No Power at WOT
#1
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
No Power at WOT
I replaced the fuel injectors and fuel filter in my 1988 2.8 Firebird this weekend. This made my car run much better than it ever has since I've owned it. Throttle response is much crisper and idle is significantly smoother.
On the way to work this morning, however, I noticed a problem. At WOT when merging onto the highway, the RPMs got to ~4500 and then the engine just seemed to totally lose all power very abruptly. I let off the throttle a little and suddenly the RPMs began to climb normally again. I was able to recreate this problem every time that I tried WOT.
I'm thinking it's either an issue with the new injectors (which would be weird since they seem perfect except at WOT) or possibly some vacuum issue caused by removing/reinstalling the intake in the process of installing the new injectors. Any ideas?
On the way to work this morning, however, I noticed a problem. At WOT when merging onto the highway, the RPMs got to ~4500 and then the engine just seemed to totally lose all power very abruptly. I let off the throttle a little and suddenly the RPMs began to climb normally again. I was able to recreate this problem every time that I tried WOT.
I'm thinking it's either an issue with the new injectors (which would be weird since they seem perfect except at WOT) or possibly some vacuum issue caused by removing/reinstalling the intake in the process of installing the new injectors. Any ideas?
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Car: 1990 Camaro RS
Engine: 355 Vortec TPI LT4 Hotcam
Transmission: TH700-R4
Axle/Gears: 3.23
Re: No Power at WOT
Did you replace the 0-rings around the injectors? It doesn't really make sense that it idles fine if you don't have them in place but if your worried about a vacuum leak it would be work checking. Is the idle speed correct? If the idle is a little faster than it was before then you could very well have a leak somewhere.
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Re: No Power at WOT
Thanks for the reply. I bought remanufactured injectors that had new o-rings installed on them already. The idle speed does seem slightly higher than it was previous to installing the new injectors, but I just attributed that to the engine running better now.
#4
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Car: 89 RS 89 iroc 87 firebird
Engine: 3.1 Turbo/ 355 twin turbo
Transmission: a4 w/ 4500 stall/ a4 / t5
Axle/Gears: strange s60 /w 3:42's
Re: No Power at WOT
back in the day i had a similar issue, car ra great all around except at wot once the rpms started to climb. i had no check engine light or codes stored.i had istalled an afr gauge and thats how i found my issue. turns out the motor was going dead lean under wot.
the issue was a bad maf sensor.
so it could be something to look into, just dont run out and buy one though as i belive they are around 80-100$'s and it be stupid to just throw that much money at it to see if thats the issue.
for now i would check voltage at the tps sensor, check the o2 sensor, and check for vacum leaks though if u had a leak bad enough tom ake it run crappy at wot the thing would idle really bad as well
the issue was a bad maf sensor.
so it could be something to look into, just dont run out and buy one though as i belive they are around 80-100$'s and it be stupid to just throw that much money at it to see if thats the issue.
for now i would check voltage at the tps sensor, check the o2 sensor, and check for vacum leaks though if u had a leak bad enough tom ake it run crappy at wot the thing would idle really bad as well
#5
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Re: No Power at WOT
Very interesting. I will definitely check those sensors tonight when I get home. I thought the MAF sensor was a possibility, but I thought it was too much of a coincidence for something like that to die exactly when I decided to replace the injectors. You may be on to something though. I think I actually have a spare MAF from my Camaro I could try on the 'Bird tonight.
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Re: No Power at WOT
I didn't find any problems with any of those sensors. I even swapped in a different MAF that I know is good, and the issue was not resolved. I think I blame it on faulty injector(s). I got a different set that I am going to put in this weekend. Hopefully this fixes the problem.
One thing I did notice while I was messing around with the two MAFs was that the issue didn't seem to occur (at least not as noticeably) with the MAF connector unplugged. Is this because the engine/computer goes into some sort of 'non-performance' mode with no MAF detected?
One thing I did notice while I was messing around with the two MAFs was that the issue didn't seem to occur (at least not as noticeably) with the MAF connector unplugged. Is this because the engine/computer goes into some sort of 'non-performance' mode with no MAF detected?
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Re: No Power at WOT
The other thing I forgot to mention is that while doing some research on this problem, I found out that the refurb injectors that I put in were actually 17lb injectors instead of the 15lbs that the 2.8 originally had. While I'm sure this isn't helping engine performance, I would have expected a 'rich' indication from the O2 sensor, not the problem I am currently experiencing.
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Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
Re: No Power at WOT
I didn't find any problems with any of those sensors. I even swapped in a different MAF that I know is good, and the issue was not resolved. I think I blame it on faulty injector(s). I got a different set that I am going to put in this weekend. Hopefully this fixes the problem.
One thing I did notice while I was messing around with the two MAFs was that the issue didn't seem to occur (at least not as noticeably) with the MAF connector unplugged. Is this because the engine/computer goes into some sort of 'non-performance' mode with no MAF detected?
One thing I did notice while I was messing around with the two MAFs was that the issue didn't seem to occur (at least not as noticeably) with the MAF connector unplugged. Is this because the engine/computer goes into some sort of 'non-performance' mode with no MAF detected?
(And yes, with MAF unhooked, the computer goes into limp-home mode, and uses a default value for the incoming air flow.)
[edit] Oh almost forgot; you asked about 15lb vs 17lb, the computer can compensate for it; it just adjusts the time the injectors are open for. I have 3.1 injectors in my 2.8 and pass the NJ smog tests no problem (even the old dyno tests).
Last edited by TomP; 10-28-2010 at 02:04 PM. Reason: injector info
#9
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Car: 1989 Camaro RS, 1988 Firebird
Engine: 2.8L
Re: No Power at WOT
Just an update:
This weekend, I swapped in a new (reconditioned) set of injectors, and a new fuel pressure regulator since I already had the intake apart. This combination of parts fixed the problem completely. The 'bird is back.
Thanks for all replies!
This weekend, I swapped in a new (reconditioned) set of injectors, and a new fuel pressure regulator since I already had the intake apart. This combination of parts fixed the problem completely. The 'bird is back.
Thanks for all replies!
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