Okay it happened fuel pump died, is there anyway I can do the trapdoor mod w/o dropping the tank, the car is at wal-mart and I can't afford to have it towed right now. This just hit me out of the blue and I didn't budget for all of this so i'm trying to do it w/o taking it into a shop. Thanks for the help guys I appreciate it.

 

Get it towed home, and do it the right way. It is really not that hard, and the pump itself is cheap....

Way easier than unncessarily hacking your car up.

 

Okay I got her towed this morning 49 bucks but at least she's home. And since it was home I was able to make a more accurate diagnostic checked for Codes and to my surprise there wasn't any which leads me to the conclusion that it's not the pump but is more than likely the Fuel Filter. Which makes me feel much better. Right now i'm letting the car cool down before I depressurize the system and swap the filter. That should cure it up but if it doesn't looks like it gets to go to the shop

 

Changed Fuel Filter still no dice, she fires up and will run for a few minutes normally but then will idle erraticly and act like it's not getting enough fuel. Took it on back streets by my house at WOT it was barely moving acted like it totally lost power, at half throttle she was okay a noticable but minimal loss of power. What else could this be I checked for codes today and didn't get anything but a code 12. If I can't figure this out soon she's going to have to go to the shop.

 

Fuel pump. My TPI has a part throttle misfire, and tested ok fuel pressure. Bad fuel pump.

Test test test. If you take it to a shop, use someone you know!

 

Get a fuel pressure tester. See if it gets to around 45 psi. Maybe you ahve a bad FPR and it is letting all the fuel back to the tank. You'd have to see if the FPR holds fuel pressure after the car is shut down and for how long. If it won't get up even, crimp off the return line and see if it does. If so, your FPR might be shot.

 

If it is a FPR how much is that going to run me?

 

Under $100

 

You need a "TBI fuel pressure tester" to check the fuel pressure since TBI cars have no Shraeder (spelling?) valve in the fuel system. The fuel pressure should be between 9-13 PSI.

 

hmmmmmmmm I thought 45psi was a little too high lol. But it's going to a shop tomorrow. They can do more with it than I can and will probably fix it w/o breaking something else, which is what i'd end up doing. Probably be a good learning experience for me since i'm wanting to go to college next fall for Auto Mechanics. But right now I simply don't have the time to mess with it. Thanks for all the advice and help as always it's appreciated. I'll let you know what they find.

 

It turns out that I had a bad PROM and that the computer in my car isn't stock it came out of a Caprice which was designed to run a 4.3L V6. I'm not happy about this i'd love to find the previous owner and just kick his ***. Appearently they got it running right though, how hard is it to change out the computers b/c i'm going to find one for a Camaro or even better a Corvette. Any ideas and help is always appreciated thanks.

 

How about getting the right EPROM for the right car. If you get a Vette one, it will have more input than the TBI car and might not work either. I don't believe Vettes were TBI, were they?

 

All depends the early 80's Vettes used Crossfire Fuel Injection which if I remember right was two TBI Units. But i'm thinking about doing either an L98 or LT1 Swap later on this year. I think i'll go L98 just b/c it's less of a headache. But either way any ideas on where to get a good computer?

 

I have a ECM for a 91 Firebird.

 

is the ECM programmed to run an L03 or an L98?