MMroc86

Meet my 1987 GTA!

Picked this car up a few months ago for $2800. The digital dash reads 108k miles. not sure how accurate that is....

So far we've replaced:

*MAF Sensor
*MAF burnoff relay
*Fuel pump relay
*Caliper/brakes & hoses(Front)
*Knock Sensor
*Also Fixed Digital Dash.(It as just a FUSE! Got lucky)
*Air Dam/Car did not have one!(Got it for 20 bucks @ the local JY! Got REAL Lucky!)
*Fan was rigged to run with key on. Set it up to run factory.
*Spark Plugs
*Fuel Filter
*Oil Pressure sender(The one by the oil filter)
*Put in a new distributor complete with ignition control module & pick up coil! (This fixed my idling problem)
*Put in the IROC's flow master exhaust
*Delphi Fuel Pump
*Sending unit

Here are some of the problems I've encountered:

*No Power to knock sensor
*After about 15min of running it starts to idle roughly, sporadically dies at red lights.(fixed!)
*Had to putt putt it home one day, no idea what it was, after 20min of putt putt'n the car started driving normally.... Check'd the fuel pressure & its at 34. Thinking about replacing Pump soon.(Pump & sending unit replaced)
*Missing secondary fan control switch, the one on the passenger side by the knock sensor. The connector is their, but the plug for it has been plugged. Going to fix that soon.






Front Caliper+Brakes replaced. Car was pulling to the left. We also changed both brake lines this day


Digital Dash. When I got it, it was only reading KMH.... Turned out to just be a fuse that needed to be replaced


Heat exchanger was damaged by previous owner, we replaced it with another one off an engine my bro just so happen to have laying around in the garage from another GTA. (Hes not going to use the heat exchanger)

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Nice find. Congratulations!

jamon8

iTrader: (3)

I have never seen a gta with that spoiler and without steering wheel controls

Firechicken86

iTrader: (1)

Looking good! make sure to move that sail panel emblem next to the GTA fender emblem from the fender into it's proper location

mjdavis68

iTrader: (1)

You got that for $2800!.. Nice

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Congratulations! Looks very clean. Subscribed!

A resistance check on your injectors might give you a clue about your "putt-puttin'"
Could also be dead cat-guts (you know... the converter... not a dead animal )

MMroc86

LOL,. yeah I noticed alot of little stuff like that when I got the car. I will fix it eventually. I also need to get the correct spoiler.....

Right now I'm trying to figure out why I'm not getting power to my knock sensor....

Also had to replace the ignition coil connector yesterday, it was in such bad shape that when I went inspect it, it broke in half....

MMroc86

I will check the injectors asap & let you know if I find nything there.

Working on this knock sensor prob right now, not getting 12volts to connector D & zero volts to the sensor itself....

maks10

Nice find!!! Sail panel bird on fender doesn't seem too bad...imo actually like it

Good luck with it

MMroc86

Checked resistance at injectors

Cold they were all @ 16.5

Hot they were all between 17.3 & 17.6

Looks like I can rule the injectors off my list of potential problems!

Thanks

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Happy to hear about the injectors.
Do you have (or know someone with) a computer and ALDL cable, to get some readings out of the ECM?
You can measure the knock sensor wire's resistance to see if it's broken somewhere, but you need to know where it terminates, because you need both ends for that.
An 87 service manual would help you trace the wires to their respective junctions.

MMroc86

Member Veetoz: provided me with this to troubleshoot my knocksensor problem:

http://www.chevythunder.com/maf_esc_module_code_43.htm

Based on the test I have determined that I have a faulty ESC. I'll be replacing that today.

BTW

I'm thinking about ordering an aldl cable, it almost seems like a must to have with these EFI cars.

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Worth a try! Please keep us up to date!

And yes, an ALDL cable plus laptop and free TunerPro software is of great help.
You can see all the different sensor input values and when you know what they're supposed to be, you can even estimate if and when they'll fail.

MMroc86

Replaced the ESC module & drove it for about 5min with no ideling issues. I reset the ECM b4 I took off. I had to cut the drive short because I noticed I was running a little hot.

Got home, popped the hood & noticed I had a lot of steam coming from the firewall area & a hissing sound was also coming from that area, I looked under the car & noticed alot of water leaking from that area. Looks like one of the heater hoses, is getting ready to blow.

I also got my SES light back on, checked the reading & I'm getting the same 36, I've been getting since I got the car. No 43 tho.

Im going to wait for the car to cool down, then I'll go check if I'm getting power to the knock sensor now. Fingers crossed!

Out with the old in with the new.


The mess I found when I pulled down the ECM.

Anyone know what this is?


A few wires disconnected... Anyone know what they go to?

MMroc86

No-go!

Still no power @ the knock sensors connector.

The knock sensor wire does not look to be in bad shape & I checked it for short to ground with the ohm meter & got infinite resistance....

The test I conducted earlier also said it could be a bad ESC connector, that'll have to be the next thing I try.

