Well, got a call from the shop that had my 57 saying they were working on it and asked what was wrong with it....again. Yeah it was on of those shops.....lol...but it was ok, I have moded the heck out of the car. Anyways, after that call they called back (because I told them to call me after they hooked it up to the computer and before they touched her) an said that there was a couple of issues but nothing major. First was the starting issue, they said that they had plenty of fuel pressure but the pressure would bleed out of the TBI when the motor was shut off. They clamped the return line to test and said the problem was the pressure regulator in the TBI's return side. Any thoughts on that one? Need to research if they are made to do that or if the pressure regulator has gone bad and needs replaced.
Next was a timing issue. This is were it gets funny in a weird way. They said the ECM aka computer (kept calling it a PCM but it is a ECM) was not advancing the timing. Of course I started diagnosing things in my head....was the knock sensor bad or the ESC bad. And finally they said the IAC valve was not adjusting the idle. I figured that mabe the timing problem and the IAC was related.
So I left work early to go get my car as I could figure the rest out as long as I saw the data they had. Got there started checking everything. The computer guy came out, we started talking, he didn't know what I wanted fixed. Aaaaaaaaa maybe the starting issue and the idling issue? Ya think....duh. Anyway he explained the timing issue and grabbed his hand held computer and a timing light. Hooked the computer up started the car up (which ran alot better) and said the temp sensor isn't even reading. I reached down and snapped it back on and said of course not, it wasn't hooked up. Of course he got defensive about it. I told him to calm down and fix my car (but nicer than that). I checked the IAC counts on the computer and they were at 35 which is normal. We moved on to the timing. He said the car was only advancing to 14 degrees at idle. I of course said that is not the correct timing, it should 20+ at idle. I asked if he disconnected the bypass to set the timing and he said he did. He grabbed the timing light and since I was already checking sensors and was dirty, asked if I would disconnect the bypass and pointed down towards my passenger side transmission area. I go .....huh?....that's not were the bypass is. The bypass disconnect is connected to the distributor and is directly behind it? He goes.."Oh, it's not that single brown wire down there?" Uhhhh, no, that's a purple wire that goes to my O2 sensor. Geeze, sometimes you wonder but since it was a custom install I let it go. I disconnected the wire while the car was running and it was rather smooth running but after we put the timing light on it ended up being about 4 degree retarded, which was odd. I broke the bolt lose on the distributor and we adjusted it back to 2 degrees advanced. It's suppose to be 0 but most people turn it to 4 advanced to get better performance from the motor. Tightened everything down and it was idling about 975 and it should be around 700 on a warmed engine. So he said to adjust the throttle stop and handed me a screw driver. Ok, and I started turning it and it wasn't backing down so I kept adjusting it and realized it needed opened so it could come back down. Ended up that it was adjusted to far down so it idled too low but was smooth as a babies butt.
So, in the end, I was able to verify that the IAC is working but it is going to be replaced with a GM IAC as I don't trust the one I put in there and it wasn't operating consistanly, at one point it was at 65 counts at idle. It's getting a new one so it doesn't matter. I'll replace the pressure regulator in the TBI unit and adjust the throttle stop on the TBI back to were it was.
I paid the guys the $79 for hooking it up to the computer and jumped in it and fired it up. That's how I found out the throttle stop was too far away, it didn't want to stay running when I put it in drive and I could barely hear the car running.
She drove great going home, except for dieing when I came to a stop unless i barely cracked the throttle. The car has PLENTY of power and just cruises without sweating. A few things I want to adjust and check on - ps steering seems to hang slightly at a certain point when turning, I feel a slight vibration sometimes but think it's in the wheels, the alignment is out a little so i get some squalling, seat is too close to the dash, the hood is up a little on the driver side front. Other than that it was a good 20 mile ride and the motor felt great and the tranny shifted well. I sure need to fix that speedo, looking down and seeing your going 90 when you know you are not going that fast can be a little freaky. I wouldn't trade a carb for my fuel injection and am glad it is running as smooth as it is, not a miss to be found. Now I can drive her....woooohooo.
Josh
:congrats:
