I recenlty installed the pacesetter headers on my 1992 camaro 3.1..WOW what a difference. But my car now back fires and the other day i did a donut in a parking lot, since we got a few inches of snow, it stalled twice in a matter of minutes, just when i was hitting the brakes. now when i come to a stop it drops down to about 500 rpm and then raises again. I thought maybe i fouled a spark plug with the back firing. I dont think i we turned anything with the serpentine blet off. thought maybe if i disconnect the battery and reconnect it..any advise?

 

1ST OFF: when you say "backfire" what do you mean? i ask becasue many people confuse this with an afterfire.

BACKFIRE: an explosion/combustion of fuel in the intake manifold.

AFTERFIRE: an explosion/combustion of fuel in the exhaust manifold

big difference. if it is an afterfire read below:

I would reset the ECM (pull battery for 10 minutes) first. then i would check to make sure my plug wires had the right firing order, then i would baisically do what you normally do when you give the car a "Tune up". more then likly spark dilivery is your problem.

if none of this fixes it i would pull your O2 sensor and replace it.

here is a link to the "Major Tuneup" article by "TomP". he realy went all out on a beginers guid to a Do-It-Yourself tuneup. if you scroll down to the bottom there is an additional beginers guide (not as well written, sorry) by me about how to inspect the wear parts for wear. this is a little more advanced then just replacing them, but it can save you some money if your existing parts are in good shape.

after doing all this your poping problem should be solved.

 

another common problem after putting headers on is a gasket leak somewhere in the new part of the exhaust system

it mostly happens when you let off of the gas, right? Cold air comes in through your leaking exhast gasket and reacts with your hot spent air/fuel mixture and makes a slight "backfire" sound...

 

yeah it happens when i let off or rev it up..the only exhaust leak that im aware of is after the passenger side header meets the y-pipe. there is a slight leak but even fixing the other leak didnt help the backfiring any. im reseting the battery now.

 

this sounds kind of like my problem with the idle.

 

ok, after hooking my battery backup, checking to make sure the top header bolts are tight, ( not the bottom cause i dont have a pit to reach them), checked all spark plug boots. I fired her up and looked under the hood, only to see a flashing light, which i beleive is the spark plug inside the combustion chamber. it looks like the the clyinder closest to the passenger seat ( # 4 piston ) gasket has been blown off partly. hope fully tomorrow i can get it fixed, ive been driving like that awhile. it doesnt back fire or after fire all the time though, just periodicly. so i dont think ive done any damage to the motor. just hoping it makes it to after may 4th ( prom nite )

 

uhhh..... you know you can worp your head mating surface doing that i think... i would fix this sooner rather then later.

 

well it only does it once in a while. im driving another car today over to summit and getting new gaskets.

 

Do you wnat to get rid of the stock driver's side manifold? I need one SOON!

 

im probably gonna keep it, incase something happens that i need to take the headers off. Sorry