Firebird - Pontiac :: 1992 Will Not Stay On / Idle Rough And Die Out
Jun 30, 2013
I have been having some recent issues with my 92 bird lately. It started minor but now the car will not stay on. It originally started out as I would need to press the gas to get it to start and it would stay on, but now if I let my foot off the gas for anything it will just idle rough and die out. I took it into a shop and they said that I had a bad idle control valve and the pigtails need to be replaced. They also said that some wires were shorted out and they would replace those as well. They replaced the Pigtails and the idle control valve and the car started to work fine again, for about 4 days only. I drove to the store and when I came back out to start it back up it wouldn’t stay on unless I gave it gas.
I had to drive it home giving it gas and using my other foot on the brake so that it didn’t due out. I checked the job they did and doesn’t even look like they did what they said they did. I looked at the botched shrink tube job they did and it just doesn’t look that professionally done. I did call the guy and he gave me an excuse and said that they short must have traveled further and he was surprised that the car was even running when they were done. I of course just hung up the phone after hearing that. I did a little looking around the engine and I noticed that if you unplug a vacuum tube and press on the gas and hold it at 2000 rpm for a few seconds and let off the car will stay on, but the moment I plug that hose back up with my finger or plug it back in the tube slot, the car idles rough for a few moments and dies.
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I have a 92 fire bird , just got it. Ran fine, idled a little high, but after a bit, it went down. Now, when it idles, it just wants to die when I come to a stop at a red light or stop sign. It dies, unless I keep one foot on the brake and another on the gas to keep it idled up.
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Wife's daily driver often stalls when coming to a stop. I changed MAP, TPS, Fuel filter; Reputable mechanic changed IAC, Plugs, Wires, Cleaned Throttle Body. We reset computer and relearned idle several times, ok for a while then starts stalling routinely again. What to do next? Owner, driver, wife is getting frustrated with the big money spent to no avail to date and I am worried it will stall at a dangerous time, when she is driving. She loves the car - has had it for 20 years and wants to keep it. I need it to be safe and reliable for her.
1992 Pontiac Firebird 3.1L, Auto, Air
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My 1997 Pontiac Firebird Transam Ram-Air with 169K miles is becoming hard to start. It used to start right up with the first key-switch. Now, if the gas level in the tank is below 75% it will not start on the key-switch. However, it would now normally start right up on the second key-switch. However, very recently the car is now needing the third key-switch to start with lower gas levels in the tank. I MAY be noticing a difference in starting reliability with change in temperature. Lower temperatures seem to increase the frequency of starting on the first or second key-switch. Higher temperatures seem to require the third key-switch to start.
This slow to start behavior manifests its self after the car has rested for about an hour or longer. A friend checked a fuel check-valve immediately behind the engine when the. However, he found fuel there. The local GM dealership claimed they could not find the problem and suggested a new car battery and then a tune-up for $1K. I suspect the problem is a fuel pump in the fuel-tank or associated seal degrading. What is the actual cause of the observed behavior?
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I have a 1989 formula firebird 305 v8 automatic that I am having an issue with. I drove to the next town over, on my way back it stalled 7 times, started back up everytime. On the 8th time it completely died. I have power to my lights and everything still just no cranking and starting. Most the time it was stalling was when i started to slow down for a stop it would shut off. Got it pushed home. Had my battery and starter checked, battery was bad, and starter solenoid was bad. changed both and still nothing. The security light dont come on (just when you first turn the key like usual it turns on, but right back off) I have not a clue where to go from here.
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I just bought a used 95 pontiac trans am. It has 121,000 miles on it, 6-speed manual, 5.7L engine, all stock. Well i bought it with oil leaks and they turned out to be worse than i thought so i had to reseal pretty much the whole front of the engine from the o-ring seal to the camshaft seal, etc. That took care of the oil leaks. Well then it started to overheat so i replaced the water pump. Problems solved. Then a spark plug came loose. No prob. Well 24 hours after getting it out of the shop from the resealing i break down.
Now they say i need a new wire harness. No prob. So now I've put $2,000 into the car (that's including new tires). SO ONCE AGAIN WITHIN 24 HOURS OF LEAVING THE SHOP i break down again. So I take it to a different shop again to get a diagnostic. They won't be able to tell me anything until monday but they put on a new air intake boot (without my permission because mine was taped to secure it better and i knew it wasn't leaking air) and it cut off on them again in the shop (so I'm not paying for the boot). When i break down it happens unexpectedly just like I've run out of gas. Well once there was almost like a split second of a lurch but other than that its always been a smooth break down. No bad sounds or anything. And the motor sounds great and the car runs really well until it just stops... Then if i let it sit for a little while it will start back up and go for a little then stop again. No one can really tell me whats wrong with it.
