So im driving home the other day and out of nowhere the car (1990 IROC 350 TPI stock) starts sputtering, puffing black smoke and stalling out. I was barely able to limp it to a parking lot where I shut it down. About 15 minutes later I started it up ran just fine. I get about 3 blocks down the road and did it again. I had to keep my foot in it to keep it moving trying to get it to a shop when all of the sudden it snapped out of it and launched. drove it around the corner parked it at a shop. the kept it over night, next day said they could not duplicate the problem. THEN... im almost all the way home and it does it again. start it back up and idle is sitting at 2000 rpm. pull into a gas station and turn it off. fire it back up and ran fine the rest of the way home. SO... black smoke. sputtering. stalling-runs fine. sputters black smoke-runs fine. sputters. stalls out then idles at 2000rpm-then runs fine. help!! vacuum leak maybe?

 

O2 sensor , MAF....

culprits-

 

check your codes . first thing . then do a visual . anything obvious ? get a factory service manual NOT a haynes or chilton . follow the trouble trees in it . this is the BEST way to find and fix it yourself . post your codes

 

It's all intermittent but... I got 15, 43 and 53. Right after it was acting up last time. I'm thinking the 15 caused the other two. 15=coolant temp sensor reading too low. 43=knock sensor error. And 53 is either "digital egr solenoid error" or "system voltage too high" I'm gonna throw a coolant sensor at it and see what happens. I'll stay posted. Any other ideas?

 

its so easy to throw $$$$$ at it . and hope. but you are on the right track. its been said that the ESC module can effect the injector signal ,or some such . verify your base timing is at 6 BTDC . verify your knock sensor and wiring are good. and the o2 sensor, as well . if you can find one , a scan tool is what you need for real time data

 

Just changed the coolant temp sensor. Problem became worse and more consistent... still kicking the same codes... WTF

 

just stop , at this point , you need to data log it. if you cant find a old snap on brick ,or a autoxray. you can go the laptop cable and software route. thing is . what is it doing ? what is the ECM doing ? doing this can keep you from wasting money and time. however , more than once ,i have solved this issue with a new ECM .

 

Update.... after destroying my knock sensor and having to relocating it. Still same codes. I changed the ecm. Problem solved. For now.