Right now I'm going to pull the hoses that send water to the heater hoses from radiator & plug the openings, that way I dont have to worry about leaking my water! Just a temp fix....

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

That black box could be your VATS module, but I don't see any connectors to be sure of it.
That big wrapped silvery thing looks like an antenna cable extension or so. What does the plug face look like?

MMroc86

I put a new distributor in the bird today! Complete with new pickup coil & ignition control module.

This appears to of taken care of my idling problem!

One step closer to having this baby ready for the big drive to the show in Colorado thats coming up in May.

I'll be dropping the tank & replacing the fuel pump next wk! I'm debating rather or not I should change out the sending unit while I'm there, what do you guys think?

After-that its exhaust,new tires & rear brakes.

86T/A_Ram_Air

Change the sending unit while your in there. you don't want to have to do it twice

MMroc86

The sending unit is about $200..... My fuel gauge is working fine so I;ll prob just check it with an ohm meter & replace the lower strainer.

It makes a ton of sense to change it out since I'm going to be there already & its going to be such a pain in the *** to get it done, but thats going to eat into my budget BIG time!

Still thinking about it.

I got the old flow-master 40 series from my Iroc put in it today. Sounds pretty good. I'll post a video later on this wk after I wash it.

86T/A_Ram_Air

It also makes sense since the pump and sending unit come out of the tank as one "assembly". You know if you don't change it it will go just cause you had it out and didn't change it lol

MMroc86

Quick up date!

I fixed a squealing problem I had when I turned the wheel at slow speeds. Turns out the previous owner worked on the powersteering pump @ one point or another & decided that the two lower bolts on the PS pump did not need to be tightened... Bolts now tightened! no more squeal!

Also I went ahead & purchased the Fuel Pump & new sending unit.

I'll be installing them this Tuesday.

I did the exhaust earlier this wk. & I inspected the rear brakes earlier today, they look to be in good shape!

Only things left are the tires, belts & hoses!

MMroc86

Half way there!

MMroc86

MMroc86

Got it all buttoned back up, just got back from a testdrive. It ran exceptionally well!

The idling problem was complety gone & what sound like a clanking sound when I hit the pedal hard has gone away as well.

Overall it took about 10hrs over 3 days to do the job. I took my time & made sure everything was right. Unfortunatly the heatshield was damaged on the way out.

Hardest part of the job for me was putting those damn straps back on.(the ones that hold the tank up.

I noticed the rubber hose that connects the pump to the sending unit had a hole in it! That was def causing problems.

I will post pics soon.

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Great work, doing that all by yourself. I could imagine the pump or sending unit was broken loose at some point and clanked around in there.

MMroc86

Thanks!

Here are some pics


Anybody know what that white piece on the end of that hose is? Looks like a breather of some sort, I need it identified so I can replace it.

BADNBLK

iTrader: (11)

Great looking GTA! Excited to see it in person. We gotta get pics of that and the TTA together!

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...-trans-10.html

Scroll down to post #463 and beyond to see info about your breather.

MMroc86

Thanks for this!

MMroc86

Replacing the powersteering pump/pulley tomorrow, it had a small leak that turned into a big one, it was bone dry when I checked it oh & the belt was on there upside down ????

Leaving friday for colorado!

Still have to

Change out all hoses
Belts
Thermostat
Flush Coolant(Water is Slimy Brown) No water in engine oil or transmission, I don't know wtf it is.... Gonna flush it & see what happens.
Install sound system 2 amps 2 12inch subs headunit & 6x9's
Get new tires & wheels mounted & balanced
Change the oil

Anyone wanna come lend me a hand?

MMroc86

What happened was my transmission went out on me in Colorado & I had to trailer the sumbitch back home!

In the planning stages of replacing the tranny right now. I will start on removing it tomorrow. I already have a rebuilt tranny sitting in my garage....

Overall it was a fun trip, the drive up was real cool! Seeing the mountains as we approached colorado was awesome & we saw some really nice thirdgens @ the show!

MMroc86

Found this when I took the tailshaft housing apart. Anyone know what that gear is called? & if it could have caused for me to lose all my gears but first?

TPeye

Speedometer gear?

86T/A_Ram_Air

Looks like the speedo gear to me

MMroc86

That gear was identifed as the governor gear by sofakingdom in the transmission sub-board. My speed was working fine when the tranny went out.

MMroc86

I got the rebuilt tranny back in the car but I'm having a problem with it.

For some reason its staying in first for to long & then it just feels like I have no power after that. Feels like a TCC issue... Any thoughts?

oh & btw my speedo is not working either....

MMroc86

OKay turned out to be a TV cable adjustment issue. Got that sorted out. The trans shifts properly now.

I have a small leak coming from where the dipstick connects to the tranny oil pan..... Going to look into that & mess with it tomorrow after work....

I'm beat right now. & its hotter then hell out there!

I

NCC-2569

iTrader: (1)

Probably just need to clean things up down there. If you're lucky, its just from moving the dipstick about.
If you're not, you'll have to losen the dipstick again and replace the rubber seal.