Hello, I am new to this forum and need help. I am an avid gm fan and am familiar with gm tpi, however a friend of mine recently purchased a 1989 firebird with 305 tpi engine. When he first purchased the car he came out to our camp ground and spun a couple donuts in the field. The car was running fine until after that when he went home it started this problem. It will start and run until you throttle up to about 2500 rpms then it completly shuts off and wont restart for a few minutes. Unfortunately the check engine light is either burned out or has been disconnected to hide the problem. So I cannot pull codes however we took it to a shop for diagnostic and the shop said the number 7 injector was bad I do not feel this would cause it to shut down completely I think the shop is just trying to get him for 1000 dollars this is a local shop that is new in business so I have no reputation to beleive in them. Can anyone help me with this? Is it possibe the v.a.t.s. has something to do with it. Also what is the procedure to pull codes without check engine light. I seem to remember that this was possible with gm obd I systems. All information regarding this matter will be greatly apprecitated. Thank you.

 

Well The codes would definitely be a big help. Unfortunately unless you have a scanner theres almost no other way to do it is the check engine light is burnt out. I say almost because really there is 1 other way. The check engine light is also wired to the diagnostic port pin "D". So you could hook a test light up to pin D and get the same output as you would from your check engine light. Pin D is in the top row 3rd pin from the left. Im doubting the fuel injector issues as well. It may very well be bad and I suggest you check it out but i doubt its causing the problem. If i had to take a stab at it it sounds like the ignition module. Although when it dies you should spray some starter fluid in the throttle body to see if it starts briefly. This will tell us if your missing fuel or spark. I dont believe it has anything to do with vats because once its running it should continue to run regardless of the VATS system. It may prevent the car from running the next time you go to start the car but it will not kill it while the cars actually running.

 

Thank you for your input Rolling Thunder. I also was leaning towards the ignition module but wanted more opinions so I dont cause my friend to spend money thats not needed to be spent. Its been a while since I tinkered with the older model tpi. The engines I have in my gmc truck and camaro are mid seventys carburated engines, so I havent had messed with any tpi's in a while. I used to be a parts sale manager for one of the major auto parts stores but stepped away from that position due to moral standards that conflicted with new company policies on warranty returns and alot of the info I used to be quick on has faded and I find myself second guessing so I greatly appreciate your help

 

The module was fine. The problem turned out to be a faulty injector on cylinder 7 cause the injectors to "short" and recieve an incorrect and weak pulse. I determined this through a simple noid light test, but thanks for your help.