I have an '87 Trans Am that I recently bought to work on, I replaced the fuel pump and tank that the car needed when I got it and now I am trying to get it to run. I bled the 10+ yr old fuel out of the rail until I had a steady flow of new gas. The car will run if you start it by pumping the pedal but if you let up off the pedal it will stall. I am new to tpi engines and so is my uncle and grandfather. Any suggestions as to what the problem is would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

Sounds like the ninth injector isn't working, if the car has been sitting that long I would bet the injectors have varnished fuel deposits in them.

 

Okay I have thought about removing the injectors and cleaning them to see if that helps. Do you have any suggestions on how to go about cleaning the injectors? Also what exactly does the 9th injector do on the tpi?

Thanks

 

The ninth injector was only use in 85-88 and gm got wise and fixed the cold start enrichment with programing. The ninth injector is just a aid in cold starting. It maybe wise to go through and install a new fuel pump and injectors. its not worth the effort of doing the labore to have them cleaned and flow tested on older injectors. Southbay injectors a sponsor here has a upgraded Bosch 3 design.

 

Okay unfortunately I am working on a budget because I have to replace some of the interior. I was planning on trying to clean the injectors and then if there was improvement showing that they were the problem, I would go ahead and replace the injectors in the near future. In the interest of cost it would be worth the labor for me to clean the old injectors and try that first. Do you know what would be the best way for me to go about cleaning the injectors out from the 10+ yr old fuel?
thanks

 

There is not a real good way to clean out the injector while on the car unless you are using a pressurized cleaning system. Its not cost effective to to pull them and have them serviced at even a lower cost of 8-12 a injector invest into some bosh 3 Injectors from South Bay fuel injectors.

 

Okay thank you I looked at the prices for South Bay and they are surprisingly affordable compared to what I have seen elsewhere for a set of injectors

 

Tuned Performance, do you know where I would be able to find a cold start injector? I have called South Bay and Summit and neither place is able to get one for me. I would like to replace it if possible.

 

The ninth injector is no longer available, You will need to get a used one in the classified section here or ebay. Or if you would like to delete it all together send me a personal message.

 

x2, delete the cold start injector. Tuned Performance is a great guy to deal with. You won't be disppointed.

 

Thank you Fred SS

 

Thanks for all your help guys, when I get home from school I am going to swap out the old injectors the are most likely damaged from being soaked in fuel for 10 or more years and see if that solves the problem, then I am going to work on programming my own chip or purchasing one to get rid of the 9th injector and eliminate that as a possible problem as well.

 

I seem to be having the same problem with my '87 IROC-Z Camaro. I'm wondering about this cold start injector you're talking about. Does that one bolt to the runners? I'm somewhat new to engine work, but I know a fair amount from my friends who are mechanics. Did you ever resolve the problem since?