First vette

[89blkvet]

I just bought my first vette, drove it home from san diego, 480 miles, NO problems. the very next morning, cleaned the car, and engine, now the car drives for a little while, dies out. Starts back up after some time, but the same problem. The god for AAA. I have had the car for 2 weeks now. I bought a book, and it leads me to fuel and/or ignition. any suggestions??

 

[GS Diva]

I have no suggestions...but I know some of our more experienced mechanics will jump in...do want to welcome you, though!!

Elaine

 

[Preacher]

I don't have a clue but it might help the mechanics here if you told us a bit more about your car.

Year? Engine? Mods? Mileage?

 

[Gorgon]

My guess would be a black 89 L98 vette.

And I would also be interested in the cleaning method for the engine. Might help someone with the diagnosis.

Leon

And welcome to the CAC.

 

[Bonefish]

I read anouther thread about the same problem. It was a kinked rubber fuel line that was ok when cold but once it got warm and soft the kink closed the fuel flow. Look around the engine mounts.

Hope that helps.

 

[89blkvet]

Wow........overwhellming support !!! Thanks to all. I ran the diaganostic check like the book told me to do, under the steering wheel, all it gave me was an endless amount of number 12 signals, system good. When I wahed the engine, it was pretty much just the spray on cleaner followed by the hose pretty much dead on the engine (probably not good) the car has 75K miles, as far as I can tell no mods, automatic. when the car dies on me, it pretty much just goes away, no sputtering, no coughing, etc. Any further suggestions would be GREAT help

 

[vigman]

Ok..lets start with the obvious

#1) I would check the distributor cap.. pull it out ( with the rotor ) and replace em both for starters... you probably need em anyway. You will be taking out the old coil.. make sure all the connections are good & rust free.


#2 There are 2 wires on the side of the distrib red ( Distrib power ) & white (TACH) behind those on the side is a 3 way connector..make sure thats clean & tight ( no moisture ) and there is a 4 wire connector hiding behind the block coming to the side of the distrib base. Pull that apart & clean it.

#3 How's the OIL level... ( dont look at me like that..) When the oil pressure drops BELOW 4psi.. power to the fuel pump get cut off.

Do these tests.. and get back to us.


Vig!

 

[vigman]

Oh where are my manners

Welcome

to the CAC

Vig!

 

[89blkvet]

So far, I have changed the Fuel Pump, Fuel relay and fuel filter. It does start and drive now, although I am not 100 % confident due to some horror stories that I have been reading. It does idle a little rough. The idle jumos up to 800, then down to about 600 just sitting in the driveway??

 

[muddywaters]

First Vette

Hi & Congrats on your first Vette , now it will be impossible to be without one. I have no problem, I'm only on my fifth one. As far as your car goes, I had a 79 which did the same thing , shut off for no apparent reason, turned out to be a module in the distributor that malfed when hot . Now I'm not sure if you have a module in your's , but check it further. Good luck to you.

 

[dmrodco]

Make sure you replace the cap and rotor as previously suggested. The problem is the heat from the engine cooks the cap and after 30 thou miles or so it becomes pourous and will suck up any moisture around it causing carbon tracing which will cause irratic idle misfires and the like. I had a 70 cuda that had done something very similar my friend told me to open the hood in a dark garage and watch the light show. Holy crap it was like chained lighting under the hood. after changing the cap rotor and wires all was right with the world once again. ....... good luck

 

[sleepyhead]

Hello and welcome to the best corvette forum around. I don't have an answer to your problem, but I do want to give you a quick head's up on a problem that I ran into...

You mentioned that you used a spray on cleaner and then hosed down the engine. I did that ONCE and the cleaner ended up taking the paint off of the valve cover emblem. So, if you got lucky enough for that not to happen to you, you may want to be aware that it can happen. I ended up replacing the emblem at a cost of $45.00 and I learned to be extra careful on future cleanings.

I'm sure you'll be getting more advice with your problem. Take care and post some pics of the car if you can!



-J.