My fuel pump seems to be fine. alternator seems fine (my lights don't dim or anything). Distributor maybe? Or could it be the fuel filter? And isn't there something i can do about the shop? Wouldn't a prudent shop at least run the computer on the car? I don't think they did because at the shop where it is now they said that 6 codes popped up on it. So they want to erase them all and run the car and see which ones come back up. So can't i take the other shop to court for neglect in their work? I mean breaking down TWICE WITHIN 24 hours of leaving them. And then the rest of the afternoon they wouldn't even pick up the phone...
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I have a 93 firebird. it has a new engine ,starter and battery. fuse under hood is good. turn switch lights work as usual .
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I have a 2002 firebird that I had the battery replaced on yesterday also had positive terminal and wires changed because of corosion. Ran fine when I left shop. When I went to go out last night car would not start Only clicks when try to start. Dome light works, headlight works, and dash lights work.
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My car is a 1985 Pontiac Firebird
So I was drive around 45mph when I noticed that the accelerator stopped responding, it didn't make any obvious noises. I hadn't run out of gas and the engine was still running. I started pulling over to the side of the road and noticed that the power steering and the power brakes were no longer working. I got it to the side of the road and shut the engine off, I waited a minute and tried to start it again, the engine turned over but wouldn't start. I tried this a few more times with the same result.
I can't afford to take it to a mechanic so I need to figure out what's wrong and try to fix it myself. The car has a slow oil leak. As recently as a few months ago I replaced the battery and had to replace the alternator, since then it has been running fine. I checked the belts and all of them are still there, a friend of mine told me to wiggle the pulleys and make sure they were all tight, I did so and found nothing wrong with them and none of the belts are loose. What could cause all of these things to go wrong at once?
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My 1996 Firebird with 3800 series II V6 engine makes a ringing noise. The noise appears to come from the front of the engine (pulley area) and sounds like an old fashioned fire alarm. It usually occurs after the engine has warmed up and cannot be heard from inside while cruising.
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I have an 85 Firebird V6, 2.8L, tuned port injection, we bought it new and I have changed the oil every 2000 miles, it still runs great, except… The fuel pump gave out, I replaced it with a new Bosch, in the process I tried to replace the fuel filter, the line was rusted, it broke. I had to replace about 2 ft. of metal line with nylon tube, I also had to install a fuel filter with quick disconnect fittings, the filter is not the original but some generic because the original metal threaded fittings are gone. It runs great up to about ½ throttle, if I try to accelerate more than that it loses power and almost dies. If I turn off the ignition and restart the engine it runs fine for a while, full power all the way to full throttle.
I’ve noticed that if I keep the fuel tank full the problem happens less often.My theory is that the fuel pump is aerating because of not enough restriction in the fuel filter because it isn’t designed for that car, if I keep the tank full it is harder to start the aeration and stopping the pump and restarting it stops the aeration for a while. If I could get a fuel pressure gauge and be able to see it while I’m driving that would be great, but how? Also, what does the fuel pressure regulator really do? Does the fuel pump run all the time the engine is running? It also sounded like an electrical problem but it idles well and it is very smooth up to about ½ throttle. Could I just have a bad pressure regulator or does my theory sound like it makes sense?
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I recently bought a 1991 Pontiac Firebird Formula 5.7L TPI with 124k. We was driving it home when noticed it was getting really hot (240-250). We pulled over at a gas station and gased it and let it cool off. We had been driving in the city at about 4 o clock for about 7 miles if that makes a difference. When it cooled we tried again. We got about another mile and the temperature would stay down so we pulled back over. We inspected it. The oil pressure showed really zero but we checked the dipstick and it looked okay. The engine sounded normal and the radiator is fairly new. The fan was blowing. We noticed that after it cooled off if you hit the gas the oil pressure would go up (similar to a tachometer...i thought that was weird). After if got cooled and we got on the open highway the temperature stayed normal and the car performed like it should. We think its the thermostat but are not sure.
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My 1994 TransAm has 70k miles. As I';m driving, I'll notice the tach needle drop to zero with no warning, and the car just dies. Battery is fine, gas tank is full, and it soon starts again and works normally. Friends have suggested the timing belt (or chain?) may be the issue, and one day, it won't start again, or it will break and ruin the engine. She, like me, is an antique -- is it time to take her in to the repair shop, and if so, is it costly?
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I've got an "on- and off-going" problem with my '92 S10 Blazer.
Car specs:
Year 1992
Blazer S10 4.3 Tbi
4- doors 4WD
Mileage 200k miles
Symptoms:
As cold, every now and then it will start right up, but the idle is wery rough, and seems like its running on less than 6 cylinders. When giving gas, it revs up, but runs roughly and still seems to be running on less than 6. Won't stall though.
When engine warms up after a couple of minutes, the idle gets smooth and no issues what ever when driving.
So just to be clear, this issue is so far only happening when staring cold.
