Synthetic oil helps to reduce engine temps for 2 reasons: first, it reduces internal friction which adds to the heat component of the engine. Albeit, it's a small amount, but, every bit helps. Second, it's better at heat transfer away from the engine's core to the cooling system, therefore, it's more thermally efficient.

If the spark plugs look good, then I don't think the problem is there unless there is a defective plug. This can be easily checked with a spark plug tester. The plugs recommended for our engines which seem to work the best is Delco's own Rapidfire plugs. They also last a long time. But, plugs are cheap, so if you have a bad injector(s), it may be cheap insurance to swap it out.

The 1989 TPI engines got rid of the 9th cold start injector, I believe which was used for initial cold starting. Make sure the chip you have is matched to your setup. In 1989, the ECM was programmed by the new EPROM to add extra fuel upon initial cold starting. My engine uses the 'ninth' injector for this purpose.

Also important is make sure your fuel pump relay is working properly. If it isn't delivering power to the pump, there is a oil pressure switch which is connected in parallel to that relay so if the relay fails, the engine can still be started and will still run. But, the 2 second prime up before cranking won't happen. This is easily check by listening. After the car is sitting for at least 10 minutes or so, simply move the ignition switch to the 'ON' position. You should hear the pump turn on inside the gas tank for about 2 seconds. If you don't hear that 'prime up,' then you may have a bad relay. Which may or may not cause a code to happen (the check engine light comes on).

I would definitely recommend changing any gasket associated with emissions and fuel delivery. It's a good precaution and cheap insurance against possible problems.

Hope all this helps.

Hi SM,,, Does a bad TPS have the same symptoms as a bad EGR ?? I also noticed that the car will not start if the radio is on, it just clicks when I turn the key (like a dead battery) but if I turn radio off it starts right up and it seems to start on the first key turn now,, remember I was telling you about it always starting on the second turn. It has the original radio and speakers,, but someone did have a different set up in there before me I can see the equilizer or sub woofer plug in the back.. Also didn't the 89 come with a jack and spare ?? I can't find it !! My 86 had one..

Thanks, Melissa

Hi M. ... Ok, I gotta think on this one a bit. Maybe in the meantime, Russ or someone else will chime in and give you some suggestions. It sounds to me like maybe a weak battery or a wiring fiasco performed by a previous owner.

A bad TPS will cause your engine to idle but then when you step on the gas, the engine doesn't leave idle and won't speed up. Also, usually your engine check light will go if it's out of range. So no, imo, EGR problems are way different the a bad TPS. However, a bad O2 sensor does have some overlap in driveability problems that a EGR valve, etc., might introduce....Don't know if this makes sense to you or not...

Thanks SM, It probably is the wiring then, it has a new diehard gold in it... I hate wiring issues !! I get what you're saying about the egr and tps, one thing can trip up another ans so on ..
Still can't find the jack !!!!

Meliss

After doing some thinking about it, in order to adequately handle the radio/starting issue, I'd have to be able to see the physical wiring and compare it to a factory schematic. Because if someone has gone in and changed things around, this makes it extremely difficult to tell the players in the game. As soon as someone makes a change from factory concerning the electrics, all bets are off.

I remember someone I knew who's BF had a iroc and decided to take the radio out by cutting every wire rather than just disconnecting it. That was a HUGE mess. It took days and days figuring out what all the wires were for....

The jack is located in the rear right (at least in mine) inner fender area behind interior plastic panel molding. You have to unscrew several plastic large screws to remove the right rear panel. The jack, spare and inflation can are all stored there. If the jack ain't there, then it's probably gone for good.

O.K. I'll look there !! Also I ran a vacuum gauge from the egr valve and it has NO vacuum even at 1500 rpm's No vacuum,, then I put the guage to the selenoid and it read 9 lbs.. It was hard to get to the egr but got my fingers in there anyway. Do you think I'll need an egr or conltrol selenoid or both ??????

thanks for the help SM !!!!!

car was running really good until after about an hour when fully warmed up so I took it home and starting testing things....

