Hi, I am new to the whole world of tpi, I just bought my first 3rd gen, a spotless 90,000 original mile 87 trans am. It has a 700r4. I love the car, but it is giving me some trouble. When you give it gas from a stop, the car wants to stall, hesitate, like it isnt getting gas, then all of a sudden, it will come alive and pull real good. Also, sometimes it seems to have a slight miss in it. I am also hearing kind of a clicking noise that sounds like it comes from under the firewall on the passenger side. I put a new fuel filter, and air filter in, and tried some injector cleaner. The car did sit for a while before I bought it. Once you get it on the road, it seems to run great., but just seems to have this terrible hesitation even when it is driving and the rpms are under 1500. I know this is vague, but I dont know really anything about tpi motors. I have always had 5.0 mustangs, and decided I really wanted a trans am. If anyone has any idea what might be happening, I would really appreciate any help!
Thanks a lot!

 

Well to keep this brief I'll tell you a few things to check, and you may need to do a search to find more out about how to execute my suggestions, but it will be a great learning tool if you are new to TPI.

1. I would check the ignition timing, it should be set at around 6 degrees advanced. The clicking could be spark knock.
2. Check the adjustment of the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). A search or browse over the tech articles will reveal how to do this.
3. It may be beneficial to run some fuel injector cleaner through it too. this is your choice as it may not fix anything, but it may be a good idea to remove any deposits that may be present after almost 20 years.


An off idle stumble like that is usually ignition timing or TPS adjustment. If the engine has a miss it may be a good idea to replace the spark plugs and wires as well. I am assuming the check engine light is not on?

 

welcome to the site!
1st check your spark plugs, wires, cap, & rotor.
Thats where I would start 1st. It sounds like its not getting a good enough spark at a low idel....but I could be wrong. But its a great place to start. Take the distributor cap off everything out, make sure the plug wires arent laying on the exhaust, or there not cracked in any way. With the car running, run your had along each of the wires, if you get shocked....theres a good sign u need new wires. Spark plugs, take 1 out and a time and check them out.
Let us know what you find

 

That would be one way of finding out, if you like to get shocked with 1000000000000000000 volts (a little exaggeration). Start with the basic tune-up, just as posted. Get new wires, plugs, rotor, cap, oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, and run some injector cleaner (seafoam works best). If this car has been sitting for years, then the elements would have got to it, be it weather or age. These things really come back to life with these simple steps. Ask me, I know.

 

lol its just like a bee sting!

 

Hey guys, thanks for your help, turns out my problem was the fuel pump, it was only pushing 25lbs, and was surging. New pump, and the T/A runs great! Thanks for all your help though, I appreciate it!

 

Don't forget to change your filter if you havn't already. May as well not stress the pump, and mine plugged up real bad last time I dropped my tank and caused a dead spot.