Parts (new off course) changed recently (less than 500miles on them):
Distributor
Spark plugs + wires
Alternator
Battery
IAC valve
Fuel filter
This symptom came up now and then before changing any parts. I am quite handy with cars (pure amateur though), but can't really afford solving the proble by changing loads of parts with no effect..
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I just bought a 92 Toyota Celica for something to play around with. It's got just over 200,000 miles and everything seems to run alright except there is a really rough vibration at idle. The vibration is so bad that it's almost visible. You can still feel the vibration in drive but it isn't nearly as bad.
Any clue at what could be causing the vibration? I'll try to get a sound clip or video uploaded ....
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I have a 92' Century w/107 K miles that has a medium rough idle. This is a summer use vehicle for me. I have done the normal maintenance on this motor w/ new plugs and a good Napa wire set. Any bad vacume lines that I can get at have been replaced including the vacume tree on top of the motor. Has anybody had coil issues or ground issues with this motor?
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1992, shory 3.0 130K MILES
On start up runs very rough, will stall if not power braked or revd a little on start up/out of the driveway.
VOLT METER STARTS GOING NUTS!!
After a mile/warm up,,, runs great. But sometimes even when its hot, it will still try to do the rough idle briefly after just a few minutes restart. Give it a few revs at that point and its good. And once in a blue moon it will do it randomly at a stop light,, out of the blue. Very rare
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I own a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am V6... recently it has developed a rough idle - kind of like the car is hiccuping - and it hesitates when I accelerate from a stop. Now, it doesn't have issues changing gears so I'm not inclined to believe its a transmission issue...thought it might be the fuel filter, but I changed it and that did nothing.. I'm not getting a check engine light, which is frustrating because if I try to pull the codes it won't throw me any... so it's a guessing game now. I've gotten mixed reviews - anything from a bad catalytic converter to a faulty O2 sensor or idle air controller or a bad head gasket.. but my exhaust is completely clean...others say maybe its bad spark plug wires or other electrical issue (which is a whole other ball game) or possibly bad fuel injectors causing a misfire?
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1992 S10 Blazer, 4.3L, 4x4, TBI "Z"
When I start the truck, it idles rough, like it's idling too low, and even feels like it's missing during idle. Sometimes when I put it in gear (reverse or drive), it shuts off. No codes are being thrown. It has no problems driving around town or on the highway. It's just that initial start and idle.
I've checked all the following with a shop manual:
Ignition Control Mod.- Orig and 2nd one from junk yard. Both tested good at store. Even the testing in the shop manual with an ohm meter and battery tested good.
Ignition coil- tested good using shop manual testing
TPS- Scan shows .2-.7 at idle.
Plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are good.
Vacuum is good.
Haven't checked IAC, EGR
I recently moved cross country, and about halfway through, I broke down. Engine would turn over, fuel relay would click, injectors would work, but no fuel. Pulled it in to a truck shop, and after all my testing and theirs, we determined it was the fuel pump. After they had to fix a pinched hose, it ran. I made it to Texas. I didn't have the idle issues prior to the trip. Just had the tranny rebuilt and everything was great.
I thought, at first, the ignition control mod was the problem because it got a bit warm pulling the trailer, and I know those things don't like too much heat. No dice. So, what controls idle at Park and in gear but at idle? EGR, IAC?
I did a WinALDL scan. IAC at Park/Idle ranges from 18-55. The engine never runs in Open Loop. I would say the engine runs mostly rich according to the scan. I've attached a manageable version of the WinALDL data.
Also, I need to check the thermostat or temp sensor. Scan reads the engine never getting higher than 180.
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So my car started to misfire when under boost so I had the car scanned the first time and came up with codes P0302, P0303, and P0304 which are all for misfires. I replaced the coil packs not even a year ago and the car drove fine as long as I wasn't in boost. My rpms would fluctuate a little bit but not much. I changed the spark plugs and it seemed to work a little bit but it would still misfire under higher boost. The one thing I noticed was my vacuum sits at around 15-17 in when it used to be around 19-20. I've cleaned and disconnected the MAF and the idle didn't improved. I also cleaned the MAP sensor and AIT and the CTS is new. I've done a pressure test and I found some leaks and fixed them but still no luck. Then yesterday my car started running really rough at idle and the cel would flash while driving then stay solid while stopped. Got the car scanned today and got codes P0300, P0301, P0303, and P0304.
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Drove the truck one week ago today and it ran perfectly fine. Drove it last night for about 20 minutes - ran fine. Drove it again today just 1 minute up the road - ran fine. Started it again this evening and drove it 5 minutes down the road - ran fine. Stopped and put gas in it - now it's not fine. After putting gas in it it refused to start but will turn over. Put a booster pack on it and it will start but would only stay running with the gas pedal pushed all the way to the floor, as soon as you took it off it dies. Now it will not stay running even with the gas pushed all the way down.
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