Hey Guys,
i know its hard to describe problems over the forums, but my 88 gta has been driving me insane, its the 305 tpi motor. t5 trans
the car will run like a beast one minute, then the next it will bog down and shut off...
if im cruising and go to floor it... it will just fall on its face and die.
and coming to a stop at stop signs and red lights it will just die.
ive changed just about everything.. and im at a loss..

New Plugs,wires, coil, complete distributor, cap n' rotor, tps, cts, maf, maf relays.
the fuel pump and filter are less than a year old, fuel pressure has been 40-45 psi. injectors are all 15-16 ohms.
the timing seems dead on, vaccum lines are good, grounds are clean and tight
the only thing is the car is running rich like crazy..the pipes are black and you can smell the gas.
there is no ses light... only when the car shuts off (which is normal i assume) i am leaning towards the ecm being bad and making the car run rich and therefore flooding it out.
im open to any ideas, thanks guys.

 

Have a look at your spark plugs. Pull out a few and see if there is fuel on them too.

 

I would lean toward MAF problems.

 

i just changed the plugs..old ones were black as sin.. its deffinitley running too rich..
and the maf is brand new as is the realy"s for it.
there is no ses light...

 

Your injectors may be leaking/dripping fuel into the runners or your O2 sensor may be bad. Can you hook up a scanner and look at the BLM or INT values?

Good luck...

 

alright thanks!, hopefully tomorrow im going to barrow my buddys scanner and see what everything's doing.

 

Check your fuel psi regulator vac hose for raw fuel.

 

well i put my buddy's scanner on the car,
spark advance was about 10, 11 deg,
02 volts about 0.41 is that normal?
i got a code 44 and 43...
44 oxygen sensor lean (that confuses me, the car is running super super rich)
43 esc failure (the esc module is brand new, so that baffles me too)

 

Did you clear the codes after you installed the ESC ?

If thats all the 02 is showing or doing, it's dead. It should be switching high to low voltages all the time.

 

I had a similar problem...code 44 lean O2, but running so rich that my eyes were burning and had black soot coming out the exhaust, emissions were due around that time and it failed 5 times. It was solved by new injectors from SouthBay. My old injectors ohmed out ok but were so old and gummed-up they were dripping all the time.

To diagnose, I pulled the upper plenum and runners, pulled the injectors up just enough to sneak some clean paper towels under them. Then energized the fuel pump to supply pressure and they generated wet spots under six out of eight injectors. Upgraded to Bosch III's and no more rich condition nor burning eyes. Upgraded to a heated O2 at the same time. If you need a new O2 sensor I recommend upgrading to a heated one.

The computer sends a .45mV bias voltage to the O2 sensor that is normal, and it should be switching back and forth between above .5mV and below .5mV. With the engine off and ignition on what is the O2 voltage reading? What does the O2 value do when you start the engine?

Even if you replace the O2 sensor the condition may continue. Look at the BLM values on the scanner with the engine running and in Closed Loop. Do they go to one end of the adjustment range and stay there? In Open Loop the BLM will only be 128, in Closed Loop it is adjusting the amount of fuel to make your engine run best. This info will tell you what the computer is sensing and trying to respond to...and perhaps why you get a lean code even when you know it is running rich.

Hope this helps.

 

ok thank you guys, i will check in to all this.
also the egr, according to the scanner is opening and closing...when you rev the car up.
i feel like that could be an issue too?

 

well guys i did some more readings with the scanner,
it was saying knock retard : yes
and a knock retard of 24 degress.
and code 43 was coming up electronic spark control failure,
so iam leaning towards the knock sensor being bad? therfore retarding the timing and making it run rich?

 

Check to see if the knock sensor connector has come loose at all. I had this problem.