Now after checking the vacuum stuff the person helping me broke the vacuum lines running from from the egr to the front underneath plenum,, said they are brittle !! I can understand that but when I'm trying to fix one thing and something else gets broke I really get pissed off.. It's even WORSE if I'm not the one who broke it !!!! I'm having a BAD DAY !!!! Hate it when anyone touches my car,, you never know what is gonna happen !!!!

Glad to be of some service, M. You should probably replace as many of the vacuum lines as possible. It sounds like they were ready to let you down, anyway. 9psi vacuum at the solenoid is low. It should be closer to 15. You can check this by running your gauge right off a vacuum port on the plenum. If there is more than a 5psi loss, the line might be internally clogged or, worse, partially collapsed. If you get full vacuum ahead of the solenoid but little out of the solenoid, it might be blocked or not working at all.

You can check this out by applying vacuum to the solenoid input and putting 12v on it's connector. I have a 12v converter I use to test such things. If the solenoid isn't toggling, it's bad. If it is toggling but doesn't do it whilst in the car connected to the ECM, then there is a good chance the ECM has a burned out quad driver. Which you would need to replace the ECM. They're inexpensive and easily available, thankfully.

A while back, I borrowed a MitiVac tester kit from a friend and found I had several questionable vacuum lines. One line I could see collapsing as vacuum increased. They certainly don't last forever and are very vulnerable to heating in the engine bay.

Best thing to do in a situation like you're going through is to just take a deep breath, try to relax and take a 'one step at a time' approach. I certainly know how you feel about others working on your car. I've had more than my share of bad experiences with what I thought were competent shops and mechanics who turned out to be utter buffoons. I'm now super choosy about where my car goes in for work if I don't have the skills or tools to do the work myself. Some of these bastards have cost me LOTS of extra time, work and $$$ for no reason other than their shear incompetence.

Do keep me posted. I or someone else here will try to help.

Hi SM, I figured since I have the selenoid out of the car I would try and just buy another one so I called a place called "then and now" out of Weymouth Mass and because it's a discontinued part and difficult to get they referred me to "crate Motors" in Napa California and they had One left for $397.30 or I can send them mine and they rebuild it for $236.01 ((YIKES))I can't believe this little thing costs that much.. I can blow air through it where the vac lines go on so I'm thinking it's salvagable.. Also I cannot find the rubber thing that plugs into it and has the 2 vac lines coming out one running to the egr valve and one to plenum,, called eveywhere and it's been discontinued and no one can get them so I'm thinking of drilling out the old hard brittle lines and replacing them with new hoses.. What do you think ?????? And I called some guy who had a bunch of parts for sale and he said why don't you just bypass it ?? Don't know what that means !!! I told him my car is all stock and want to keep it that way !!!!! SM, Isn't there and after market selenoid out there some where ?????
I was thinking of just replacing the EGR also and isn't it strange how those are everywhere and easy to get Autozone even carries it !! Oh yea, and I'll have to take off the plenum to do the egr valve but that doesn't mean the entire fuel system right,, just the plenum right and not the fuel rails ...

Thanks again for the help and advice SM...


Melissa

Glad I can help, M. Ok..lets back up and take a breath here. The EGR solenoid was also available in the S-10 V6 and the same year Corvette (it has essentially the same engine.) That www.rockautoparts link a bit back might have that solenoid. You could try those vehicles and years to see. It's a very hard to get item. And no, it can't be bypassed. If you do, the egr valve will be open all the time and will ruin the engine driveability AND cause the engine to be hard to start and stall out a lot.

As I mentioned, you have to be very careful to determine if the solenoid is bad, or, if the EGR is bad. Bench testing the solenoid is the only way. To the best of my knowledge, there is NOT solenoid made in the after market. Believe me, I've searched.

If you determine the solenoid is bad, look around for not just your year but adjacent years as well. Since many of these parts were common from 1985 up to about 1989. Again, the S10 v6 trucks used a very similar part. The main difference is the mounting, which, can always be modified.

As to the original plastic hoses with rubber nipple fittings, you can just buy standard vacuum line like I did and measure to length, cut and replace as I did with my car. Works just fine.

