My 87 tpi 350 will run and drive but if it gets any throttle over like 3/4 to WOT it will seem to lose power and kinda backfire i think and it just wont go in the higher rpms it seems to run fine in the low power range untill it gets more throttle. Does anyone know why it would be doing this I have replaced spark plugs recently and im thinking its the pick up coil or something i also tried seafoam and i dont think injectors are clogged.

 

have you checked your ignition timing?

 

whats the ignition timing and how do you check it

 

you will need a timing gun..its about 40 dollars or so at the parts store. heres a good video of it.

 

My timing isnt the issue, so what else are some of the most likely issues? Im thinking pick up coil, bad injector or something eletrical fuel pump pressur was checked it's goos, new icm, tested ecm, and the fuel pressure regulator seems to be fine since fuel pressure holds above 40psi for awhile so what is there to test lol

 

Could the icm be the issue even though it's new? Because it ran fine 2 days ago after sitting for a month from a eletrical issue so needless to say i wired up the esc pink/black wire to power and it was running like this fine then it died 2 days ago and i tightened the wires on it after messing around near the icm a little, and it worked agin but then it was missing like i said above and it smokes some whitish smoke, which it ran fine the day before this so it is weird please help me. I also drained fuel and put seafoam in it and it didnt do anything.

UPDATE: I JUST DROVE IT SOME AND IT SEEMS LIKE ANYTHING OVER HALF THROTTLE IF ITS TO FAST OF AN ACCELERATION IT WILL START POPPING LIKE POW POW POW AND IT SEEMS LIKE MAYBE IT'S THE DISTRIBUTOR WIRES OR SOMETHING THATS NOT GETTING GOOD CURENT THREW IT OR SOMETHING.

 

try checking your sparkplug wires makes sure that they are not getting burned up by the manifolds or headers

 

how many miles are on your car?

 

i think the popping sound is because of your sparkplug wires..i had the same issue with mine awhile back and my wires were touching my headers and getting burned up

 

ya they are all almost 1/4inch from my manifolds but they seem to not have any burn marks on them, is there a way to check the plug wires because i was thinking it was them or the pick up coil.

 

I tried ohm'ing them out by touching the red metal probe in plug cap and grounding the black probe but i got no reading i also tried with key on/off no different what'd i do wrong

 

So how do i test them with ohm meter it didnt show anything earlier when i tried

 

just make sure theres no crack in them..how old are they? i dont think its the pick up coil because once it goes out it just goies out and nothing happens. did you put each wire in the correct order?

 

Ya i checked the firing order earlier and it's rite, but i have an ohm meter if you can explain how to ohm the spark plug wires out, and what they should be around in ohm's

 

it should be about 4-6k ohms of Resistance per foot..you take them off and measure both ends..just do one at time

 

Not uncommon for the plug wires to break down and leak spark when engine is under load

Google works
http://www.ehow.com/how_2296047_test...-wire-car.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you...ark_plug_wires
http://www.msdignition.com/page.aspx?id=3302

 

Ok i tried and i put the black one to one side of wire and the red to the other and nothing, now i probably did it wrong so could you explain the exact steps because it's confusing the hell outa me

 

Test the DVM works by touching the two probes together and see what ohm reading you get

What OHM scale on the meter are you using while testing the wires?
Try changing it

 

Ok at 20k ohms setting here are the results and the numbers arent the firing order its going from #1 back driver side #2 #3 #4 then starting from the back side of passenger side #5 #6 #7 then ending with #8

1. 7.45
2. 10.25
3. 10.82
4. 10.79

5. 9.50
6. 9.89
7. 10.16
8. 11.94

So do they sound like they are good or bad, thanx

 

i would say they look good. you said you had white smoke coming out? maybe a blown gasket but im not to sure. i have an 88 iroc with a blown head gasket that wouldnt rev past 4K rpm

 

damn i was hoping my wires were bad, but if it was a blown gasket wouldnt it run crappy throught the entire rpm range? Also it isnt alot of white smoke but it seems to not stop yet but im thinking it's something else, any one else have any input on the readings for the wires, or it having a blown gasket

 

white smoke from the exhaust usually means that theres coolant leaking in the combustion chamber. mine would drive fine but after awhile it started hesitating throughout the whole rpm range...thats the only thing i can think of right now everything else seems to be fine but lets see if someone else tries to help out

 

Alright well i have been checking my coolant for the last 2 days and it hasnt moved but just a inch down, and thats from opening the cap while it was hot, oops and my oil isnt milky its still golden as i changed it 3 days ago and it hasnt loss any oil either. Then agin if my head gaskets blown i coul just rplace it and it'd fix it or what would the issues be and the parts costs.

