I have a 1995 Camaro v6 3.4 liter.

Lately I havent been able to stop(meaning take my foot off of the gas) without stalling almost immidietly. I have to either press my foot on the gas or prime it up first for it to even start. Once started I may be able to let the engine idle, but the tachometer jumps between 500-1000 rpms very quickly, and after about ten seconds shuts off. This is the only time I can idle without stalling. Even when driving, taking my foot off the gas at any speed less than about 45mph, will cause the car to stall. Also, I can feel a slight pulsing of the engine when driving, almost like the car wants to die, but theres no change in the tach guage. This "pulsing" becomes worse when going uphill. I ussually remedy this by pressing down harder on the gas (it alliviates the pulsing)

Its alot worse isn the morning(weather here has low temps of about 30, highs of 50) but on the ride home from work the problem is just a bit more mild but by all means still there. I run the car on 10w-40 oil. The manual says it runs best on SAE 30 but I can never find that grade.

I have developed a complex methed of driving trying to get to work everyday, in order to stop or slow down, I must first switch the car into nuetral(its an auotomatic) than keep my right foot on the gas, and brake with my left foot! Its quite a pain.

today I replaced the fuel filter with little or no improvement.

I was thinking maybe I could adjust the idle air control(is that the same as the idle air control VALVE)? How would I do this?

Any other suggestions?

 

The idle air is controlled by the PCM. A scan will tell you if the valve is responding correctly to the low idle. If its opening up, as indicated by the PCM scan "counts", and the idle is not increasing, the valve may be faulty or the passage plugged up. The idle air system usually increases flow when the vehicle is moving, to prevent stalling when the throttle closes. Sounds like the IAC system is not responding correctly.

It sounds like you have a serious misfire. Could that possibly what you call "pulsing" under load?

The factory recommended oil for the 3.4L V6 is SAE 5W-30. That is a multi-viscosity oil that thins out for good circulation at cold start. I've neve seen a recommendation of straight SAE 30 for that engine, or for any modern engine. The poor cold circulation of a 30-weight oil would cause extreme cold start engine wear, and that's when most of the engine wear occurs. The Owners Manual allow 10W-30 for climates where the ambient temp does not go below 0*F. It cautions not to use 10W-40, 20W-50, oil additives, etc. But that's not the cause of your problem.

 

so the suggestion is to scan and/or replace the IAC then? I will work on this. As I was scanning through the Haynes manuel, I noticed that there was some sort of air filter for this i think, and by my count should have been replaced a long long time ago. I will look into that too.

Interesting note on the oil grades. thanks.

 

accually I repalced the fuel filter and air filter(bothwere really bad) and the car is almost back where it was. You can tell the problem still exists but it is in decent driving shape now.

by the way, the haynes manuel DOES reccomend SAE 30 for tempurtures between 70 and 100. It also says that 5w-30 is preffered though

 

But what does your GM OWNER's Manual recommend? What does it say on your oil fill cap? If you don't have a manual, read it here:

http://shbox.com/pdf/manuals.html