You have to be REAL careful finding the correct EGR valve. The ones used in our cars, especially for the TPI engines, have a threaded hole (boss) at the base in which the temperature diagnostic switch screws into. Many of the valve don't have this special fitting. The only place so far I've seen selling this special EGR valve is that Rock Auto site I mentioned to you a while back.

Hope this helps....

Sandy

Hi S, thanks for that info it is very helpful, I didn't know about the EGR valve having a hole at the base for the temp diag switch I'm sure I would have been dragged around in circles by sales people when trying to get that,,, I like to be armed with knowledge when I go looking for something !! Also didn't know about the S 10 V6 or the vette having almost the same egr selenoid !!!!I know the selenoid in my car is not the original,, when I called around for one they made me call the dealership and get the original part number because mine didn't have the right number so the one I have may have come off a different vehicle.. I read your post "after" I worked on my car yesterday
When you replaced your vac lines with "standard" do you mean the rubber lines ??? I tried to get that vac line rubber thing that plugs into the seenoid and one line goes to EGR and one line goes to plenum and everyone told me not to ruin the rubber fitting because they don't make then anymore and I can't get one so I got a little scared and performed a DIY fix and tried to not harm what was left of that vac thing !! So I put the selenoid back in the car and bought the same exact plastic vac lines,, I replaced the broken ones and joined them together with a brass union (I have 2 on there) because I was worried about ruining the rubber fittings.
Personally I don't like the plastic lines !! But again, was worried about those rubber fittings,, maybe what they told me was garbage !!!! I then took the car for a ride and immediately noticed a difference,,, the idle was calm and not going up and down,, the engine ran smoother and I got a bit more power,,, I was waiting for it to start jerking,, bucking, bogging down and just running like sh*! and it did not. I may have gotten lucky and just had a vac line problem.. I'll take it out again today and drive it around and see if it does that run like crap thing again !!! Hopefully it won't but if it does I will start over again !!
SM, if you wouldn't recommend the way I fixed it please let me know,, I don't want to have other potential problems because of it !!! When you replaced your lines did you use the rubber ones and did you do away with the rubber fitting and just attach the lines right to the nipples ??????

Thanks M

Hi M. I'm glad to hear things seem to be progressing along. Sometimes, it's the little things that'll ruin your day. I simply took standard rubber vacuum line and went from the plenum nipple, to the EGR solenoid, then took more standard line and went from the EGR solenoid directly to the EGR valve. No plastic ends or anything fancy. Just nice, tight hookups. My OE plastic lines all cracked or broke long ago. I can't really not recommend anything as I'd have to see what you did. It sounds like you put a lot of care and effort into redoing the vacuum lines. The big advantage to plastic lines is they won't collapse over time. But, they will get brittle and break, crack, etc. That's why the factory used them instead of rubber. Plus, they're faster to install on a production line.

Mostly, just make sure the lines are as short as possible, new and not routed around anything sharp or hot.

S.

SM, I want to post a pic of my car but not really sure how to do it !!!! Any tips ?????

thanks M

SM, thanks for the picture info !!

Unfortunately my car has started doing that "run like crap" again !! So now I'm going to change the vac lines to the standard rubber ones !! Also, my mechanic friend suggested maybe cleaning the EGR valve. I'm thinking about just replacing it and the selenoid....I told him there's no room for error on these cars and second guessing things isn't an option !!! Maybe do a little more testing first.. Here I go again !!!


M

M., Do you have a digital camera or a standard film type camera? Either way, you'll need to convert it to a digital file. TIFF, JPEG, usually. Then, email it to Al. You might have to adjust the size of the file according to how big a image and it's resolution according to what your email will allow. If you use a film camera, you'll need to have the film processed then put onto a scanner to create the necessary digital file.

If you want your car as part of your signature like I've done with mine, you'll have to upload it to a site like PhotoBucket and use their HTML address in your signature to 'point' the command to that image stored on photo bucket.

Not sure if I'm getting you where you need to go...