Alright, Im having trouble with my '88 350tpi. Heres whats going on with the car:

It has loads of power and runs grerat when cold, but the more it warms up the worse it gets. The idle will stay normal, sink a little, then rise back to normal, no big deal. the main problem is that it will start missing,bogging down, choking/flooding and stalling. Its backfired through the exhaust a couple times. Whats strange is sometimes when warm itll run poorly, missing and bogging down when given gas, but sometimes it wont in park or neutral. only in gear it will do it. But other times it doesnt matter. I dont know why this is.

This morning when i started it it ran for about 3 seconds, then died. i started it back up, died a few seconds later. pushed the pedal in 2ce and started it, kept running. backed it out and it died in reverse. Each time it cranked a little more than usual. started it back up AGAIN and it started up great, and when i put it in drive it came back stronger than ever! It was very strange.

a few hrs later i unplugged the MAF and started it, it seemed to run AND idle a bit better. i never put it in gear, but it ran great, even while warmed up. I plugged it back in and it ran the same, until i came out a bit later to drive it, and right back to crap.

I should mention the car sat for a while, around 6monthes or so i believe. when i replaced the air filters, i hit the two together and they were so dirty and deteriorating it looked like i had hit two chalkboard erasers together, dust clouds everywhere. Because of the airfilters being so bad i thought maybe that was the problem, or the cause of the new problem. Iv replaced them of course but still have the problem.

Is it feasable that the dirt and dust from the filter being sucked through the intake could have gotten the MAF real dirty, causing it not to operate correctly? or affecting something else?

I have not ohm'ed the injectors yet, can anyone tell me what they should be at cold & warm?

I also have not checked fuel pressure yet, but i do know that it should be 42-44lbs.

I havent replaced the TPS, is there a way to check it to see if its the problem? will unplugging it do anything?

I thought maybe timing, but because sometimes it runs fine even while warm and sometimes it doesnt, im not too sure that would be it.

Im going tommarow to get cap/rotor, plugs, plug wires. Any plugs that are best for our cars? what about gap? (im also going to have the Ign. module tested tommarow)

Can anyone explain how to do the paper clip trick for reading the engine codes? The check engine light IS on.

Any other parts that may be the problem or other advice would GREATLY be appreciated! Thanks!

 

Google can answer 99% of your questions

 

If it ran fine when you unplugged the maf but crappy when it was plugged back in then I would start with a new maf. At least borrow one thats know to be good so you can test it on yours.

https://www.thirdgen.org/service-eng...ht-error-codes
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| 1 2 3 4 5 6 |
| 7 8 9 10 11 12 |
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Jump pins 5&6 and you should start getting codes. If not try 6&12, some cars need those jumped.

 

i was having this issue a little when i rebuilt mine, come to find out it was my injector fuse in the interior fuse box, does it sound like a V8 or does it sound like it has no power?

 

and to reply to the paper clip trick, all you need to do is jump the A and B pins in the ALDL and turn your ignition to run and the dummy light will flash the code in sequence.

 

it could be that the temp sensors bad and the computer thinks the engine is cold.someone on tgo had that problem.borrow a scan tool and make sure the temp goes up to match the temp on the guage.they have seperate senders.