89v6firebird

Last week I took my 89 v6 firebird out twice, both times is was cold, 32 and lower. It gave me trouble starting at a wawa, then at a light it jut dies on me, and i fortunatley got it to start. I took it out yesterday, and it was warmer, like low 40,s maybe. didt give me any trouble at all. so only thing that changed was the weather, that must be it? or could it be a fuel pump, or injectors?

92-RS-V6

Hi

Cold shoudn't affect it too much. Have you checked all your plug leads are secure both ends (including the ignition wire), also when did you last have your fuel filter changed? Thirdly have you ever cleaned your IAC valve, if it gets clogged it can cause stalling.

Regards

Matthew

89v6firebird

Im not sure, how do i do check the plug leads? Idk when that last was, the guy who had it before me, mentioned something about cleaning out the fuel filtter, Is it hard to change one? (witout being to savvy with cars yet?) and whats the IAC valve? can i change that myself? Sorry bout all the questions, I love workiing on the car, im new to it all, so tryin to learn as much as i can. thanks, paul

92-RS-V6

The fuel filters are replaceable and a replacement will be fairly cheap (looking online between $2 and $15). Also it might be worth checking the condition of your air filter, if it dirty a replacement should cost about $5.

To check your spark plug leads, first check they are all secure on the distributor cap and plug leads, and that there is no corrosion or damage on the inside of the boots either end. Another good tip is to start your car at night and look for any blue flashing or arcing on the leads which will indicate they are faulty.

The IAC valve is located on the throttle body, opposite where the throttle cable pivots on it's arm and is held on by two screws with Torx (star shaped) heads. When you pull it out be gentle and try not to touch the actual insides too much but clean it with spray solvent.

If you do a search on here for TomP's major tuneup that lists all the things you can do to get your car running sweet and also I would definately invest in a Haynes manual.

All the best, Matthew

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Keep in mind our cars are old. Nowadays, there are technologies in place to prevent the fuel system from freezing up. I've been having the same problem because the fuel coming out of my injectors condenses and drips into the cylinder (way too freakin cold this winter), and the spark plug can't ignite almost raw (non-atomized) fuel. So I get stuck starting with some MAF cleaner...

89v6firebird

Thanks, really appreciate it.

89v6firebird

very true, My buddy said that it it might be from running the car at high RPM,s and then slowing down, so in that process that the fuel decreaes enough that it stops alltogether coming out of the injectors and stalls the car. if that concept makes any sense to you. Like i said it was when it was really cold both times, so, im sure that has alot of play in the matter, cause its cold as ***** this season.

Thanks for the feedback.

FireInMe17

Cold weather will definately affect our cars and every car to be honest. Your car will perform the best in the summer when its nice out and gradually as it gets colder the whole system will have to work harder to do the same job, gas mileage is dismal this time of year....

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Not if the engine has any reading on the coolant temp gauge, it won't. Once the coolant and engine bay temps come up, the point of cold fuel in the tank becomes moot, because the fuel warms as it gets passed into the rail through the lines running down the engine bay and across the front of the engine, and in the rail itself. Not to mention as its atomized in the manifold before it passes into the hot cylinder head and combustion chamber.

[QUOTE:]Your car will perform the best in the summer when its nice out and gradually as it gets colder the whole system will have to work harder to do the same job, gas mileage is dismal this time of year....[/QUOTE]

So not true. Ever notice how everyone is trying to get their air filters and intake air from outside the engine bay? How's about the guys at the drag strip icing down their intakes after a run? Colder air is more dense, which does require a bit more fuel, yes, but, the engine builds more power as a result and doesn't have to work quite as hard as it does during the summer, when the air is less dense. Most of the time, gas mileage is dismal during the winter because people are running their engines without driving to warm them up. Believe it or not, IIRC, I had more range during the cold weather than I do during the summer months (before my MAF crapped out). At least here in NY, the fuel is mixed differently in the winter than the summer, the summer mix being to decrease emissions and increase cost. While this is going on, mileage suffers.

92-RS-V6

"So not true. Ever notice how everyone is trying to get their air filters and intake air from outside the engine bay? How's about the guys at the drag strip icing down their intakes after a run? Colder air is more dense, which does require a bit more fuel, yes, but, the engine builds more power as a result and doesn't have to work quite as hard as it does during the summer, when the air is less dense."

