I have a '87 GTA that was running great last year when I stoped driving it. I had just done a tune-up too. I adjusted TPS and IAC. Replaced the plugs, wires, cap & rotor, coil, filters.

Well I started driving it again a few days ago. The first thing I noticed was the it was taking more and more cranks to start. Then sometimes the after starting the RPMs would dip to about 400 for a split second about 3 secs after starting and then it would idle perfectly again. Then instead of the RPMs dipping, it started to stall. Now it wont start at all. Any ideas?

I also just removed the cap & rotor and it's full of a yellow powder. Is this normal? Where did this come from?

TIA

 

Distributor cap full of yellow power? Nope, that ain't normal. Sounds like a electrolytic reaction due to a faulty connection somewhere.

Check to see if the coil is properly grounded inside the cap if you have the coil in cap type dist. My uncle had a similar problem with hard starting and low RPM idle from a improperly grounded coil. There was yellowish powder inside the cap well.

Have you replaced the IGN module yet? If not, go ahead and replace it with a GM Delco one and see how it runs after that.

 

The coil does look a little rusty. Plus it's an accel coil so I had to make a bracket for it. The bracket is a little flimsy and it's the only source for ground. I'm thinking about running a ground wire from the coil to the firewall.

What else might cause the yellow powder in the cap and rotor?

 

How many miles does your car have? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but until your car is entirely gone through at this point it will not run right. These cars are now becoming old. Hate to say it mines almost a classic. The fuel injectors need to be cleaned and checked. Just because you ohm them and they look all right doesn't mean they are. Cams also wear. Many f-body owners do not realize it but from many thousands of mile your cam will wear. You will slowly lose power and never figure out where it was going. I have had every problem anyone on this board with won't hardly start or stay started. Your fuel logs also fill up with a lot of crap, and guess what that means theres crap in the fpr. I sound extreme but you will find after so many miles all of this will happen. Since these cars are still relitively low mileage They sit a lot. That means your oil sits and gunk builds up. I suggest a full rebuild, however that is probably not a viable solution, so flush your fuel system, and that does not really mean with fuel injector cleaner, but take it to the local shop and put it on their engine flushing machine. as well I would change oild monthly not because the oil breaks down but to flush. Change your plugs, but it is not that simple when you take each plug out you read your engine. Find out which cylinders are firing properly. If you do regular maintenance to these cars you will not only have a nice reliable car but it will slowly get faster as you caress and tweak more problems out. If at all anything do the plugs and check your fuel pressure. Make sure when you give you car gas the pressure goes up above 38 psi, and not below.

 

Do not take me wrong you can get oyur car to run a lot better but will never run perfect, and if you do not believe me the only way for you to beat me is to spend way more money than me.

 

For future refrence, I found the problem. The problem was a bad ignition module. The car idles beautifully now, just as smooth as my LS1.

 

I am just saying the problem only starts there. Something caused the ignition module to go bad correct, because if not then there is no explanation, so in theory or thought whatever caused the problem is another problem, correct? I am just warning you what these cars will do with some miles. They have hard lives, be prepared. Also, a general rule of thumb when one major problem occurs another is coming. However, good luck even if you do not need because your car is running beautifully now, and best wishes on it staying that way.

Sincerely,
Greg

 

Bad coil can kill a module and a bad module can kill a coil, other than that, it is fairly common for them to just fail when the time comes :-)

If your not having any other problems, let it go and have some fun.

By the chance u do have other issues and your car has some miles on it, pay attention o the reluctor wheel for cracks and rust and the pick up coil.

thanks for posting what you found, always hate people that never post what the problem was and/or what fixed it.

later
Jeremy

 

I understand what you are saying. The car does have 120k miles, but it has been maintained.

< 1k miles on heads
< 1k miles on injectors
< 200 mi since replacing vaccum lines
< 200 mi since adjusting/checkin IAC and TPS
< 200 mi since replacing IGN coil
< 200 mi since replacing cap & rotor (although I replaced again)
< 200 mi since replacing spark plugs & wires.
< 200 mi since replacing fuel filter
< 200 mi since replacing the cat
< 200 mi since replacing O2s and other sensors

... and several other things that I don't remember right now. So as you can see, the car as had lots of work and the module was one of the few things that hadn't been looked at yet. Therefore, I'm not surprized that it failed overtime. So if the car was a POS that had never been maintained, I would be walking on eggshells waiting for the next thing to go bad, but it's not.

 

Beautiful full respect is deserved and given. I had the same list only longer, and then I had a bad cam which helped bend some valves and crack a piston. My main point was diagnostics. Without us able to see and hear the car we need a really really good description of what is going on. That also keeps people that really shouldn't give mechanical advice from posting.
Sorry if I was working more against than with my bad, in the future I will try to stick to topic more. I was just trying to make the point to everyone I guess that thorough maintenance and diagnostics are key to fixing cars. I do not replace parts unless needed.

Regards,
Poot

 

Thanks man. I know what you mean. There are so many variables that could cause a no start condition but sometimes it helps to have ideas thrown around and the original poster can go from there while he's troubleshooting (notice how I didn't say replacing parts ).

BTW, did '85s have roller cam/lifters or did it start in '87?

 

They started in 87' to put roller cams in/