Hey Y'all,

I just got a 1983 Pontiac Trans Am yesterday (a 25th Daytona variant) and I ran into an issue just now. I just drove it 2~ miles (from my mechanic to my house) after having new tires put on it, and the engine died in a very.... precarious spot (I'm so thankful I've driven a ton of no power steering and no power brake cars, because I was just entering a sharp turn just as it died, so all the power components went with it). It was running like a top for the entire 2 miles until I got to that corner (basically 100 feet from my house). Does anyone know what could've caused that? It kept turning over, but wouldn't fire for a few minutes. When I let it sit for a few minutes and came back to it, it fired up after some coaxing with the throttle.

 

Perhaps ignition control module?

 

+1, very common. Telltale sign is that it'll start up again after cooling down. I highly recommend an AC Delco replacement!

 

Sounds fuel related to me. Specifically, flooding. Probably trash in the needle valve.

Drive it. If it doesn't repeat, probably that.

Ignition modules usually either work or don't; or, their intermittent failure is heat related. Not throttle position related. Doesn't sound like that to me. I wouldn't waste any time messing with that until it does it again, and THEN only after thoroughly checking out the fuel system.

 

I'll look into the ignition control module (does anyone have any links off hand for which specifically to look for)? But I did find a terrifying sight (and god damn am I stupid for not having checked it when I bought it). I need to flush the entire coolant system because it is disgusting. I'm going to do that this weekend and hopefully it'll help some.

 

Ok, I did a little disassembly and found something a little disconcerting. Would this happen to be a reason why it could've died?

 

No it wouldn’t cause stalling. It would cause a exhaust leak

 

So an update where I'm at. I cleaned the carb some, replaced the ICM, cleaned the points and all connections inside the distributor (which they weren't dirty, but figured it wouldn't hurt), and it has a new wire set from the distributor to the plugs. I was about to drive it yesterday, I went down one hill (after it had been running fine all day) and died without warning. I fired it up today and similar thing, it would run fine for about 15 minutes, and then the idle would get very choppy, it would quite clearly start burning oil intermittently (no rhyme or reason), and it puked about a cup of motor oil from an unknown location (nothing from the valve cover gasket or anywhere near the top of the engine, I can see a drop on the oil pan, but the whole car is far too hot for me to inspect it right now). Has anyone run into this, or am I just happening to get one bug after another?

 

"Cleaned the points"? Do you mean the Ignition cap and rotor secondary/ high voltage terminals?

 

Sorry, I just meant cleaning general electrical connections I was able to get to, not necessarily in the distributor (grounds, electrical connections into the carburetor, etc).

 

No apology necessary! Corroded dist cap secondary terminals would not cause a shutdown, anyway.

 

You have a lot going on! Make sure the coolant, engine oil and fuel are at the proper level. Don't fill the gas tank, in case you have to pull it, but maybe add some and a water remover. Like a few bottles of "Heet"

You said you cleaned the carb, externally ? If it's been sitting it could be water in the fuel tank and / or carb.

Maybe a vacuum leak, at the carb or intake manifold?

If AT, Check dipstick for water /foamy appearance.

Pull the engine oil dipstick and hold a match flame to it . If the oil ignites it is gasoline contaminated.

 

So it has new coolant, engine oil and filter, and fuel (the previous owner told me he has put some gas in its empty tank a couple weeks prior to me buying it, but it was almost empty anyways when I bought it). I do know it's been sitting close to a decade, and I'm still finding stuff rotted and needing repair, so it wouldn't surprise me if a vacuum line is basically gone. While I'm pulling stuff apart again, anything else I should look for that could be a culprit?

 

You have a fuel system problem.

Nothing you have described makes it seem like anything else.

It sounds like it stops running because too much fuel is dripping down into the intake.

See my signature for a handy mental technique to use when evaluating proposed "explanations" for some set of observed phenomena such as engine behavior.

I suggest checking your carb's needle & seat valve.

 

If the gas is 10 years old, it is likely the carb needs a rebuild & internal cleaning. The tank might have stale gas, also. Have you ever overhauled a carb? Do you think you are mechanically inclined for such a job? In the 70's I learned by reading a book and doing it. Started on simple Lawnmower carbs, first. Now a days, there are videos. Stale gasoline has a horrible smell. How does the fuel filler neck smell?

 

Because it does not die immediately, it points to a fuel problem.
Dry gas or denatured alcohol to break up any water molecules in the fuel so that they will pass through the carb's jets.
Check the fuel filter in the carb. You might also have a filter under the car.

(the previous owner told me he has put some gas in its empty tank a couple weeks prior to me buying it, but it was almost empty anyways when I bought it). I do know it's been sitting close to a decade
If there was rust in the empty tank, guess where that rust is now?

 

Loose rust would end up in the filter(s) and carb float bowl and jet passages. Microscopic rust particles small enough to pass through a fuel filter, gather in the float bowl, where they coagulate and form a larger particle, capable of blocking a passage or jet.

 

If the tank has rust in it, you can rebuild the carb and change the fuel filter every single day, and twice on Sundays just for good measure, and it will STILL get trash into everything and malfunction unpredictably.

First thing to do would be to pop the gas tank off and flush it out and take a look at it. If it's not too bad in there, use some of that coating stuff they have for them, otherwise just replace it. (My guess is, you'll end up replacing) Rod out the pickup tube as well, replace the "sock" filter, put about a gallon of gas in it and a gallon of lacquer thinner, spin the motor with the starter enough to get fuel/solvent mixture coming out the fuel line at the carb (disconnected of course), let it sit like that with the solvent in the lines and all for a day or 2. Pump more fuel out into a 5-gallon bucket or something until it starts coming out clean. Rebuild the carb (you'll get a new needle & seat of course). BEFORE you tear it down, we'll help you with tips to get it back together right, which starts with tearing it down right. Put acoupla gallons of gas in it, hook the fuel line back up, and go from there.

 

sofakingdom is right, IF the tank is rusty, its gotta be corrected. I'd buy new, rather than having it coated.

 

I believe I most likely would too... coating might be a good option for a tank that can't be just replaced, but if you've ever seen a tank that rusted through from the inside due to water droplets standing in it in the same spot for years at a time to the point of having leaky holes, you'd be REAL hesitant to go the coating route. If it's messed up enough to be shedding rust into the fuel, replacement is probably the better way to go.