anyone at all??? no replies? i no its a bit big...but no answers for any of these questions at all?/


ok, so im not sure where to start. i guess the car itself. i have a 1983 camaro z28 automatic v8 quadrajet with a b&m shifter. all stock except for chevy vavle covers and a bolt on k&n intake. when i first got the car, everything was great (i thought) it was fast, started right up, perfect all the way around. but i didnt know what to look for when i bought it, and i still dont know alot about cars although ive learned alot from this one. so now, i have a great loss of power,gas mileage, engine shakes, sometimes when it starts the rpms are high, around between 10 and 15 (they used to be up around 20-25 when i first got it) now sometimes its as low as 5. but every day seems to be different. ive noticed the big loss of power as i said before, but now also when my rpms get higher it seems like the acceleration slows down alot more than it should, almost like its having problems going any faster. Now this is what i know is wrong right now. It needs motor mounts which could be causing the shaking, im almost positive the egr vavle is plugged up, i can scrape black stuff out of it, and i noticed not long ago the vacuum line wasnt even hooked up to it, but i plugged that in. i THINK the cat might be clogged a little, just from what ive read. and sometimes i smell a strong exhaust smell in the cabin especially at high speeds, the heater just stopped working, the choke stopped working,i think my secondaires arent opening, and the oil pressure on some days is above the line, other days its not even half, and i noticed a ticking, or tinging sound coming from the back of the engine... i just did an oil change, dropped the tanspan, replaced the filter and fluid, have fairly new plugs, and got this stuff(i forgot what its called) in a white can from autozone, poured some if it in my carb and gas tank. its supposed to help with stuck lifters, loss of power,cleaning the jets and all that good stuff...it actually helped a little bit..sorry i know this post is HUGE, but if anyone can help with ANY of these it would be greatly appreciated.

 

One step at a time.

A non-functioning choke can cause some of those problems.

That’s what you should fix first.

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Happy Racing!

 

I would also invest in a full tune up (plugs wires and cap & rotor) and check your timing, If your hearing a tinging at the back of the engine that could be detonation, and your timing is off, but like he said also a fauly choke will cause alot of those issues, because its basically either telling the engine thats its always cold dumping in alot of fuel and keeps your timing from adjusting to a warm engine, or telling it its always warm in which case you'll have low rpms when first started and the other things as well. I havent had a car with a choke in over 15 years but thats about what i remember about having one, especially when it goes screwy. Aslo that ticking could just be the typical 305 valve lifter tick, which is nothing to worry about unless it gets loud or worse. the heater is probably the the relay gone bad or a fuse, and by just stopped do you mean not blowing or not heating up? if its not heating up check your thermostat first, could be stuck, which is somewhat common thing for older cars, especially if its very old. I'd also go ahead and replace the cat, it probably needs it by now, or just remove it but if you need it for emissions you should replace it. And the egr valve is cheap and easy to replace so go ahead and do that as well. It sounds like your engine iis fine, so you just have a bunch of little things to get through, wich usually arent bad, unless you start with one little thing, and let it go, then theres 2, 3, then 4 little things that make you realize that if youd done a couple things before you wouldnt have too much to deal with now. happens to me all the time.

 

start it up let it run and then pull the vent hose oof carb if fuel comes out purge control valve is bad and is sucking fuel right out of the fuel bowl into intake caucing overly rich condition and many of symptoms you describe

 

thanks for all the replies, im going to go to the guy who gave me the new choke thermostat and see if he can help make sure i installed it right, and im going to check my timing also. I also wanted to try taking off the vent hose because that is another quick easy one to either find or outrule what might be wrong...only problem is i dont know which one is the vent hose lol. is it the metal one that screws into the carb and delivers the fuel, or is it the vaccuum lines next to it on the back? i have a rochester quadrajet. thanks guys. (and if its neither one of those, pictures would really help me lol. this is my first carbed vehicle.

 

the bowl vent hose is the big fat one at top of carb above the metal fuel line that thrweads into the carb.drive it around a little bit let it idle and then pull it off.if theres raw fuel in it purge valve is bad or bowl level too high.....float,needle valve etc.

 

It seems you have too many problems to worry with fixing that thing. Sounds like major problems and you need a new motor. Have a mechanic check it for compression or do it yourself. Check tune up issues and do a major inspection which almost always helps. But you should be getting a mechanic to help with that.