Help!!!!!! How do I get the codes off my 1986 Trans Am...I am new to all of this...Problem is the car drives fine and then just shuts off...sometimes after a while it will restart again but not always. It acts as if it is out of gas. Changed the fuel filter already and I think I will be changing the fuel pump eventhough the previous owner said he put a Holly fuel pump in last summer. We just want to get this car running and stay running so maybe the codes will tell me what needs to be fixed...Just don't know how to get the codes...

 

Is your car fuel injected?

 

Yes...tpi

 

tune port injection

 

to get the codes, i had to do it on mine also, i am not home to ask my dad, but i know that you put a paperclip in A and B of the little plugin under the dash, turn the car on on, and the check engine light will do a series of blinks. The blinks are short short short pause, short short long pause (for code 32), and this will repeat three times for each code in the computer. not to quote me on this but it is something like this. so:
paperclip
codes will blink in fashion of: short=first number of code pause, short= second number of code, pause, then repeat two more times. after that, it will circle and continue to do more codes if there are more stored, or repeat the same code if there is only one. This is the list of codes that are for our cars. I am not 100% certain about this, if someone can back me up with more information, i am not home so i cannot verify this information. best you can do is try this first, pinpoint the problem, then replace stuff, not the other way around.

http://www.gmtuners.com/OBD1_DTC.htm

 

Well thanks...like I mentioned I am totally new to this...can you pinpoint for me where exactly is this plug in thing under the dash...driver side or passager side...do I have to take anything off to get to it...still need help...my son is only 17 and we bought the car together as his first car

 

mine is a 89. the plugin is to the right of the steering column, down about parallel with the heating/cooling controls on the bottom side of the dash. Glad to see a 17 y/o kid who likes old cars. I'm 19, and most kids just like to play video games these days >.<

 

so do I take the plastice cover off to get to it...he loves the car it has a t-roof...does need some body work but not a lot and its read...he just wishes it would run so that he could drive it even if it is just for a month before storing it for the winter. I his mom and we will be sharing it to help lower his insurance here in Canada...the rape boys with the cost of insurance because they are boys. Thats why we were going to change the fuel pump....because like I mentioned the car starts fine runs fine and then just dies and when we go and start it again it just chuggs and sputters like its out of gas.

 

well i wouldnt replace anything without being pretty damn positive that is the problem. some people dont know how to install fuel pumps very good, and with a part that costs a few hundred dollars, to throw a fuel pump in and not fix the problem really sucks. call i few shops tomorrow, tell them what is going on. small shops will usually give you pointers, the dealers will tell you to bring it in and have them look at it, which costs money. Does it do that every time? start run and die or is it intermittent?>

 

all the time....it will run for a pretty long distance before it just dies...about where that plug in is located do I have to take the plastic covering off to get to it....the only reason why we were going to replace the fuel pump is because when we had the fuel filter changed it had water in it and the guy we bought the car from said he replaced the fuel pump last summer with a holley fuel pump but who knows for sure if he did or if it was a new one or installed correctly or if it wasn't a defective one.

 

mine doesnt have a cover on the plugin, i dont believe it has one tho. As for the fuel pump, if a fuel pump is bad, you can usually bang on the tank with say, a rubber hammer after it dies while cranking it over to see if it starts. never know guy could just be bs-ing you. but call some shops asking questions is free and never hurt anyone.

 

Thats what we were thinking....and I said the same thing hit the gas tank with a hammer and see if it starts up...the funny thing is you can hear the fuel pump humming it just doesn't seem to be able to get the gas to the engine...what I mean is this if we are driving on the expressway at a fast speed it won't die but as soon as we come to a stop sign or light or slow down it will die....

 

how full is the gas tank? kinda sounds like a problem with mine, if i would cough it by pressing the pedal then letting off, and repeating a few times, the idle would not stay above 500rpm the rest of the way home, i had to power break it to keep it from dying at the lights.

 

Now about half and tank but has also done it at a full gas tank