sobo

Hi Guys,
I have a 87 iroc with a 305 that has some high miles. The car's been running really well until recently. From a dead stop it sputters on throttle. Sometimes it will take off ok and sometimes I really have to feather the throttle to get it going. It has an auto trans. I've replace the fuel filter, and changed from 89 to 91 thinking that that may be the problem, but it didn't help.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Sobo

AutoRoc

Check the MAss Air Flow sensor...It's in front of the throttle body. The little wire inside it might be broken...It should look like a light bulb filament, stretched tight. If this is broke, the car runs crappy...

sobo

Thanks for the reply.
I had it replaced about 2 years ago and it was pricey! The car would not start at that time. I hope that's not the case again. Do these break often?
Sobo

sobo

Let me also provide a little more info in case I should look for something in addition to the MAF sensor.
In the mornings the car starts fine and runs good. If I stop for 15 or so minutes it will fire up ok and run ok. If I stop for a longer amount of time the car takes around 3 cranks to get it started, and then it will low idle bogg for a couple of seconds before idling up properly. This is in addition to it taking off poorly from a stop.
Maybe this could help a little more? I'm not getting any codes.
Sobo

AutoRoc

I can't help much now that I think about it. I spent MONTHS trying to find my TPI engine problems and finally threw a carb on it...no joke. Headaches...gone.

sobo

Well, you pointed me to the MAF so I thank you for that. I'll give it a look in the morning.
Thanks again.

wild28

Check idle air control valve and adjust the TPS. Mine did the exact same thing and that was the problem for me.

freethrowchamp

my car was running like crap. i got to looking and it turned out the throttle body elbow was cracked all to hell. its just the rubber 90 right in front of the throttle body

ws6transam

It could be ignition related, with a corroded ground to the coil, or even a poor rotor & cap. It could be the IAC needs cleaning and is getting stuck, leading to lean-running conditions. It could be MAF, it could be a bad coolant sensor, or a flaky throttle position sensor. It could be a vacuum leak.

sobo

Started to tinker with my IAC and I think it may be sticking. What do you recommend for a lube on this?
Thanks

86camaro383

Take it off and clean it. Get a small screw driver and scrap the carbon out of it. Then get come thottle body cleaner and soak that in there to get the rest of it.

sobo

How much of it do I soak? Do I submerge the entire IAC in the cleaner?
Thanks again.

sobo

Guys I have another question.
I'm got a code 44 reading lean exhaust. Fuel pressure seems good. Could it be water in the gas? It happened right after filling up at shell. Also, the car runs ok until it gets up to temp.
Thanks

chevynutman

could be the coolant temp sensor in front of intake it does cause lean code not sure about sputtering though but it does control computer

sobo

Ok,
New iac, cleaned maf, now here's what we have. I hop in it and it runs great, tachs high for maybe 3 minutes or so. At this time I really have to feather the throttle to get it going until it catches and gains speed. I can no longer get on it, if I do, the rpms go way down and I get nothing until I feather it again. No codes.
Any ideas on this?
Could I have water in the tank? I ran some redline additive in it but I don't think it helped.