I am a novice when it comes to engine work, bare with me. I have a 1987 trans am 305 TPI. Now the problem is the engine bogs down alot. If i pressed the gas to the floor, the engines rpm drop dramatically, and it goes no where, and even backfires if I am on it too long. It also does this even if i have the pedal near the floor, or if I am pressing the gas on a turn. I have replaced the ignition control module. I know the fuel pump is whining very loud, but I have no idea how I can change it. I may make a video of this and upload it to my post so that you can see what I mean. There is also evident burning taking place under the distribute cap with the ignition rotor.

 

Go to autozone & rent a fuel pressure test gauge. Psi should be 36 to 45 psi.
To change the pump, you'll have to drop the muffler & tank down. I'd change the fuel filter b/c a clogged one can give you problems.

 

If the dist cap & rotor are burnt, and you know it, replace them.

Duh.

If that doesn't fix it, fuel pressure check is next.

 

Probably misfiring and or detonating, which would suggest lack of fuel or bad spark or timing. A broken vac hose could also cause similar issues.

 

If it is a vac leak, how would I be able to find it? should I just have a shop replace all of my vacum hoses. also is there an easier way to get to the fuel pump?

 

Vac hoses you can spray ether around them, though it isn't exactly safe, if there is a leak the engine will pick up speed a little, and do it when the engine, and more importantly, exhaust manifolds are cold, and avoid spraying it on or near them. But imo, just replace them all, chances are they are all in rough shape anyways. As for the fuel pump, theres only 2 ways, drop everything out the normal way, or cut a hole, but if you do the latter make sure you do it right, I've seen pics of some pretty mangled ones...

 

A vacuum problem won't cause trouble at WOT, because at WOT, there is no vacuum.

Vacuum problems show up at IDLE.

Don't bother looking for a vacuum leak, to fix THIS problem. It is A DISTRACTION from the REAL PROBLEM.

Start by taking care of the overdue maintenance and broken parts you ALREADY KNOW you have in progress. Doesn't make alot of sense to get into some guessing game about "maybe it's this, maybe it's that" when you have obviously defective stuff staring you in the face.

Then, study my signature carefully to learn the most powerful logical technique that there is, for troubleshooting. Concentrate on the key words. "Simple" means just that; the fewest possible and most mundane possible causes, involving things that ordinarily happen; a SINGLE fault of some kind that can cause the symptoms, not MULTIPLE causes that all interact; no convoluted stuff like there's no possible explanation except maybe the space aliens have singled your car out for an experiment on the human race. "Fits all the facts" means that if you dream up a possible explanation and it leaves out or contradicts critical details, it's NOT RIGHT; "all" means if even ONE fact is NOT accounted for by it, it's NOT RIGHT; "facts" means independent OBSERVATIONS of REALITY, not "I thought" or "I always heard".

In your case, change out the KNOWN BAD ignition parts; although they probably aren't causing the problem you have, they CERTAINLY aren't helping either.

THen prepare to troubleshoot a fuel delivery problem.

In fact, might not be a bad idea, as part of your tune-up, to jut go ahead and pre-emptively swap out the fuel filter, that being a routine maintenance item like a cap and rotor ANYWAY. Might fix it all by itself, right then and there.

Avoid detours that FAIL to account for the facts. Ones that have been or will be suggested include vacuum hoses, "timing", and "EGR": these all FAIL the "fits all the facts" test.

Once you have the ign sys straightened out, and if the fuel filter didn't clear it up, tape your fuel pressure gauge to your windshield and drive around; and see if there's any correlation between the OBSERVED behavior abd the OBSERVED fuel pressure.

 

Do Exactly what Sofa said!