Edit: It also backfires alot though so if it was a blown head gasket it would just have power loss most likely wouldnt it?

 

when you removed your old sparkplugs how did they look? and was the car running like this before you changed your plugs?

 

how does the idle?

 

No i changed them 3 weeks ago, and it started running like this (crap) 2 days ago, after wiring up the ecm pinouts b6,a1,c16 to power so my injectors would fire, and the esc would have power, but it ran fine the day i did this then the next day not so much and i checked the connections and they looked fine. Im like 99% sure this isnt the problem.

 

im thinking your timing might be off or your wires are not in the right order. does it backfire through your intake or through the exhaust

 

Through the exhuast, and i havent messed with the timing so could it just go out of timing without messing with it or do you have to unbolt the distributor for it to change.

 

you would have to unbolt the distributor but i would still go ahead and check it out. the white smoke can also mean that your car is running to lean and that could also cause it to backfire

 

also what kind of sparkplugs did you buy?

 

Ya thats what i was thinking thats why i ran seafoam threw it today like 50minutes and no different at all, and i think they are ac delco plugs blk/white and if i remember when i checked them 2 were bone dry and smoke black on end, and 3-4 were wet and blk blk, and it was after it sat for a night but i dont remember the rest of plugs lol but i swapped them out with the old plugs which were good when removed and it made no difference so i put new ones back in. If its running rich it'd be from a leaky injector wouldnt it? And that would cause it to flood possibly when it gets alot of thottle but WOT shouldnt bog down since it cant leak more then they put out you know.

 

you should try to post a video to see what the car sounds like and to see what its doing. but i hate how nobody else has tried to help!

 

Ya usually it's just tunedperformance,t-tops and vetteoz once in awhile that try helping

 

I can try to take a video but i dnt know when.

 

im new to TGO and i posted my first thread yesterday becasue my ECM seems to not have any power going to it and nobody seemed to help me...but if you take the video ill be more than happy to try to help you out alittle more...i just hate seeing all these threads were people ask for help and nobody tries to help them

 

well i can help ya with that ecm issue lol, mostly because mine had same issue with pinouts b1,a6,c16 and it took me a month of trial and help from tuned p to get it running. Basicaly A6 goes to switched 12olts so your ignition fuse spot in fuse panel will work, and connect a wire to b1,c16 then run it to your battery with a inline fuse. That being said you need to check which of the three dont have 12volts to them with a 12volt test light preferably, then you just wire up whichever doesnt have power. Hope it helps you out, if you didnt already fix it lol,

 

Oh i see i read your post and i thought you meant you werent getting power throught the power wires going into the ecm lol, but you fixed that by pushing the harness in lol. The clicking noise might be a croded wire going to the terminals like + - wire id have someone jiggle them around while trying to start it and see what happens.
Did i just jack my own thread, lol jk

 

dont mean to highjack lol but i still havent fixed it..my engine cranks, i know i hooked the starter right, when i turn the key to ACC my lights and gauges work and my security light turns on. my SES light does not turn on however. i have been going at it for 3 days straight already with no results. i checked the fuel pump relay fuse and the orange wire has 12 volts going to it but the red wire does not have any volts going through it

 

Basicaly if you have 1 165ecm there are 2 orange wires, and 1 pink/blk wire n those 3 pinouts and if they all get power then you should be good to go, if your grounds are good aswell that is. Other then that i also meant your wires might be coroded internally and not have good connection, but have you checked your starter solenoid if these cars even have one they dont nevermind lol. Have you brought it to a mechanic and asked for his opinion on what it might be, im sure someone in person would have better luck guessing

 

Ive checked everything but i think ill have someone look at it tomorrow...when it comes to this kind of stuff im pretty much clue less.but thank you...i wish i could have been able to help you out with your car alittle more

 

My TPI would behave in a similar fashion once.
I had leaking/sticking injectors. More than half of them were affected.
A resistance check showed bad values on them.
The car would not rev up more than 1.5k RPM.
While under load it would die instantly when going to WOT.
Because so many of the injectors were bad, the car would jerk up to about 5-10 mph, no more.
Additionally my cat died due to the amount of unburnt fuel running down the headers and igniting inside the cat.
So if you haven't done it already, check the resistance on the injectors. You'll need to look up how to do that, though.

 

my injectors all checked out to around 17 ohms i checked them awhile back, but that wont show if they are clogged up, or cracked so im going to pull them sometime within this week and check them

 

Please, buy and use the factory service manual from helm Inc.