressure optimized, 160 T-stat, electric fan, and no emmisions equipment, Edelbrock "headers" and 5 speed as the "mods" to the car, that car ran 14.5 @95 in the 1/4 at Epping NH. That's pretty good for basically "free mods". It takes about 230 hp to run that car to 95 mph in the 1/4.

 

any updates?

 

What he said. ^

 

ditto

 

bump