Tell that to whoever had my car before me and ripped out the stock airbox and put a K & N immediately behind the radiator... mmm warm air

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

It may be warm air, but the reason those intake things are so popular is because they increase air flow into the engine over stock filters. There are a lot of guys on here trying to get their filters OUT of the engine bay (in front of the radiator, behind the front bumper, even in the fender, etc), and the Camaro's TPI air box makes just a bit more power the the Bird intake because of this (other than the fact that it's also ram air). Look at some of the REAL K&N kits... they have blanking plates and boxes to block the hot engine bay air from getting into the filter. That's also the purpose of those embarassingly tiny funnels you see on a lot of newer intakes that seem to run towards the headlights of a car and such...

Project 3.4 Camaro

Yeah, a cone air filter sucking down warm air still beats the hell out of a stock airbox, or at least if its not performance oriented, I put one directly on the throttle body of my buick, definitely better, granted cold air is more ideal, but meh, I'm not spending the dough to pipe in cold air on my buick century...

And engines definitely do in fact do better in cold weather than warm weather, although it is also harder to start them, and if you don't believe me go look at your "cold start valve" and contemplate why gm would put a 7th injector in your v6vengine...they also run rougher for first couple minutes of running.(I don't offhand know the exact cause/purpose) but I'm sure its temperature related, ever notice the engine is loud for a minute or two then goes down to normal loudness?

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

And my dumb a$$ sent my 2.8 fuel rail with CSI connection to the recycler because I needed the money... I have the injector, but nothing to hook it to, and this winter is killing my battery...

Project 3.4 Camaro

Heh, I take it you were planning the hybrid at the time? And my buick's battery died one day...was super awesome cause the day before that my hood release cable snapped.....next day go to start my car to go to work...3 cranks and then nothing....had to get it towed, $300 total.....that could've bought my camaro pushrods, all the upper gaskets(not including HGs, I have those) and two K&Ns

Oh and I'm not going to drive my Camaro in the winter, so thats a non issue, I'm going to do the throttle body coolant bypass, and run without a t-stat, should help offset the gaping hole my ram air will put in the airdam, I'm actually thinking about making an X pipe for that somehow so I can keep the interference to a minimum by only putting one hole in it.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

Nope. My bank account was in the red and my tuition payment was due the following week... I needed something like $25 to get back into the black, and I had a bunch of aluminum (including my busted 2.8 plenum and another 3.1 fuel rail) along with 2 batteries to recycle, so I just tossed my 2.8 fuel rail in there and called it a day. I didn't have any problems last winter, except maybe because the 3.4 fuel injectors I had on the rail at that time lost fuel pressure somehow. I wonder if the 3100 fuel injectors (same as the 3.4 set but hopefully don't leak) would help cold starts... Hm...

I have to drive mine during the winter. Heck, I bought it during the winter. I did the TB coolant bypass four years ago now.

That sucks about the Buick. Those hoods are terrible (had to work on a Cutlass Ciera and a Century in school). I've been there with the broken hood release... My GP has a broken interior hood release AND a frozen hood latch when I bought it... Took me 2 HOURS to get that hood open.

Project 3.4 Camaro

Heh, I would've gotten a die grinder and went to town if I had to deal with that :P I'm surprised you have 3.4 injectors? On mostly stock 2.8/3.1? if so did you have to tune it? and are we talking about 3400 or RWD 3.4 injectors? I know 3400s are 22.5 #/hrs Idk what the 3.4 uses though.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

3.4 (as in Camaro 3.4) and 3100 fuel injectors have the same part number... They are all 18.4 lb/hr injectors. I didn't know it until I got them installed and wondered why the ECM kept throwing a code 45 (until my MAF went bad AGAIN). I haven't run them since I found out they were leaking last spring. Bought them from an eBay auction that said they came from a 3.1... Didn't know the guy meant 94+ 3.1, though.

:edit: No, they didn't require tuning, BTW. Just sucked because it took so long to start the engine with the loss of fuel pressure, and they kept throwing the code. Didn't notice much of a loss in mileage or anything, either.