I went outside to start my car today and it idled at about 2,500 RPM cold in park but when I took off it dropped down to around 1K. Lately it's been idling high but I figured it was just because it's cold. I did the idle learn procedure in the last month after replacing my old injectors with the remanufactured ones from southbay and it has died twice since then but overall runs fine going down the road. It died and I did the paperclilp trick and it gave me a code 13. I have the helm's manual but I can't seem to find any info on this code, any thoughts guys?

 

Code 13 is telling you your O2 sensor is bad... Try changing that first, it's pretty easy.

 

Okay, thank you blaze. That's one of the sensors I did not replace, there's only one o2 sensor in our 3.1L birds and it's near the exhaust pipe am I right?

 

yes

 

Would a bad o2 sensor in itself cause the engine to die at idle?

 

I don't think a bad of sensor would cause the engine to die... but if its bad, you should replace it... is not difficult to change and isn't very expensive.

 

Despite having replaced the injectors last month, what the car does is when I come to a complete stop in drive and the idle drops the engine will sputter and most times, it will die. It only seems to do this every now and then, maybe once or twice a month. I've noticed that lately the idle has been kinda high, I've seen it get as high as almost 3k in park (steadily) that I can hear it from inside my house but when I put the car in drive it seems to drop down to a little over anywhere from 800-1.5k but I just assumed this had to do with the temperature outside. I also notice every now and then when I come to a complete stop the engine will hesitate when I try to take off again. What do you guys think?

 

IAC (Intake Air Control) Valve or maybe the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor)

 

Hmmm think I've replaced those, along with the map sensor, iat sensor, the iac, a year and a half ago I checked for vacuum leaks, checked the spark plugs and there was no gas smell on them. I remember back in 08 I sent it to a shop and if I remember correctly they said they replaced the ignition module. It only seems to stall when I am at a stop light or got my foot on the brake and it's idling, always seems to start right back up okay.

 

If your car dies when you're on the brake, that really sounds like a vacuum leak. Have you checked your timing?

 

Guess it couldn't hurt to check for leaks again, and I can't say that I have checked my timing recently I guess I could I try that too.

I was thumbing through the helm's manual and I found something called the idle speed power steering pressure switch, whenever I would turn the wheel or slow/come to a complete stop it would occasionally die. What do you guys think? Before I start tearing things down or digging around in the car I just want to rule things out if they aren't a possibility.

 

Just a quick update, I had driven the car earlier today for an hour or so and then killed the engine. When I got back awhile later to start it back up it had some trouble staying started, had to restart twice. It seems that it has nothing to do with the power steering or getting any gas, pressing the gas pedal seems to be the only thing that keeps the engine from dying. When I have it in drive but coast to a complete stop it will lose power and then pick back up for a sec, lose power again and pick back up again until I give it gas or it dies. Will try checking for vacuum leaks and look at the timing.... btw is there anyway that I can post a short video on here guys?

 

You need to check the fuel pressure regulator. Pull the vacuum line that off the AIR pump and if you smell gas in it or gas actually drips out you need to replace the FPR diphragm. Maybe you can pull off the vac line at the fpr if it's easier. If the diphragm is leaking gas gets into the vac line and then gets sucked into the intake when you start and you need to press the gas pedal to let more air in otherwise it's too rich to run. I just did all this two weeks ago. Same symptoms exactly.

 

Okay thank you, base. When I was at a stop light it died today and had to throw the car in park and start it back up again so it's getting old quick. Did your car idle high when you started it up?

 

mine is having the same issue when i come to a stop it sputters and dies...did you ever figure out what it was?

 

Hi Darren, I was told by a shop that there was a short somewhere in the wiring harness and that was what was causing it to die. I am dreading having to deal with the endless mess of wires but it still runs and on the rare occasion it does die it always starts back up.

 

Hey, jiyasa. Antares here...got your front cover and fender. Anyway my '91 Firebird was doing very similar to yours. I've since changed the IAC, TPS, MAP, spark plugs and wires. Changed out all vacuum hoses with new and added a alternative K&N filter and intake (see pic). After the idle relearn my '91's been excellent. Idles fine, doesn't even try to die even with the a/c on. If you haven't done one of these things with the the exception of the filter and intake you might want to check. Someone said here in the forums, and I take it to heart, don't assume something been done to these vehicles unless you've done it personally. Good luck.

 

Hi Antares, how have you been? I've tried all those things except for the vacuum hoses, I need to try that. Thanks for the tips, I'm not very mechanically inclined so I'll take any help I can get. The guys I take my car to are starting to come across as a little shady. My a/c crapped out on me and I took my car to them and it was there almost two weeks and they said it would take them hours and with labor costs would run me up well into the thousands to replace the whole a/c system and find this "short" they found and I couldn't afford that right now so I went to pick it up. The guy who works on my car told me that he needed to jump my battery and he tried for a half hour to get it to start and it wouldn't so I left it there and came back later the next night and my brother somehow got it started and I noticed all my taillights had blown out so I had to replace them. The car just wouldn't stay running once I shut off the engine, I got it home and cleaned the battery terminals and got a ton of corrosion off of them and it seems to do okay now in that department. How has your bird been doing? Still running okay?

 

i replaced the iac i thought it was that but it would start up just fine and idle just fine soon as i tried to start it again it wouldnt idle at all and would barely start is it just the computer trying to reset? i put my old iac back on and it does ok just dies when stopping and anywhere under 1500rpms its choppy..should i try the iac again and just start it several times to see if computer restarts or what?

 

There are a few things you could do aside from the iac, on the forum they have something called an idle learn procedure. You could try that, and as antares mentioned, check thoroughly for vacuum leaks. I have been told that it could possibly be the fuel pressure regulator. Try all those things and see if they work, hope that helps.

 

Jiyasa, Bird was running great til this weekend. Glad I didn't make that trip to San Antonio, fuel pump died on me at Autozone. Debating now whether to drop the tank or cut into the top. I'll have it running before too long again.