since most idles are the same ...my camaro chokes really badly if you let it idle like every 20-30 seconds it smoothers itself ...im missing a bracket that im replacing tomorrow but i doubt that could be the problem ...should i just replace everything like the air filters and clean out the air intake?

oh and the other thing is ...the stupidest question ever well two of them

would bad oil make her run like that and would adding the rest of the exhaust ...theres like a 1/4th inch difference and i called the guy up who i bought it from and he says well your making the tailpipes smaller so the exhaust wont get out as good ..is this true? ...the tailpipes pretty much finish off taking it out of the car

What you're descibing is known as loading up. What kind of carb is on your car? On a Holley, if the power valves get blown, this can happen. Floats being set too high or a leaky needle and seat also can cause it. If the choke pull-off has ruptured it can prevent the choke from opening up properly once the engine is running. Have you ever had a back fire through the carb?

No on the oil, and no on the exhaust affecting the idle. If this thing is stock with a TPI intake, it sounds like your Idle Air Controller (IAC) is the problem.

hrm yes eric that could be my issue ...how would i go about fixing this problem and where is it located ? ...and yes its TPI intake

Steve -

Truns out your car may not have an IAC, because your TPI (85 to 89) uses a Mass Air Flow (MAF) system, as opposed to a speed density system that does use an IAC. Just so you have a little background, here's a good article on fuel injection:

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/24549/

Sound like you need to go get the Haynes (or equivalent) manual that covers your car, and go through the fuel injection and troubleshooting sections. I'm not a fuel injection expert by any means.

TPI uses an IAC. Its located front of intake plenum on the throttle plate underneath the heater hose. IAC has a 4-wire connector going to it.

EGR valve is located underneath plenum in the rear of intake right in front of distributor. One can reach in with a forefinger and lift the diaphram to see/hear the results. If the engine dies, then EGR is seating good. EGR also has an exhaust temperature probe mounted to it. Usually they are broken also.

A quick check of the idle system is to start the engine cold, as in leave it sit overnight.

Insert ign key and turn to START. Engine should fire up in approx 3 seconds and high idle (1400-1800) for at least 8 seconds. This is how long the Start injector stays on, its located between cyl's 3 & 5. Then after approx 8-10 seconds, engine idle might decrease to 1000-1200 rpm. Now is controlled by IAC.

After engine warms up, any load placed on engine, A/C, lights, or power steering, ETC., idle speed will kick up appropriately, 700-850, depending on base idle setting and initial timing.

hrmm everett everything you said besides the engine idle might decrease to 100-1200 rpms is wrong ... when i cold start it it goes up to 1500 rpms and sits ...for about a good 8-10 seconds and falls straight down to about 700 and normally it sticks but sometimes when its first started it flucutates between 700-500 rpms ...i dont know why im thinkin the IAC needs to be cleaned

Yours acts the same way mine did. I advanced the initial timing alittle and it ran well @900 rpm.

Adjusted it by ear, not with timing light.

I'd check silly things like plugs n wires vefore tearing up the efi. Run t iming light down all 8 plug wires, make sure you got a steady flash flash on all. chenge the plugs if you haven't all ready. Perhaps give the distributor a LITTLE twist and see how that helps.

The iac is an alluminum cylynder, about 1" in diameter and 1" deep, with an electrical connector, and 2 mounting ears with phillips screws. It's somewhere on the throttle body. It's not hard to take it off and clean it out. It's been my experience that this will temporarily fix a bad one, for a couple weeks at most.

i pulled some plugs and cables and vacuum hoses here and there and ran the engine very roughly and it cleaned out a bunch of stuff ...and now she runs steady at 700 rpms but ...how do i access the thing everrett is talking about? ...i was looking for the adjustment screw that someone told me is on the throttle but i cant find it anywhere ! ...all i need to say is oopsy! cause i did smoke tires outside of my house and the neighbors cry and complain about it all the time lol

oh and hte other thing posted in my other post about the wiring issues ...the oil gauges and everything seemed to magically stopped when i was pulling cables and replugging them ...could there have been a surge in the current to make them do that? ...because now my right blinker doesnt stay on when i turn on my headlights and such ...i do need to replace my fuse for my interior lights because that blew ...again but i think thats because i was playing with the map button a little bit to much smile.gif because i liked the little red light that shines out of it !!! its so cool hehe