heres the story, when ever its hot outside 80's and hotter my car will do fine but when it gets a tic away from 210 it back fires and dies. then i have to pull over and sit in traffic for a while to let the car cool down. so far i have replaced the water pump,cat converter, exhaust manifold gaskets,egr valve. and it still does the same thing i cant find out why. my dads friend said i might have a cracked manifold cause i do hear a ticking noise when i accelerate and he also said it could be my intake too that could be cracked..o and i do have an after market tbi chip in the computer and i read it makes the timing higher could it just be a simple fix?

 

Have you tried the ignition module in the distributor? It's under the rotor, and an electronic part - after years of being hot, getting rusted from condensation, etc. they stop working. Usually work fine until the car gets warm, then they go out, and work again when car cools. Most major parts stores can test them, I never had one tested though, as it's not that expensive of a part. Comes with grease, make sure you use the grease as per instructions.

 

i know my dad changed out the rotor and something else to it slipped my mind. but ill ask him if he changed that too. and if it doesnt work is there something else it could be?

 

The pick up coil can also be heat sensitive when it gets close to death. Its also in the distributor, just under the rotor. You can test it with an ohmmeter. It should read between 800 and 1000 ohms. If not, it will need to be replaced. This requires disassembly of the distributor. Unless you or your dad are fairly well skilled, you may be better off with a new distributor from AC Delco. Note: It's probably the Ig Module like camaronewbie says.

 

ok thanks guys for your help. and this shouldnt take to long right?

 

when you say close to death do you mean my engine or the distributor? had me thinking now lol

 

No - not a long job for either - think it took me 30 minutes to replace my ignition module, and that was the first time I'd ever done it.

Just make sure you mark your wires and dist cap so that if wires pop off it's easy to get firing order correct.

And he means death of the pick up coil, not the dist or motor.

 

alright thanks again guys.

 

If the pick up coil tests bad, it is a chore to replace. It requires that the dist shaft be removed. There is at least one good description of the process on this forum complete with pictures. Just search for "pick up coil" in key word search.

BTW, it's probably just the module.

 

ok so the prob is back. i can drive 5 miles and it will get to 195 and just cut out but stays on. im gettin frustrated! so tomorrow im going to do a full tune up change of oil, sparks plugs a new cap and rotor and im going to put dialectict (spell check that)grease on the electrical wires going to and from the dizzy. o and i noticed when it started chockin out the ses light would come and off as the idle varyed.