I just bought a 89 IROC-Z camaro with the 350 tpi engine. Only 25,000 original miles. It seems like it takes a little longer then it should to fire up. I crank and it lasts about 2 seconds of cranking and then fires no problem.

This morning I got it in it and it seemed to start alright but was idling around 500 and was jumpy and when I went to drive away it was lurching slowing forward. But stopped after only maybe 20 feet. Is something wrong? Drove fine after that. The night before was a little cold down into the 50's

I also washed it today and it fired up great. I put it in drive and died with no hesitation. I took out the key and tried again. No problem. The car sat for a few years but was fired up and driven a little regularly. Is the car just hiccuping a little since I've been driving it quite a bit or is something wrong? I'm not a car savvy super engine but but I do know that it shouldn't be doing that.

Any input would be nice. Thank you

 

I'm far from an expert but i would say a vacuum leak from what people have told me previously. I just replaced my fuel pressure regulator. It took a while to crank sometimes, and at idle at stoplights it would occasionally stall out from not getting enough pressure. Are you getting any sort of error code?
I'm not the best at explaining it, but you can use a paperclip in our car's to check your codes. Google it for an explanation

 

No, you shouldn't be worried. Nice looking car. I would recommend a couple of things though. You might want to replace the fuel filter and the injectors. The original injectors weren't the best in the world and they don't get better with age. I'm not suggesting you throw parts at it, just suggesting a couple of things that normally have to be addressed over time and probably haven't been. Call South Bay fuel injectors and they'll help you out. They're listed on this site. Also, check your fuel pressure at the rail. It should be 42-43ish at idle.Congrats on the car. She's a beauty.

Steve

 

You could try Seafoam to clean out the fuel injectors and tank first. I know lots of people say its nothing, and that it causes problems, but i am a living walking advertisement for it now. My car ran horribly after i flooded it. Seafoam saved it. I drove for atleast 10mins while it was clogged down and it wasn't changing a damn thing. I put seafoam in the brake booster vac line and in the fuel tank, within 2minutes of driving(after the 10 or so minutes for seafoam application) she was zooming again like she should.

 

The previous owner said the original injections were not putting out the right ohms so he replaced them over the winter. I might sea foam it and see if that helps any. It is in pretty good shape for being 25 years old

 

I will forever love seafoam. Grab a bottle at walmart, drip 1/3 of that baby slowly into your brake booster vac line, watch the smoke puff, once you've poured enough, give it a solid gulp for it to stall the engine out, let the car sit for 10-15, start her up, run her HARD for a couple of minutes and hopefully your issues fixed.
For the slow pour, what i did was cover the opening of the bottle with my finger leaving a tiny crack, help it up to the vac line and just let the line suck the seafoam out(crack was barely anything so it hardly could get much)
This was beyond magic for me, but again, i'm not near the expert some of the people on here are, but it really can't hurt to try it. Congratz on the car

 

I have a low rpm idle sometimes too, but not always. I've heard a bad injector can cause this.

 

My car takes that solid 2 seconds every cold start. Then it's nearly instant after that. I've heard you can change the fuel tables to deliver fuel sooner? Making for a quicker start. This I'm not 100% on, just read a tid-bit in the DIY Prom section about getting a quicker cold start.

Seafoam is my Dad. Haha, brought my Z31 from a hard start and very rough idle to hearing lifter tick and a clean smooth idle, not even a slight blip in the idle. Just clean.
*Note* If you plan to add some to your oil, be sure not to let it sit in there for too many miles. I believe the bottle says 500mi? I will add some to the oil 100mi before change. Then I'll run the hell out of it for that time.

Hope all goes well. Mine has 25,000 too, 125,000 that is. Adios.

Edit: I idle around 650RPM, just a tad under the 750RPM mark on the tach. I hear this is just about perfect. I have yet to time and tune the motor too.

 

put a fuel pressure gauge on it and see what the fuel pressure is while you are cranking. if its sitting at zero for those 2 seconds, the fuel might be all draining back to the tank each time you shut the car off. i believe there is a check valve in the fuel pump that is supposed to hold the fuel up there in the rail after you shut the car off. this ensures you wont have to sit there and crank several seconds while the fuel pressure builds up to a reasonable level. there may be something wrong with that check valve if its draining all the fuel back to the tank.

 

Really? When my car idles that low it sounds like it's going to cough up a lung. Mine seems to be happy around 1000-1100. Purrs like a kitten then. IDK, maybe mine is screwed up.

 

Cold Start Notice it takes about 2 seconds to start.
Warm Idle Depending on how you look at the needle, driving or flat-face to it, it's about 600-750 idle.

 

Here's what I'd do.

Turn key on for a few seconds, shut it off for 10-15 seconds, turn back on for a few seconds, the start the car.

If it still takes 2 seconds to start, might be the Fuel Pump relay is not working, or bad, and you're relying on the oil pressure bypass switch.

Now, you can pop the hood, roll the window down put your fingers lightly over the Fuel Pump Relay, turn the key to RUN, you should feel the click (on or off, I forget...)

Now one question though, on a cold start, when she fires up, does it idle at 1100/1200 for a bit? It should if the IAC is operating correctly, and/or getting proper info via the Coolant Temp Sensor.

 

Check for fuel pressure & bleed down rate. It should hold pressure after shutting it off.

 

I will check all of those and get back to you guys. Thank you all. I really love the car