When i raised the hood i hear a very distinct Click, Click... sound that speeds up then slow down interchangabily (spelling), seems like every time the engine would click, the exhaust would sputter at the same time. Like Click Click Click----followed by the same time from the exhaust Spa Spa Spa.
Thats my cool impression of real audio comming from the engine bay and exhaust
Oh yea also notice heavy to moderate vibration at stop

 

Why does my posts always take the longest to respond, ITS CAUSE I HAVE A V6 AND NOT A V8 HUH !!!

 

This is the v6 board, that has nothing to do with it. I'd try checking your timing, or see if your running lean or rich

 

Are any plug wires arcing to ground? Also, check the motor mounts and see if they're squished.

 

Exhaust leak?

Sticky lifter?

 

Check yoour plugs while you ae there. Inspect wires, cap and rotor. Check and adjust (if needed) timing.

Even if you have just replaced your plugs a week or 2 ago check them any ways. One may have be fualed. It's sonds like you have a miss. Also spark plugs can become lose and not fire corectly. Just happened to me last weekend. Don't how it came lose but it did.

 

Just put new plugs,wires,cap&rotor 4 days, good ones too by MSD so no cheap-o stuff, there is a exhaust leak on the rear right tail pipe. Checked for codes and none came out. How do i know if i have a stick valve and "check to see if your running lean or rich", i dont even know what running lean or rich means, so a little vocab check would help too.

 

Running rich = too much gas for a proper air/fuel ratio #
Running lean = too little gas for a proper air/fuel ratio #

Pull the plugs anyway and look at them; you can determine a missing cylinder by the plug's appearance. A properly firing plug would have a tannish look to it. A misfiring plug could be wet, or loaded with oily deposits, or look otherwise "wrong" compared to the other plugs. The Haynes manual (and I think Chilton's, too) has a color picture sheet of how to read your plugs.

Did you make the MSD wires yourself or were they precut? Either way, check them with a multimeter. If you got the 8.5mm wires, they should be 50 ohms/foot, so if the wires 2 1/2 feet long, the resistance should be around 125 ohms. By "around", I mean that if it's 150 ohms, it's probably okay, but if it's 4500 ohms, the wire's bad.

Pull the cap/rotor and make sure the contacts inside are STILL clean. I second what BitchinRS said about the timing. I've also had spark plugs come loose! Also, clean your IAC valve if needed.

Is one of your exhaust manifolds leaking? Look for missing bolt heads; sometimes they crack. Also, check the manifold-to-y-pipe connection for a leak.

 

Ok i checked for codes again this morning and got code 32, it reads:
BAROMETRIC PRESSURE SENSOR CIRCUIT FAILURE
OR
EGR VALVE DIAGNOSTIC SWITCH-CLOSED DURING ENGINE START UP OR OPEN WHEN EGR FLOW REQUESTED BY ECM
OR
EGR/EVRV

Ok so now im lost, how to check for these and how to coorect them, first thing first-what does that code mean in lames(spelling) terms.

 

Cool, good idea to check the codes. The EGR is the circular looking black thing on the passenger side of the motor, above the exhaust manifold, next to the spark coil. It looks like a little UFO. Ready for a lesson on EGR? I've got the time....

EGR = exhaust gas recirculation valve. When the car is cruising (engine warmed up, high road speed, low engine RPM), the EGR activates. It allows exhaust gas (from the passenger side intake manifold) to flow back into the throttle body, and be re-burnt, just as fresh air comes in. The EGR reduces the NOx emissions levels.

There's three pieces to an 85-89 2.8 EGR system. #1 is the EGR valve, #2 is the EGR diagnostic switch, and #3 is the EGR solenoid. They're all on the same bracket. I told you what the EGR looks like; the solenoid looks like a little sideways cylinder, with two wires poking out of the back, and vacuum tubes going into the front. Follow those little two wires- they'll lead to the EGR diagnostic switch- this looks like a rectangle, and has a 4-wire connector on it for the computer, the two wires coming out for the EGR solenoid, and a vacuum line input.

When the computer wants to turn the EGR on, it activates the EGR solenoid. This allows engine vacuum to travel into both the EGR and the EGR diagnostic switch. Print this out, and follow the vacuum lines off of the EGR solenoid. You'll see at one point, the "output" side of the EGR solenoid splits two ways- one way goes to the EGR, the other goes to the EGR Diagnostic Switch.

