Need help with 1987 5.0 in Town Car

[GM_Guy]

And I quote: "They was no 350 in an '83 chevy truck." Uhmn, whats that out front then?

Alex.

[86VickyLX]

They was no 350, where the hell did you go? LOL

[gadget73]

"that thing didn't come with a 5.8, you're thinking 3.8. it came with a 3.8 or 5.0 if it was LX"
This AFTER I specified "full size" repeatedly, and pointing to the car parked out front. Parts store goons are ridiculous sometimes.

I remember fetching parts for a brake job Scott was doing on an 85 Vic. Twice we ended up with the wrong pads and calipers until I had them look up an 85 LTD with a 3.8. They had the mid size and full size mixed up in the computer, the listing for the full size Vic gave us Fox parts, and the listing for the mid-size LTD gave us Panther parts.

[jubylives]

Pulled the vacuum line of the map sensor and she almost died right away. Gonna start by replacing the ICm to see what happens and the temp sensor. Was thinking of the EGR position sensor too. Pretty cheap.

I called Oriellys and asked about the EGR. He told me they could order it but it came as a unit. The valve and the sensor. Then when I was in again later and asked another dude he said I could buy them seperately. I ask to see and there was the pics. Isn't dealing with a broke car frustrating enough to have to deal with this too? lol

[91waggin]

And I quote: "They was no 350 in an '83 chevy truck." Uhmn, whats that out front then?

Alex.

Wait.......that's like THE engine for 80's chevy pickups, right???

[jubylives]

Ok I bought a new ICM and there was no change. Gotta wait for more funds to buy more parts. I did do some goofing around with the sensors. Here's what I did and the results. Maybe there is a clue in there.

Car running:
Unplugged MAP vacuum hose. Car died almost right away.
Unplugged the TPS (new) nothing happened until I moved the throttle. Ran like ass. till I plugged it back in.
Unplugged the EGR sensor plug and vacuum. Nothing happped
Unplugged the EGR solenoid. Nothing happened.
Unpluggd the temp sensor the one with two wires nothing. But I had it unplugged when I shut the car off then restarted it and it ran rough til I plugged it back in.
Unplugged the IAC and it ran rough.

Anything here stand out?

[gstak07]

I'm leaning more towards the rubber vacuum hoses going from the MAP sensor to the intake. And the vacuum hose that's running from the front of the intake to the purge solenoid. I would suggest you to take the upper intake plenum off and inspect those hoses to make sure they are not collapsed on one side or the other, and if so your problem was really just a $2 dollar fix. 2 more cents.

[gadget73]

the various plug/unplug stuff does about what I'd expect it to do. EGR does nothing at idle, so nothing should change there. IAC (ICM, whatever) should make the idle drop way down or possibly stall.

What kind of IAC did you buy? I recently helped with a car that had a brand new one that didn't work right out of the box. We replaced it with a used old Motorcraft one and the problem went away.

[marquisman]

shouldent the engine RPM increase when you unplug the TPS at idle?

[91waggin]

No. When you unplug it it doesn't see a change until you open the throttle, adding more air and fucking the mixture up because the computer doesn't know you opened the throttle.

[jubylives]

I haven't changed out the IAC yet just the TPS, PCV valve and the ICM so far. Oh and the MAP sensor. Forgot that. I am so at a loss at what to do next. I figured I'd just star replacing stuff till it runs right.

[deadly_nightshade]

i am guessing only that maybe the IAC is in need of cleaning and possibly the TFI located on the distributor is acting up...

[jubylives]

I did take it off and clean it up. It moves freely but if the sensor solenois thing is bad then that wouldn't help i guess.

[jubylives]

Ok now my problem just got worse. My dad has been involved as he owns part of the car. When I bought the car a couple years ago he really liked it and want to go in halves with me. So he gave me half what I paid for it as it needed alot of work. So he has been involved this whole time. Now I told him the ignition module needed replaced as that was our next step. I told him to not pull the distributor as all he needed to do was turn it to get the module off.

Well me being the dumbass kid and having no clue he figured the problemwas the pick up coil. So he pulled the distributor replaced the module and ut it back in. He never touched the pickup coil as he realized how difficult the job would be. So of course he didn't follow the marks I had previously marked onit and figured he needed to reset the timing. God I told him not to do any of this but now the timing is jacked.

To save the life of my old man how do I fix this? First I'mgiving him his friking half of the car then try getting this to work again. Any ideas fella?

[91waggin]

Um. Reset the timing. With a $10 Harbor Freight timing light. Very easy.
1. Make sure the distributor isn't installed 180 Degrees out.
2. Attach timing light to #1 spark plug wire
3. Put a chalk mark on the 10* BTDC mark on the harmonic balancer
4. Remove the SPOUT connector (it's a shorting bar on two wires right by the distributor)
5. Loosen the distributor hold-down bolt
6. Start the engine
7. Aim the timing light at the harmonic balancer, and rotate the distributor until the chalk mark lines up with the timing pointer on the balancer.
8. Shut the engine off and tighten the distributor hold-down bolt
9. Replace the SPOUT connector.