The other day I was driving up a hill and all of the sudden, mid-hill, my rpms dropped from 2000 to 500 and jumped up and down and up and down fairly quickly...The engine was actually cutting out, and then about 15 seconds later the engine backfired. The RPM's continued to bounce for the next 1/2 mile. I then stopped and then started driving again and it drove perfectly fine that day and the days to follow. This exact same thing had happened once before on the SAME road about 3 months earlier...This never seems to happen except when I drive on that hilly road. The only thing I could think is the torque converter (It causes my transmission to shift a little early out of 2nd gear but nothing extreme)

Heres some things to know:
-1991 305 TPI (70,000 original miles) with new fuel lines, fuel tank, fuel pump, new distributor, new fuel filter, new spark plugs and spark plug wires.

Also: I have an exhaust cutout located under the passenger seat and have no catylitic converter and both times my cutout was open...And after I let my car sit for a couple of days (with cutout closed)without starting it, it will run kind of choppy for about 1 minuet until the engine heats up (almost like its burning out moisture).

Any Ideas would help! Thanks a lot guys

 

The surging and cutout isnt likely caused by the torque converter. The torque converter could cause the car to lose drive but wont affect the engine itself. Nor is the TQ causing your trans to shift out of 2ng gear too early. Shift points are controlled by valve body tuning, line pressure, and TV cable adjustment(700R4) or PCM programming(4L60E).

Your surge and cutout sounds like typical fuel starvation. especially with the relationship to climbing a hill. What was your fuel level when this happened? You may have lost fuel to the pump or you may have a bad section of rubber hose between the pump and the steel tube in the tank. How old is your fuel filter? Also, the EVAP purge canister can cause symptoms similar to this if it gets restricted by too much buildup. There is a fuel tank pressure control valve located near the tank that manages pressure and vapor release. This valve can fail making it extra hard for your fuel pump to push fuel out of the tank. Try loosening the gas cap next time this happens to see if that solves the problem. if so, you may need to get a vented gas cap, or diagnose and repair the pressure control valve/EVAP circuit.

 

I've never owned a TPI and I'm no expert on inner fuel workings, however the story you told sounds so similar to one of my own in a '99 fuel injtd s10. It was a bad throttle position sensor. The intermittent nature of it, and the hills was a carbon copy of my symptoms.

 

LoganKello, what's the progress on your car? Please let us know what solution you ended up with so that others can benefit from your experience.

 

Well, after going through my records, the shop that replaced my spark plug wires and distributors didn't replace my spark plugs which have 70,000 miles on them. Im going to replace the spark plugs and see if that fixes my problem...Ill check back and post what I find out !
Hopefully this will fix my initial choppy idle (seems like engine burns moisture for about 1 minuet after driving) Hopefully two birds with one stone

 

Have fun changing those plugs on your third gen. If you've never done it before, your in for a real treat.

 

Don't worry Ill be paying someone to do it for me haha.

 

And miss out on that fun?!

Suit yourself...

 

Try changing plugs in a chevy vega and 3gen plugs will seem like a breeze.

I always thought the foxbody was tougher to change than my 'bird.

 

Compared to many of the newer vehicles(ie:Ford Triton), the 3rd gen is easy. For any vehicle you simply need to have the right combination of tools. If you go at this task with a Crecent wrench, it's not going to go well. I do tune ups on every make and model known to man. I, in fact, do major engine work on all these different vehicles. To make these jobs reasonabble, I have a vast array of specialty wrenches, ratchets, extensions and swivel sockets. Not to mention power tools.

The old saying is true. You gotta have the right tool for the job. Ofcourse my Snap On bill runs about $200 a month and I owe him $1800 right now. Ouch! Lol.