Alright well I parked it around 8 PM and it was running great. No problems at all. Now when I try to move it at 3 in the morning, it doesn't start. It needs to be moved in 6 hours.... I pulled the codes and it said code 22 and I guess it has to do with the TPS. Now I can't figure out if it needs adjustment or if it needs replaced.... If someone could chime in what they think let me know...
Heres a video of what it does...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LynpOVyu_vk

This needs to start....... Help would be greatly apreciated...

 

Check the connector first, it may just be loose. It's a 3-pin connector, I forget which side of the throttle body it's on - been a while since I've been under the hood of my TBI truck.

Edit: looked it up, connector is on the passenger side. Plug looks like this:

 

if it seems to be plugged in ok and still won't start, you can try unplugging the TPS and see if starts.
sometimes the sensor can fail high which will put the ECM into clear flood and
unplugging it will drop the voltage to 0.

 

replaced the TPS and nothing.... I have 1 more hour..... Help?
My connector looks nothing like that... This is my TPS right here:
(http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...&parentId=59-0)

Uploading some new videos here in a second...

 

Hmm, I didn't realize the connector was different on the TBI engines. Do you still get code 22 after replacing the TPS?

 

Heres the update video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4OrVLImhW0

I got it running though. Turns out ECM just needed to be reset. Cannot wait to get rid of this stupid TBI system....

Replaced old TPS and runs fine still. Gonna keep the new one on hand just in case but I will probably end up returning it. $28.35 is almost a full tank of gas :P

Any ideas as to why it would do this?

 

Backfiring out the TB makes me think the timing is off. Is the distributor tightened down all the way? I had mine move on me once, when the bolt wasn't tightened good.

Edit: Also, try unplugging the EST connector, the single wire one over the blower box, and see if it starts then. That may at least get it running long enough to get it out of the driveway.

 

Well the car was running perfect. Until 17 miles from my house it decides to die on me. So after an 80 dollar tow I am back to where I started minus 80 dollars. The new TPS didn't do anything either. Any suggestions?

The dizzy is bolted down real good.... No doubt about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E17yVMiEZzI

Heres a video of it running, but when you hit the brake it shuts down.

 

It's running again. I am going to let it idle for about 20 mins and see what happens. Can anyone chime in please?

 

Have you checked to see if your vacuum booster or associated hoses has a vacuum leak? I dont recall exactly what the conditions for a code 22 are but i remember it was low TPS reading? Its low by comparison to what it thinks it should be as compared with other parameters like RPMs. A vacuum leak would allow air in around the throttle body so while say the RPM may be normal the TPS sensors reading will read low because only some of the air is getting in from that point.

 

lol also might be a good idea to include how to test it lol. Try just disconnecting the vacuum hose from the brake booster and plugging it. Also be sure to reset the comp before you try to restart.

 

that makes sense. I will try that here in about 20 mins.

 

Tried that and there was a NOTICABLE difference so I think leaks are out of the question. Well major ones anyway.

 

Ok so where do we stand now? You say there was a noticeable difference but the same fundamental problem exists i take it? Also when you say there was a noticeable difference what changed?

 

Where do we stand now? Car runs perfect. Than again. it ran perfect before I went out towards warrenton only to shut down on me again for a 80 dollar tow.

There was a noticeable difference when I disconnected the vacuum line from the brake booster. Did it do anything? Not sure cause the car runs fine again...

Hypathetically maybe the TPS was just a coincidence... Could the air conditioner (compressor to be more exact) cause this at all?

 

Yea its very possable that the TPS code was more of a symptom of an actually problem rather than the root cause. Many problems are like that unfortunetly. Could the air compressor cause this? Well i havnt really thought about it dont really think so but what leads u to believe the air compressors giving your trouble?

 

Not to long ago, before school, I went to go warm up my car and when I started it, it did the same thing if I recall correctly. If I set it from MAX to off it ran fine. I wish I remembered this cause I think it may be the problem. Next time, if it does it I will try but I am still looking for ideas... As this is my DD and without it, no transportation haha

. Also the clutch in the compressor engages and disengages causeing it to idle funny sometimes.

 

Well im not terribly familiar with TBI cars never owned one however i do know that when the compressor engages cars usually have some mechanism to compensate for the extra load to keep the idle smooth. lol heck V6 camaros have means to compensate for the power steering working hard to prevent idle issues lol. However worst case scenario you might stall or idle funky but it should still restart and shouldn't kill the car entirely. I mean hey no harm in shutting off the ac or playing with it to see if you can get it to act up but i dont think an ac system issue could cause a problem like this.

 

Alright, I think I have 1 more video of it acting funny maybe it'll help but I am at work right now.

 

Note:
After my car was towed I decided to fix the shifter linkage cause it was all messed up. PArk was really reverse, Reverse was neutral, neutral was Overdrive etc. The car only starts in park, so when ever the car started, it would go into reverse and be under load. Keep this in mind.

Coming back from work it did it again. Heres what happened:
I started my car and pulled it to the front of the store. Was running fine. Shut if off then went inside. 45 mins later I come out to leave. Start the car and it starts acting funny. But it's running in park (linkage is fixed). I hit the gas and RPMS are going EVERYWHERE. I hit the brake and it shuts off. I restart and start fluttering the accelerator. Nothin but haywire RPMS. Put it into reverse and it shuts off. Start it, flutter the accelerator again and than floor it to about 6000 rpms. Than I let off the pedal and it idles. Runs fine. no glitches or anything for the rest of the drive home.

I just skimmed Wards post:

I thought it was irrelevant. But now thinking about it, it seems like that's exactly what the problem is. Sketchy RPMs on crack, backfire out of TBI, shutdown with virtually ANY load, It's retarded to the point it can't run and it runs fine after random ECM resets. The ECM is possibly retarding my timing!!!

I didn't get the chance to unplug the EST cause I got it running but next time, this will be the first thing done.

Now that we probably figured out the problem (Thanks Ward!!!), what could cause this and be able to just return to original timing without shutting the car off?

 

you say your RPMs are everywhere according to the tach i assume? If thats what your sayin an interesting possibility is the ignition control module (it drives the tach) and are notorious for have problems with heat related failures. Might also explain some timing issues.

 

RPM's are everywhere according to tach and sound.
I had problems with my ignition control module in my 89 vert. Not fun haha. That is a possibility though.

There is no timing marker that I can compare to the harmonic balancer so it was tuned last year by a mechanic by ear. Any ideas on how to time a motor with no timing marker? I know it's so supposed to be at 0 degrees with the EST unplugged but I'm stomped on timing it.

Keep in mind the timing hasn't changed in a year and it's been running fine so I don't think that it has a bad initial timing. May not be the best but it let it run well.

 

Well today is started acting funny. I pulledover and right whe I unplugged the EST it ran fine... SOOOO, what would cause the ECM to retard the timing and throw a code 22? I haven't checked to see if it's still throwing code 22.

Will it hurt to drivemy car with the EST unplugged? I don't really notice a difference even though there is probably one. I am not really hard on the car.

 

Well, mpg will suffer for sure. Eventually the ECM will figure out there's a problem and try to correct so you'll have to continually reset the ECM.

When you get a chance before starting connect a timing light, disconnect EST, start engine raise and hold rpm to approx. 2000rpm. As long as you do not physically change the throttle position the timing light should be rocky steady if it's jumping around, it's either the dizzy's coil beginning to fail, or too much vertical play in the shaft. or a combination of the two.

Shaft play will damage the distributor cap's button at the center so check it.

 

I know this is an old thread of yours and you ditched the TBI setup, but did you happen to fix the problem?