fun night/morning....

[Teds89IROC]

The camaro ran better than ever getting to JM's yesterday. So fast forward...I'm leaving JM's house at about 1:30am, get onto 46 and I got on it a little bit, nothing crazy or stupid, just harder than I normally would. I let off and let it coast a bit then step on the gas again and nothing. Step on it harder, nothing..as soon as I let off, the car jumps. I pull into target p-lot and the car dies. starts right up but won't idle right and when I'd give it gas nothing would happen. I would let off and the rpm's would jump then drop. I waited a few minutes and tried again, same thing but only I'd rev it and it would sputter to like 1500 rpm and from 2000 and up it was fine, but I would hear an occasional miss. Meanwhile no check engine light, only when it would stall. I waited a little longer, started right up and seemed ok, I figured I could limp it home (8 miles or so). Get back onto 46 and nothing, I would give it gas and nothing would happen and it idled like crap. So the one time I don't have my toolbox with me, I need a wrench. I called JM and she came with an adjustable, I figured it was ECM related so maybe if I disconnected the battery it would reset and I would be ok. This has happened weeks ago, but not as bad. It would rev weird but I'd shut it down and it was then fine. I figured it was ground related, so I cleaned them all up, added thicker wire etc and I've been fine. So JM gets to me and as I'm disconnecting the battery a cop pulls up. It started right up and idled good, I figured it was fine. After a few seconds it idled rough and wouldnt rev so I told JM to follow me, I'd try and get it to her house (down 46 a little ways). I get about 1.5 miles from her house not being able to rev past 1500 rpm and the car is idling bad, at this point wont rev at all and I'm stuck. So I got it into levitz parking lot right on the highway. JM has AAA, so we called and asked if her coverage would cover my car, they said yes. This redneck from criger towing company shows up oblivious to the world. It's about 4am at this point. First off he backs the truck up and the boom isn't low enough and he hits my front GFX. I yelled to him to stop but it was too late, he just hit it and it folded under, so now that needs to be repainted. We get close to my house, he wants to stop for dunkin donuts. He runs inside and I look over at the trip odometer and it says 8.8 miles. The coverage is first 3 miles are free and anything after is $4.50/mile, so I'm figuring it'll be roughly $40. We get to my house and he writes stuff on a paper and tells me $75. I looked at him and asked how is that? He tells me it was 22 miles. I said to him when you went into dunkin donuts the trip odometer said 8.8 miles and my house isn't that much further. So he looked all confused and hitting buttons on the dash and changed it to the regular odometer and told me it was however many miles before. So he looks at the paper and goes "oh right, I forgot to subtract this $4.50, just give me $60" There was no receipt or any formal writing of this, it was chicken scratch he had on a piece of paper, my word against his. So I pay him and as he unloads my car, he pulls the boom away and my car starts rolling down the driveway. I was abe to stop it and throw it in park. Moron. After thinking about it and talking to JM and my dad I decided to drive to levitz and come back the exact same way to mark the miles. Sure enough right at DD my trip odometer was 8.8 and total distance to my house was 11.4 miles. I should have had to pay for 8.4 miles, roughly $36. So I have to call AAA back tomorrow to file a complaint and see what can be done, at least about my front GFX. This was the only time I got to bed at 5am with no partying involved....horrible night.

[Tru2Chevy]

That sux man, I've always had good experiences with AAA.

Hopefully they will at least pay for you to repaint the front GFX.

- Justin

[Knipps]

that was a sh#tload to read and not a fun ending dude..
at first i thought you were talking about the Tbird but when the GFX came in i guess not

that sucks man
hopefully you com out on top with a little extra cash to make it worth your while

[maroman88]

i HATE tow trucks with a passion, i try to use Brookside out of emerson when my friends working, cuz there EXTRA carefull with the GFX and use all kinds of pieces of wood so they can get it on the flat bed without scraping

[GP99GT]

Originally Posted by Knipps

that was a sh#tload to read and not a fun ending dude..
at first i thought you were talking about the Tbird but when the GFX came in i guess not

that sucks man
hopefully you com out on top with a little extra cash to make it worth your while

uhhhh 2nd word in his post is camaro

[Knipps]

Originally Posted by GP99GT

uhhhh 2nd word in his post is camaro

meh i saw it was long and skipped ahead

[its Jeanne-Marie]

never a dull moment....now i'm falling asleep in classhole...need sleep!!!

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

Wow...that sucks man! good luck getting through to AAA.

[misterjuice]

sorry to hear that dude, should've called me. I have AAA Plus...free tow up to 100 miles.

