my car has been giving me trouble for months now , the problem is that car starts up and runs nice nice with a smooth idel. but somedays the idel drops to about 500rpm and gets slower and slower till it stalls, the choke light flickers on and off as it get slower and slower till it just stalls. Also if the car runs good enough with out having that stalling problem. sometimes it will stall if i put my foot into it . the car kinda of bogs for a sec and either recovers and moves , or stalls. the car is and 84 firebird 2.8 with a varajet 2 carb. Ive changed the carb its brand new along with spark plugs, new tuning on the carb and timing adjustment fuel pumps good and vac lines were done last weekend. Im going crazy i cant possibly think of what could be doig this ? o this morning was rainning if that helps diagnouse this any better. thanks to anyone who can offer some help

 

From me,
IF ya got original coil, its going bye!
Timing chain is too loose
Quick fix?
I'd say loosen distb, twist toward firewall slightly, clamp down & see what happens
Good score on a reman'd Varijet!

 

I agree, timing chain or coil... coil is much easier to replace, I'd start there... If you start getting a clackity clackity from the front of the engine, drop everything, tear off the front and replace the timing chain and sprockets.

 

my blazer did that. had that same motor, the coil being replaced did now help, i talked to the guy a few days ago, he said he knocked the timing up a little now it doesnt do it any more and it doesnt backfire, mine also did it worse in cold rainy weather, use some gum out carb cleaner, it helped mine when i had to drive it in the rain

 

thanks guys, i havnt fixed it yet but coil sounds like a good posiblity. Im 99% sure its not the timing chain it is old but not chattering or anything and its keeping the timing well with out slipping a tooth or anything, so i think ill try a nice tune up this weekend, msd wires id like to find an better then stock coil but have not yet. also ill do cap and rotor and plugs just to be sure thats not it and well im at it ill change the oil and that stuff, hopfully that will do it.
about the rain why would that cause it to rise up more then any other time?
ill keep you all updated on the situation. thanks for your replies.

 

That's simple!
Ever try to start a car with the distb cap wet?
NOPE!
Here's all ya need do.
Open hood at night to check wires
IF YA SEE A LIGHTENING STORM under ya hood, replace plug wires.
IF ya just replace coil & problem disappears, good.
Ya can plan on doing plug wires/plugs/cap/rotor later on.
DEFINETLY bump up timing!
Such a big help, even tho you say it's holding.
I seriously wouldn't plan on a new chain as it's an old carb'd engine.
Might it need replacing (the engine due to high milage)?

That's my 1985 49 state Federal engined Blazer with the 1995 Camaro 3.4 under it.
That's a 50K mile engine I used.
If ya wanna see where I mounted my Accel on the 1985 Firebird, give a shout & I'll upload that pic.
My Accel coil cost me $36!
I've been using this pic'd Accel coil on Blazer for over 100,000 miles & serious on that!

 

its bright sunny and 65 out , car is running fine no stalling or hesitence of any kind. my guess is when it rains tomorrow the problems will come back as they always do. Why is the water causing this to happen every time? could somthing be getting water in it by just sitting there when it rains?

 

When ya take a shower what happens to the bathroom walls?
CONDENSATION!

Serious, moisture/cold does funny things to a ride with a "weak spot"!
Try the open hood trick at night time to check plug wires & eliminate that "possible sourse of problems" now.
Next
Original coil?
Yes/No?
Last time done cap & rotor?
Lots of little things add up to a problem when it's lousy weather outside.

 

 

yes as far as i know the coil is origional, i did the cap rotor and wires my self just about a year ago.

 

Try this idea (coil location) & revisit the previous years work to see if any "damage" or "aging".
PS to me?
IF ya see any undercap damage, could be due to weak spark, too!
Try replacement coil, clean/check cap & rotor stuff, await the rain.

 

ive been told tjat ,mabey a small bead of silicon on the inside of the cap to ensure a good seal would , possibly help this prob, if water getting into my cap is the prob. does this sound like a good idea to anyone else?

 

When I literally lived at the beach (Marina Del Rey Peninsula, CA), NEVER had to put silicon anywhere (like a distributor cap) for moisture protection.
Apply wax to surfaces, sure thing, tho!
It all comes down to a weak spark producing system.
IT COULD EVEN BE A WEAKENING ALTERNATOR producing a weaker than should be spark, if coil is still ok.

 

nice and sunny today my car ran great and had *****. I went to napa and they dont have a coil for my car. im wonderning if that accel one will work since mine is attached on the side and has other wires going into it and all that jazz. its not the typical one ontop of the distributor

 

heres the latest i did a small bead of silicon on the sealing edge of my cap on the distributor and sprays the out side with spray silcon, i also sprayed my coil and wires too. to day was cloudy in the morring and supose to rain any minute and the car was running ok till i got down the street and the idle started droping off. It stalled once when i came to a stop sign, but after that i kept the rps off and idle so it couldnt stall. later in the day when it was raining i took the car in to the shop to see if i could adjust my idle , i put it up a bit and then down and back that wasnt it , only thing i can think of is my pcv doesnt fit snuggly into the valve cover it pops out all the time . could the fact that its sucking in mosit air make it stall? or have the rps lower then it should be?

 

Sounds like you hit the jackpot!
ALL engines need zero vacuum leaks to run right.
Sounds like you have a suspicious item to consider in tracking down leading to real problem.

 

i just did this tonight , its not raining but its still kinda crappy and cloudy out , i changed my pcv valve and topped of all my fluids , ahh a full tank of gas. any way i didnt eraly notice much of a diffrence, it didnt stall but the idle was still making me nervous. It was hanging around 6-700 when i woould come to a complete stop. thats what it does when it stalls , it starts like that then drops off and stalls. I guess ill have to wait till it rains agian to see if this was it . Can you think of anything else that it could be ?