OK the stumbling untin 2000 RPM's is still there (and getting worse) and tonight i noticed something interesting...as the car runs it has a almost miss where sounds for a split second the car isnt running. My electrical cut off four times on the way home (3 mile trip!) cd player went off radar detector shut off and rebooted on...What the heck is going on? i think this electrical problem is linked to the stumble somehow. The headlights flicker the whole time when NO other electrical source is on. they flicker and then go out at the split second where the "miss" is! HELP! my car needs to get me back to school sunday night!!!

BTW its a 94 Z28 A4. New plugs wires o2's etc....HELP!!!

 

Battery cable on tight? Did the car die when everything shut off for a split second?

 

Do you have a mutilmeter? Make sure you have good battery cable connections.

 

The engine did cut off for a split second then continued running i believe..it was REAL weird! Batt cables are on tight!

 

OK. An update...
I went out there and tried to test the EGR....first off the car wouldnt start unless i held down the gas pedal....then it ran ok once it got goin. I pressed the diaphragm. Is it metal? cause the thing would NOT budge at all! I am like 90% sure i was pressing in the correct spot and if so WOW its messed up! cause it the diaphragm doesnt move AT ALL!!! Also my tach gauge fluctuates about 2-300 RPM's while at idle. Come on guys i need help fast!!!


**Also the car has been running ALOT hotter than usual not above 210 but normally she ran ~180**

 

Wow I feel like im talking to myself anymore on this site! come on gimme something, i mean jeeze! For the last time...BUMP!!!

 

lol....COME on!!! this thing is runnin like crap and noone has ANY input? this is USELESS! its to the point where the car will be up for sale for another moron to buy a LT1 and have theses never ending problems...I am done i have spent the past 3 weekends trying to have a safe and reliable vehicle but at his point my chevelle has far surpassed this POS 4th gen in the reliability part and that car isnt even officially done and put together. 60,000 miles of nothing but problems and headaches these vehicles are TRASH my 79 granada never let me down once and that thing was absolute JUNK i would trust that thing far more than this supposedly "user friendly" computer controlled vehicle. I am sick of not being able to fix these problems because of the PCM and ill be damned if i spend another friggen dollar on this car. If i had my way and NJ wasnt such a **** hole where emissions are strictly enforced this LT1 would have been a lawn ornament LONG ago as along with that 4l60Sh*t and in its place would be a carbed small block. No problems cause it would get me from Pt. A to Pt. B withoout me worrying where i will be able to pull over once this thing craps out on me. It would be a HELL of alot quicker since i didnt have to spend 3 times the $$ to make it run decent and keep it in shape. As far as i care that friggen car could burn to the ground and i would not care...i would probably roast marshmellows over its burning carcas sit back and warm myself up. Not to forget to take a pic and blow it up 20x its size and post it in my garage and smirk at it every time i get in the chevelle and it starts RIGHT up no problems. I have exhausted my bank account that i have saved up for years to build myself a 60's Chevy II....now i have the car but no more money cause the 4th gen sucked it all up faster than i think bill gates could have replenished it....so as for now to everyone who has helped me with this car...i want to say THANKS You are awesome. and as for the rest of you i feel sympathy and hope you do not have to deal with the same BS. And if you do you will know how i feel at this moment...sick to my stomache. Good luck, and yeah I am an As*hole for complaining but i have bigger and better things to do with my life rather than work on this sh*t box. I give up!

 

Do you still want help or did you torch the thing already?

 

oh geeze id love help! any ideas?

 

Sounds like you’ve got a couple of problems. The first thing to locate is the electrical short. You must have either a bad alternator or a large wire shorting that’s causing the electrical cut out. There aren’t too many wires that don’t have fuses on them. You need to look at the positive battery cable, the large wire from the alternator to the battery and the connection to and from the junction blocks on the passenger side fender well. One of these wires is intermittently shorting out and pulling down the 12 volts. The car will run with the battery disconnected in the alternator is ok. I think this miss is related to the loss of 12 volts through out the electrical system. If you put a multimeter between the positive battery terminal and ground you can probably see the fluctuation.
The best way I’ve found to check an egr valve is to apply vacuum to the valve with the car idling. If its not stuck and it opens from the vacuum the will be a noticeable change in the idle (worse). If there is no change the valve is either stuck open or closed. If the valve seems ok plug the vacuum line to the valve and drive the car without egr and see if it makes any difference good luck
Bob

 

OK well i did disconnect the egr and plug the vacuum line...no change...with the vehicle running we put the meter on the battery....it read at 13.5 volts...so i dont know there was no fluctuation in that number. I noticed that the lights only dim with the miss so I am imagining that a if my opti is bad it may be sucking juice from the electrical system as it runs...so i ordered a new opti last night i will be getting it today. It will go on saturday as well as trying to find out why my car smells like oil, i looked last night and theres moisture on the front of the block. Both the oil smell and the miss happened the same day so i am wondering if i have an oil leak on the fron of the block which leaked down into the opti. The stumble is getting worse and worse as time progresses. I believe its most likely the opti...i mean it has all the tell tale signs. I was also told by a buddy that i should have my computer checked out...maybe thats on the fritz now. Ill just have to send it out and get it tuned the right way! Im still open to more ideas guys! Thanks biobob for the ideas!

Jon

 

I replaced the Opti this weekend...No more stumble no more electrical problems, NOTHING, just my good ole car back...PLUS some.... Its amazing what a good opti will do for ya! I know the power is back to normal and above that and i havent even gotten into the motor at all...just tryin to make sure all gaskets and hoses are on OK before i take the motor up high in the RPM band....Thanks to all and sorry about all that junk i posted previously. I think i will be keeping the car!