I got this 1992 camaro with the 3.1 motor and auto trans. The car had been sitting for some time, so I"m sure the gas isn't the best. I had a couple gallons around the house so I through that in as well.

The car would start and run ok, and then all of a sudden die out. I haven't taken it off my 1 mile road for this reason. Sometimes it will die, the second you try and take off. I hooked up a fuel pressure guage to the car and its reading normal and holding pressure.

I had a spare intake from another 3.1 laying around so I swapped out the throttle bodies with sensors, and hooked all that up. The car seemed to idle much better and on 2 trips up and down the road didn't die once. This doesn't mean it won't do it next time out, but do you think that either of those sensors, TPS or IAC could have been the casue of the stalling problem?

 

The iac could have been the problem did you check to see if there were any ses codes.

 

Replace coil.

 

The SES light did flash on for a second before I swapped out the throttle bodies. I haven't seen the light since. How do you pull the codes?

About the coil. Is that something that could work fine sometimes and then all of a sudden not work to kill the car, then start working again. I once had the car just keep staling out and I had to keep restarting it. I also had to keep the idle up so I wouldn't stall out.

 

See above & yes you are right in your theory.

 

A few questions that need to be answered first:

Does the car idle ok?

If you let it idle for a few minutes does it die?

What were you doing when it died? (E.G. Dies when you press the gas to go. Dies while cruising. Dies when you come to a stop)

What parts have you replaced recently, name as many as possible.

This will get us started on the diagnosis path.

 

Here are the details that I can tell you about. I got this car a few months ago from a guy who couldn't get the car started, so no telling how long it had been sitting. They replaced a bunch of stuff including: spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor, fuel filter and air filter. When I got the car I noticed that the VATS key was really worn out, so I got a new key and the car tried to fire up but wouldn't. I pulled the spark plugs and noticed they were fouled out, so I cleaned and correctly gapped the plugs and the car fired right up. From that point, I had the car die on me while I was shifting out of park...just crusing down the street...and when I was coming to a stop. I then hooked up a fuel pressure guage and everything was normal with no pressure drop.

My buddy suggested to replace the IAC and TPS sensors becasue that maybe whats causing the intermitiant dying problem. I had a complete intake setup from a 1991 camaro so I swapped throttle bodies and the car seemed to idle much smoother. I made a few passes down my road with the car without incident but I don't think I'm ready to take it anywhere yet. I want to get some more test runs in, but I'm just looking for ideas from you guys.

Thanks

 

Replace coil.

 

Ok, sounds like the IAC WAS bad, but you fixed that. That's what could have been causing the stalling at idle and coming to a stop.

Dying while cruising sounds like an ignition problem. Here's what i would do. Drive the car around now since you got the IAC fixed, but take it out and have someone follow you, that way you're not stranded if it dies. Drive it around for about 1/2 hour, if it stays running, call it good. You mihgt just have an intermittant problem that you're never gonna track down unless you actually drive the car in varying conditions.

Something you can do to help eliminate ignition problems is to power brake it. If you feel a heavy misfire, then you have an ignition problem.

Let us know how it goes.

Jeff