89 2.8EFI auto firebird. Owned it for almost 4 yrs and all that time if it sat for a week in wet weather, it ran horrible. Give it gas and it would start sputtering. Every few seconds ran right for half second then sputtering again. Rev it in nuetral and car shook from sputter+misfire. 30 min later runs fine. Rarely had to deal with situation though till now. everyday almost it runs fine for bout 10 min after initial startup, but then starts buckin' and sputterin. I can barely take off from standstill. Had to floor it to restart after stalling at every stop(air form heat vents had slight fuel smell but I'm not completely sure). Seems to Run fine after about 3500rpm. Eventually 20-30 min later runs fine. Barely ran when shut off for 4th time(me, not stalling) and ran like champ when started 20 min later and no problems all the way back. If anybody has any questions about details please ask. Today was the worse it ever was, and the worst weather too. Seems like longer it sits or the wetter it is, the worse it runs. Any suggestions about something I can look for might save me trip to shop. Service engine light never comes on either.

 

Just to get a baseline...

When was the last time it's had a major tuneup? (Not just plugs & wires, see https://www.thirdgen.org/messgboard/...ML/002983.html for the details.)

Also, is your passenger side's front inner fender in place?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

Tom ,I'm curious man , How would that affect the running of the car .Im not doubting you , I belive you .Just curious and trying to learn .Thanx . Wayne

 

The tuneup, or the inner fender pass side? I assume you mean the fender... all the ECM wires lead from the engine, through the upper passenger frame rail, and come out inside the passenger fender. They run down to the bottom corner of the fender between the tire and the door. The plastic inner fender is the only thing protecting these wires from the elements. Sometimes these fenders get pulled, for whatever reason, and water/road oil/salt/etc starts to degrade the insulation... which corrodes the copper wiring inside. If the insulation's shot and the wiring's corroded, wet weather might make things worse.

In fact, you can even see this corrosive effect if you have to repair part of your engine harness. The copper wire under the insulator will feel hard and stiff and "scratchy"... and will be tough to solder. The "solution" is to flatten out the strands, and slide some fine-grit sandpaper over the copper. That removes the corrosion and makes soldering much easier. I believe it was Vader that helped me out with the soldering part... I was asking why I couldn't solder engine harness wires worth a damn!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

[This message has been edited by TomP (edited November 29, 2001).]

 

Checked out that tune-up list. Done about half in the last 6 months. Guess I'll get off my --- and do the other half, and check the fender too. Never new about that. Also on my last topic I meant to type MPG, not MPH, but everyone seems to understand what I meant. Hopefully soon I'll be able to let you all know what fixes the problem.