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by misterjuice

sorry to hear that dude, should've called me. I have AAA Plus...free tow up to 100 miles.

werd...saved me probably a couple g by now lol

[nj96z28]

Damn man.... AAA always been good to me had it since '94. there was the time when the guy showed up stinking of liquor, but he was only there 4 a jump.

[BonzoHansen]

That sucks. I hope AAA comes through for you.

AAA+ is the only way to fly. Also, when I call AAA I always request a flatbed. I just tell them the car is lowered. Yes sir, that is correct, my lowered old intrgiue needs a flatbed... LOL

[79T/A]

Dude, that blows. The engine gremlin is distressing enough without some ignorant brainless %$#@%@!!! busting up your front end and almost letting the ride roll into traffic along with overcharging you. I hope AAA comes through for you.

[its Jeanne-Marie]

honestly, up until the other night i had no idea that i had the basic package instead of the plus-- i've never had to use aaa since i started driving. then ted comes along and here i am calling them at 4 AM haha

[misterjuice]

Originally Posted by its Jeanne-Marie

honestly, up until the other night i had no idea that i had the basic package instead of the plus-- i've never had to use aaa since i started driving. then ted comes along and here i am calling them at 4 AM haha

now is the time to upgrade to plus. since you're now like far away.

[Kat]

Thats why whenever I needed a tow, I always always always asked for a flat bed.

Oh and it soudns liek either the coil went or the fuel pump took a dump.

[Featherburner]

I've had a night or two like this so, I can sympathize. It sucks!

[mtnhopper1]

I had an almost identical tow truck experience with my 79 z28 about 15 years ago where they ripped the spoiler off the front bumper... except the car was being impounded. When I picked it up from impound the next morning, the clutch linkage was also broken and there was rubber all over the 1/4 panels.

That sucks, man. Hopefully you can get AAA to do something about the tow bill and GFX.

[Teds89IROC]

I left a message with a rep early this afternoon so hopefully I'll get a call back tomorrow. As for the problem, I've talked to a few people and my symptoms sound like the IAC. I took it out, cleaned it, and I can't move the needle at all, so I'm gonna grab another one tomorrow. As for the fuel pump, I replaced it last winter with a 255 lph, I still hear it priming and such, so I think thats fine.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by Teds89IROC

...my symptoms sound like the IAC. I took it out, cleaned it, and I can't move the needle at all...

It's a stepper motor, I don't think you should be able to move it. Plus an IAC won't prevent you from revving. It will kill idle quality.

[Teds89IROC]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

It's a stepper motor, I don't think you should be able to move it. Plus an IAC won't prevent you from revving. It will kill idle quality.

In the tech article for cleaning it, it said it should be sticking out 1 1/8" and if it's past that you can give it a push and the pin will move in (gear motor driven) then there is a procedure before startup and the computer will reset it. Mine is all coroded and I pushed on it pretty damn hard and it wouldn't budge. Also, my car won't idle, it wasn't just that it wouldn't rev. I'd let it cool for a few, start it and a couple seconds later it was running like I had a cam in it and would die if I didn't try stepping on the gas. Plus, the part is cheap enough to replace and eliminate off my list when anything else goes wrong. It's at least 6 years old, possibly even original from 89, who knows.

[quasar34]

i had this happen to me a couple months ago and it turned out 1 of my injectors was clogged..

[IROCdan330]

Originally Posted by Teds89IROC

I left a message with a rep early this afternoon so hopefully I'll get a call back tomorrow. As for the problem, I've talked to a few people and my symptoms sound like the IAC. I took it out, cleaned it, and I can't move the needle at all, so I'm gonna grab another one tomorrow. As for the fuel pump, I replaced it last winter with a 255 lph, I still hear it priming and such, so I think thats fine.

As far as your car problem, i had EXACTLY the same thing happen to me. Just like you said it was running better than ever. The night before my car died the last time, I had run my fastest time at the track.
The first time this ever happened to me my stock fuel pump pooted. A few pumps later I replaced it with a 255 lph pump. 6 months of that pump being in, it died. It primed all day, but with a fuel pressure gauge it only primed to 6psi...as opposed to 42.
I suggest hooking up a FP gauge and checking out whats going on with that to at least rule it out. Even if at idle it shows to be ok, give it a minute to warm up and give it some gas, see if pressure drops. If not, powerbrake it (small one, not enough to break the tires loose) and see if it drops. It shouldnt drop below 35 (idle fp). Keep us posted.

As far as AAA, I upgraded to Gold after i realized how valuable it was. Unfortuneately I got a letter in the mail saying you only get 4 free tows/year up to 100 miles and I had used all of mine (my car broke down a lot before bringing it to JS Performance, doesn't anymore). Next time you have to call them request a flatbed.

[12secondv6]

Get AAA Plus - well worth it