"JStricker" <jstricke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
news:1395nthck9o362d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> I'd be more interested in knowing how and when this all started. Did
> it run perfectly and then one day, bang, it wouldn't run right? Was
> it a gradual thing that got worse? Did you try to time it or give it
> a tune up and it hasn't run right since? Did it get hot? Any unusual
> noises? More information would aid in figuring out what was wrong.
>
> John Stricker
>
The guy I bought it from said it just died one day on the road, then would
crank but wouldn't start.
He took it to shop #1. They told it it had a bad "Neutral Safety Switch"
(yeah, I know, this is BS because a bad NSS won't let it even crank.) They
supposedly replaced the switch and then it would run, but not run right.
He then took it to shop #2. They say it has a bad ECM, and they replace
the
ECM for $400-something (Also BS, because an ECM is only $125 new at the
Pontiac dealer). Now with the new ECM It would start but dies after a few
seconds. It sits at shop #2 for a month, then they call him up and say,
"Come get it, we give up, forget the $400".
It sits in his yard for about 2 years, then he sells it to me for $350.
First thing I notice is, the ECM give code 52 - bad CALPAK. I open up the
ECM, it's not just a bad CalPak, it's a missing Calpak. Shop #2 apparently
never transfered it from the old ECM. No problem, new CalPak for $25 from
the Pontiac dealer. (Note to anyone: If you're ever in ****tland Oregon,
Breslin-Wallace Pontiac on Sandy Blvd are real good people, easy to deal
with and they stock a lot of these older parts)
Okay, now it'll start and stay running, but runs like sh*t. Exhaust reeks
of half-burnt gas. Spark plugs smell like raw gas and are jet black. Next
thing I notice is the distributor at TDC isn't pointing to #1 as marked on
the cap, it's pointing to #2, but if I assume that #2 is #1, then the
firing order is correct.
I pull out the distributor. Somebody's obviously had it out before,
they've
permatexed it rather than replacing the O-ring. I put it back so that at
10
BTDC the rotor is pointing at #1 as marked on the cap, and move the wires
to match.
Okay, now it starts and runs better. I jumper A-B on the ALDL connector
and
set the timing for right at 10 degrees. Then I pull off the jumper and all
is well. I've put maybe 100 miles on it over the weekend just testing it.
Sheesh. Amateurs.
What this seems to indicate, it really does care that you are using the
correct #1 pin on the distributor cap. Everything I THOUGHT I knew said
that it doesn't matter which pin is #1 as long as you have the firing
order
correct. But apparently it does.
|
