I just purchased my 85 camaro it needs a bit of work but runs and drives good but I've been having a issue when I let it idle it eventually gives off a burning smell and stalls with the check engine light on but when I turn it off and back on its fine unless I let it idle more. I was wondering if anyone else has this issue?

 

You are more likely to get some assistance with more specific details.
Such as...

What engine/transmission
Is it carb/TBI/TPI?
There's many types of different "burning" smells. Does it smell like burning plastic? Oil? Fuel? Etc.
Any smoke associated with this burning smell? If so did you notice any particular color to it?
What RPM does it idle at?
How long does it idle before it dies out?
Does it only happen when the engine is hot? Cold? Both?

Also, it would be helpful to know if there are any codes stored in the ECM.
Google "OBD1 paperclip trick" and it should give you the info to figure out what codes(if any) are being stored on the computer. You don't need a scanner tool to read codes on these cars.

There may be more info needed further down the line, but that should help to get things started.

 

it's a v6 automatic and it happens a few minutes after its warmed up a bit and doesn't happen while driving the and idle stays at 5 or so and no smoke, the smell is sorta electrical. I'll have to get a code reader and see about the codes. There's a few leaks but the smells gone when driving for awhile

 

I've also tried replacing the mass air flow sensor but new ones just make the car run worse and got the oil changed thinking maybe it was bad oil but it still does it, sometimes the burning smells like a burning pile of leafs but I've looked almost all over the engine. I've been told it could be the engine not getting air while idling

 

Okay, I've worked on a couple of 2.8 cars before but has been about 6-7 years since I've touched one so I'll do my best to help point you in the right direction.

When you say it smells kinda electrical, that sort of throws me off a bit as to what it may be, so lets look at another clue you gave.

To start things out, you say it idles at 500rpms. Is it safe to assume that is in neutral? Or in gear? Either way its a bit low(assuming that the gauge is reading fairly close to accurate)
IIRC it should idle around 750 in neutral and about 600-650 in gear.
With that being said there are a few things that may affect this that you can check out.

1. Idle screw setting on the throttle linkage(duh) after all this is a 35 year old car that you don't have much info on the history of since you just bought it, someone could have fudged with it for some reason.

2. Idle air control or IAC, if this is either bad or the passage is crudded up then it could certainly cause an incorrect idle or even cause it to stall out. (this is the part on the throttle body with a square-ish 4 pin connector)
With that being said, again since the car is 35 years old and new to you, chances are that the throttle body is going to be rather nasty. Unbolt it, take the sensors off of it and give it a good cleaning, installing it with a new gasket of course.
Doing this will also allow you to inspect/clean the IAC and its passageway.

3. Coolant temp sensor(s). IIRC the v6 should have two temp sensors just like the v8's, one for the gauge on the dash and the other for the computer. These are super cheap parts and can both be replaced easily in a few minutes. They should be screwed on the side of each cylinder head.
The one feeding the computer tells it the temp of the engine(obviously) and helps the computer adjust how much fuel is needed. I feel that this is less likely to be the issue, but still possible. Luckily like I said these are quite cheap to get.

4. EGR, I'm not 100% sure of when the computers in these cars tell the EGR to open, but it is worth inspecting and is the cheapest/easiest to do. Find your EGR and follow the vacuum line attached to it until you come to a solenoid. Unplug that solenoid temporally and see if it continues to stall out on you.
Two schools of thought on this being the possible cause.
A. The diaphragm in the EGR could be shot, so when it is told to open, causes a vacuum leak- working in tandem with what seems to be an already too low idle could be causing it to stall.

B.(less likely IMO) The EGR may be opening and causing the engine to die out since it's potentially idling too low.


As I said in my first post, you do not need a scanner or any kind of tool to read codes on these cars. I usually use a paperclip, but hell you could probably use a dinner fork if you really wanted to.
If there's codes stored, they can help give us more details on where to look.

I may add more to this post if I think of more tonight.

 

thanks I'll take a look and see if it's anything that you listed, I know the egr is rusted on there pretty good so it could be that from age

 

So I pulled my codes using that trick you talked about and i got a code 45 so when I looked it up it said it's my o2 sensor so I assume that's why it stalls

 

I unscrewed the o2 sensor but do not see how to remove these because the new o2 sensor i got looks like it should connect here.
and I can't seem to find anything on how to remove these

 

Would I need to solder a new connector on?

 

Looks like someone crimped on a butt connector.
But yes soldering the new one on with some heat shrink would be best.

IMO I'm a big fan of the small connectors made of heat shrink with a ring of solder inside of it.
Just slide on a connector, twist your wires, then slide your connector over the bare wires and heat it up until its shrunk and the solder melts.

 

luckily I have all the tools from other hobbies so I hope this fixes the stall issues thanks for the help

 

So I fixed it and no stall or smell but when I turn my wheels all the way to the left or right it makes the smell come back, do you think that would be my alignment or could it be something else? The steering also makes my rpms go really low and idk if that's normal