Hi, My BF just bought an '86 IROC Z from his father. It sat in the garage for about 13 years. His father put only 500kms on it the whhole time he owned it. We took it for a drive over the weekend and on our way home, she just lost all power and died! It just so happened that we were by my fathers house so we managed to get enough power to get to his garage. It just wouldnt idle. Sorta seemed like it wasnt getting fuel but that didnt explain that it wasnt reading any electrical either. My father checked the filters and they were fine. Fuel pressure was good. Fuses fine. The next day when we went to get her, she didnt wanna go, but then when he got her started she idled fine. Not wanting to chance getting stranded we towed her home, where she worked beautifully. We are not sure where to start. I've been reading other posts here with the similar problem, just wondering what we should start with?

thanks

 

Well we need to know more about the car. What engine? Is it stock or built? (sounds like peobably stock) what tranny?

Before driving it, what did you do to it? Did you do a tune up? (air filters, oil change, spark plugs & wires, distributor cap & rotor, drain old gas and put in new, ect.?)

 

My bad, new here and new to this car I believe is stock 305 TPI. Its got K&N so they were cleaned no plugs or wires yet. We just got it. A new alt and battery. New gas for sure. Not sure what the BF's father did to it.

 

Sounds like possibly a classic case of alternator failure. If your '86 is TPI it would most certainly cause it to run bad and lose power because if the alternator isn't keeping the battery charged, the car will pull power straight from the battery and eventually run it out and the computer can't run properly without good voltage running to it and will eventually just shut the car off. And i'm guessing since the car has sat for so long that either the alternator has some corroded contacts possibly or maybe a rodent has gotten to the wiring? I would first pull the alternator and have it tested at your local parts store! Good Luck!

EDIT: Sorry I took to long to type that and see now that you have replaced the alternator, I would check the wiring to the alternator, battery, and starter to make sure they aren't corroded.

 

Would wiring to the starter and alternator keep the car from idling? At the worst, he could keep the car running hen he was giving it gas, but when he let off it just chugged and died.

 

I just remembered, automatic tranny with shift kit....

 

Sounds like an elec problem.
I would check the big wire going from the batt to the starter. Make sure it isn't rubbing on anything and shorting out. Look for any wires getting up aginst the exhaust and melting the insulation. Also check the other big wire coming off the batt and going to the eng ground. Make sure all connections are clean and tight. If that's all good, wiggle the wires around with eng idling and see if you can re-create the stalling.
If the elec sys has a problem and sys voltage drops, the fuel pump and injectors will be effected, making it seem like a fuel delivery problem.

 

ok, so we'll do an extensive electrical check. I know he checked over alot of the wiring though. Here's a silly question, is the pollution gear NEEDED to make the car run correctly? Would it kill the engine or anything else if the belt was removed?

 

You can remove the AIR pump belt for diagnosis without fear of damaging anything. However, if the pump is intact I'd install the belt again to prevent the pump from rusting internally.

Given the age and relatively low mileage, a lot of items are suspect.

With the engine idling, what is the system voltage? Is the SES light on any time after starting? If so, have you retrieved the error codes?