Hello ive got a big problem! I have an 89 tans am 350 5.7 and the GM Pontiac dealer in Illinois cant even figure it out whats wrong with it! they refered me to this website! The car is surging and then it dies, it dosent matter if its in park or drive. Ive added msd ignition,cap rotor,distrubtor,all sensors are new,MAF new, they just did the plenum gaskets, the gas tank to the injectors are all new,pump,regulator injectors and all spark plugs wires. The car has a 160 temp thermostat in it now but no high performance chip is installed. and a new stock oil pump.Please help me!

 

The 160 stat may or may NOT be ideal, but either way, it's not your problem.

-Are you sure you don't have any vaccuum leaks with the new gaskets?
-Are you sure the new MAF is good? I've heard of new units being bad on more than one occasion, and it happened to ME too. Took me 2 weeks to find out.
-I'd check the Throttle body sensors too. Min. air and throttle position.
-How's your fuel pressure? How about your injectors?

......with all those new gaskets and sensors, that's where I'd look first.

......so you get any trouble codes?

 

......a bad MAF would certainly cause surging, in drive OR park, and it would probably cut-off and die too.

 

At 170,000 miles, I added an MSD ignition too. It fried my distributor in about a month. New dizzy, no problems. Although it doesn't sound like your problem, I might disconnect it till you figure out your problem. Just one less thing to eliminate.

 

Thanks for the Quick replys! The MAF sensor has been changed twice i just got another one so i dont think its that the dealership checked out the injectors and the pressure and it all checked okay. i will check into the TPS. this morning when i turned it on it was cold of course and the car was ideling high as normal but it was trying to idel at around 600 rpms after like 5 seconds or so then it would go back to the high ideal like 1200 rpms.for about 15 seconds and kept repeating its self.

 

any codes? you say, too, you've replaced all that ignition stuff, so was the timing set correctly?

 

I get a code 33 when the car dies the timing was set by the dealership so i guess it has to be right it dosent back fire or anything

 

MAF RELAYS MAF RELAYS MAF RELAYS
Get the picture?

 

What about the IAC on the throttle body. If that was bad I think it would cause the problem your talking about.

 

I dont think they adjusted the IAC after they put the new distrbutor on the car. in fact i changed that my self not too long ago and just pointed it downward didnt know it had to be put a certian way, it ideled fine before. ill check that out as for the MAF relay its new and i changed the burnoff relay. there was three relays on the firewall i went ahead and changed all of them.

 

Usually a sign of a vacuum leak on a MAF car. Check to make sure there's no missing vacuum hoses, no unplugged connections, the rubber boot from the throttle body to the MAF is tight, and the upper and lower plates of the TB are tight and not leaking.

 

My car ran like that when I forgot the one vacuume hose under the TB

 

i just took a look at the whole thing all the hoses are new the dealership changed all of them and i went throught it with a diagram of the engian and they all seem to bee in the right place no cracks or parts missing as for the TB being in all the way and tight i cheked it and its go to go.

 

It was a long shot but i did something that normally shoulnt bee done. i completely removed the cars alarm system it had a cliford matrix 2 way alarm with remote start. After finishing it i reconnected the starter wire and turned on the car. the cars first thing it did was turn on the check engine light i waited 15 mins so it can warm up and not one glich i drove it for about 4 miles and nothing happened i came back and checked the codes and code 32 came up. the car for now seems to be fine but i dont know till tommarow. has any one heard of cliford alarms casueing problems in TA's? And what is code 32? thanks for all your help so far i will keep you posted on what happens tommarow.

 

I think a code 32 is for the EGR. Just do a search for it. There is also info on here on how to set the IAC (search for it also). If you changed it and didn't set it that could be your problem.

 

Same o same o it keeps surging and i drove 55 miles on the full tank and i have about 1/4 of it left i dont know whats going on! im going to call the dealer today to bring it in to get it timed and adjusted one more time. as for the gas being eaten like that i dont know i would be happy if performance came with it but there is no change in the cars performance.

 

I have heard this more than once . It for some reson causes that surgeing you mention . Check them out .

 

im having the exact same problem.... i fix and replaced tons of things but still have to check the relays now
can some one show me where they are maybe with a pic
i almost bought a 500$ adjustable MAF sensor today to see if i could solve any problems...... but i thought id try this first! LOL

 

I'm not sure on this (I don't have a MAF car), but I think they are up on the firewall on the d/s above the brake booster. Trying doing a search on here for MAF relay. I'm sure there is a pic somewhere.

 

i cant find pics on the forum anywhere i think i know what it is but im not sure ill take some pics later and post them

 

Have you tried testing the resistance in your fuel injectors? That same thing happened to my iroc and it turned out I had four injectors that were shorted out and grounding themselves to the intake manifold. and fried my computer try checking those it should be between 14-18 ohms.

 

the car is going in the dealership today they will adjust the iac and tps and distrubutor i will also have them change the MAF relays i will keep you posted on the progress OOo and the resistance for te injectors, those are new and i think they checked them before but hey it dosent hurt to try thanks for everything you guys are great!

 

still sounds like a vacuum leak. i had one at the junction that supplies vacuum to my heater controls. caused all kinds of problems(surging, stalling, large quantities of gas to be eaten) carb cleaner was my friend that day.

 

What did u end up doing with your hearter control did you just change it? and was the problem at the place where the hoses connect to the controler? Did you hear any hissing or anything? How would i be able to know that its the hoses to the heater controller?

 

I just got off the phone with the dealership and there saying that my MAF sensor is shot and that the wire that goes from the egr is bad they said that they have to change the wire thats in the harness can the egr be this surging problem in idel and in drive?? but why does it happen every once and a while some days are better than others. And the MAF its been changeds twice where can i get a good reliable one! Or what brand should i get?

 

I'm not an expert on the EGR, but I don't think it would be causing the surging problem. I would think you would get a check engine light on the EGR. I would have them fix the MAF and do the EGR yourself, or just see how it runs after they fix the MAF. Just my two cents.

 

okay i think we found out what it was the MAF when you tap on it the car dies. the EGR selenoids connector is bad too so i have to change the MAF sensor agian and fix the connector. i will keep you posted on the progress. Anyne know where i can get a good MAF sensor besides autozone.

 

also had a vac leak in the back of the engine thanks alot for all your help guys

 

Check MAF sensor plug. I had a pin that would slide up into the connector when I plugged it in. When I pulled it off, it would drop back into place and looked fine. Took me 2 weeks to figure that one out.

 

i actually took a look at that to make sure that all the connectors were good and the person who had the car before me actually put a new connector on it.