The EGR Diagnostic Switch is the "feedback" for the computer. It's activated by the vacuum "sent" by the EGR solenoid. When the EGR Diag Switch senses vacuum, it closes a circuit.

Now: If the computer (A) activates EGR and (B) sees no signal from the EGR Diag Switch, it knows that the EGR valve has not operated. That's because of the "split" off the EGR solenoid (to the EGR valve AND diag switch). Okay?

How to fix? Well, hopefully it's as simple as a cracked vacuum line somewhere around the EGR solenoid. Check out all those hard plastic lines for cracks. By this time in the car's life, all those lines have become very brittle. You can "fix" a cracked line by slipping a regular 'ol piece of vacuum hose (available thru pep boys or autozone or strauss auto or etc) over the crack. A vacuum leak would certainly cause an improper idle!

It could be three more things- a busted EGR diag switch, a busted EGR solenoid, or a busted EGR. Check the easy stuff (vac lines) first.

More info: With the car COOL, feel the bottom of your EGR valve. It's cut open, and you will feel the bottom of the diaphragm inside. You can push the diaphragm upwards, and this simulates an open EGR valve. In fact, if you do this with the car idleing in Park (don't burn your fingers, or get your hair/jewelry/clothing caught in the fan belts, or etc), your car will run rough and stall. You could try it, it won't hurt anything.

On MY car, the EGR valve would stick open. This would cause my car to stall when I came to a stop. I found it out by pulling over, staring at the engine "about to stall", and reaching under to feel the EGR diaphragm- it was stuck upwards. I "temporarily" fixed the problem by applying air pressure to the EGR vacuum line port. This "popped" the diaphragm downward. Then, I plugged the EGR vacuum line with a wooden golf tee. This deactivated the EGR valve from opening, and let me drive around until I replaced the EGR ($60 from GM). Notice that this "fix" also allowed the EGR system to operate as normal- the EGR solenoid still activated, and the EGR diag switch still sensed vacuum.

Your EGR valve diaphragm could be torn or rotted. This would cause a vacuum leak, and would cause the EGR diag switch to not sense vacuum.

(Obvious stuff to follow) If the EGR solenoid is busted, the whole EGR system won't get vacuum. If the diag switch is shot, obviously, it won't report back to the ECM.

If you had a Mityvac vacuum pump ( http://www.mityvac.com and http://www.eastwoodcompany.com ), you could test the EGR solenoid and EGR valve and EGR diag switch. The Mityvac is a tool that creates a vacuum- you could actually create engine vacuum, see the EGR valve move, and do testing at the solenoid and EGR diag switch. But, since I'm betting you don't have one, check the vacuum lines first!

90-up 3.1's use an electronic EGR system, and none of the above applies. Lucky for us, our vacuum-operated EGR is much cheaper to repair!!

Whew. I'm done.

[edit] Oops, I guess I wasn't- Our cars don't have a baro sensor. I forget what EVRV stands for at the moment... but for 85-89 2.8 f-bodies, it doesn't apply.

 

TomP, u are a lifesave and a true friend, thanks for you advice. I wouldn't bug u all soo much about my car problems but i am my own mechanic, i have no uncles or cousins who live next to me to help me out, and dad past away, so this board is all the help i can get.

 

No problem man, that's how we all start out. Geez if it wasn't for these boards, I wouldn't know half the "little details" that I know now. My dad looked amazed as I rattled off all the details of the 26 spline vs 28 spline axleshafts for the SLP posi unit (when my posi axle died)- if it wasn't for these boards, I'd probably never have found that out.

That's another reason I always push the "major tuneup" for the new guys; by buying the manual I recommend and doing the simple stuff, a new guy can get very well acquainted with an engine. I used to be extremely cautious when I went into an area of my car that I hadn't touched before... now, I'm only 1/2 as cautious.

 

Dammit i think a F***ed up, here's the thing, i purchased an Actron code scanner specifically for GM cars 82-93 from Trak auto and it included its own book for the code look up. Now there code 32 says what i wrote in the post above, In the Haynes pontiac firebird manual (82-92) code 32 states:
Check for a short between sensor terminals B and C or the wires leading to these terminals.
OR
Check the wire leading to ECM terminal 1, check the ECM connections
OR
Check the wires leading to ECM terminals 21 and 22
OR
Replace Baro sensor.

Now im totally lost again, which book to use for diagnosting, and dont know anyting about ECM or Baro sensor.

 

Heeeelp Pleeeeease

 

Thats becuase a code 32 can be the EGR or the ECM. Normally it's the EGR.