Just to verify before I spend any money.

[BMR]

Car had been inoperable since probably the 90s. I built the engine and it runs now. But not well. It wants to cut out like turning the switch off and back on at idle and low rpm. Throttle blade set, tps set. It will idle and randomly cut out and die. Cruises fine, runs okay in boost.

Bang on or unplug mass air, no effect. Wiggle wires to crank sensor, no effect. Pull chip, idles perfect. Never cuts out or misses.

Is the chip the cause? It is a dinosaur "street lethal" chip, and I know it needs changed, but I want this cutting out fixed more than I care about the chip technology.

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

Pull chip, idles perfect. Never cuts out or misses.

Sounds like that is your problem , need a modern TT chip and be done with all the craziness .

 

[mikes86ttop]

What maf?

 

[BMR]

What maf?

Stocker. Appears to be original.

 

[BMR]

Maybe not original...has a BW sticker on the bottom. And its beyond filthy sprayed it out good with brake cleaner, and it still runs the same.

 

[turbotroy]

If you don't want to spend any money, you need another car to swap parts around on. If you don't, I would at least get a lt1 maf and translator, and a TT chip.

 

[jasjamz]

Do you have a Scanmaster or a scan tool?

 

[BMR]

No to the scan tools. I just went and pilfered a known good maf off of an 87 fwd 3.8. It fired right up and ran stupid rich, but never missed a beat.

 

[achalmersman]

I wouldn't use brake cleaner on a MAF. Can leave a residue. There is specific MAF cleaner you should be able to find at Napa. It may be the same as electrical contact cleaner but I'm not sure.

 

[TurboTnZ06]

These cars are very electrical. There is a reason I have a spare everything of sensors, modules, ecms, chips etc. The upside is they are fairly simple. Check out vortex buicks site for troubleshooting info. http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/basics.htm

 

[BMR]

I grabbed a reman maf at the local parts house today. The wot seems better, but the idle cut off was the same. I checked everything over again and it all seemed good. I went back to fiddle with the chip again. I found the chip itself was not seated properly. The plastic holder was,but the chip was not. So i got that dealt with and it acts WAY better now. Its starting to come around finally.

 

[V6sleeper]

Scanmaster is a must 1st...

 

[jasjamz]

Get that Scanmaster. You need to see the readings to tell you things about the car. Feeling better is good. They feel great right before something breaks too.

 

[BMR]

I know all about breaking things. I would wager that I have broken more parts than 99% of this board.

Anyway I finally got this thing to idle. Somehow, even though I double checked when I assembled the motor, I had the cam sensor 180° out. I got that fixed and tossed a new set of YR5 plugs in it and now its drivable. I had an old set of R5674-8s in it I had used years ago when my turbo SBC had iron heads.