New to the boards and have question
 

I have a 88 GT 5-speed. BBK shorties,BBK Intake, Underdrives, B303 w 1.72rrs,Smod Delete, Mass Air Conversion. My car is acting funny. When i'm under hard accelaration, and i shift it feels like the cars timing isnt advancing. It doesnt do it all the time only when i am shifting hard. Its not the clutch slipping but it kinda feels that way. I pulled a spark plug that has about 1500 miles on it and it looks brand new. Any and all help will be appreciated.

Welcome to the board, sorry I can't help you with your problem.

well your plugs are clean -- so its not a timing, Air / fuel problem...

and If its not your clutch -- then I have no idea what it could be...

Are you using the correct octane fuel?
Are there alot of miles on it?

Thanks for the welcome. I am glad to be aboard. The car has a rebuilt motor with approx. 15000 miles. I run only 93 octane. The plug should be a little dark right. I mean there isnt even any change in color. I was under the assumtion that these car had a slightly rich tune. The car is mass air, and im not to sure what size/kind of meter it has. The car actually feels like it misses then it comes out of it and pulls strong. This problem has got me baffled.

when did it start?

was it after a modification?

When did you change the oil last?

you are running 93... the only reason to run 93 is if you have advanced the timing... so if you have the timing at stock... then put 87 in it (after you burn most of the 93) and its safe to say that the problem will go away

Thanks anything is worth a shot.

does it kinda feel like clutch slippage? could it be the tires spinning?

It kinda feels like its missing, but the pull characteristics of a slipping clutch. Gonna try the 87 octane then go from there.

Also the car is hard starting in the morning. I have to repeatedly restart the car. After about 5 times the car will begin to idle. If it is cold out that 5 times turns into 15 times. After the car is warm when i start it up the rpms race to 3000-3500 stay their for about 5 sec then come down. I usually also have to give it about 20% throttle to get it to fire. Dont know if this is relavent to the problem, but probably wont hurt to know.

ok

put 87 in
buy some fuel injector cleaner at pepboys/ autozone/ etc and run that
Clean your MAF with some carb cleaner

how many miles are on it?
Do you know if the distributor cap has been replaced?

If you arent sure... replace that and the rotor...

this is all relatively cheap/easy stuff...

87 OCTANE=BAD PERFORMANCE. I put some in the car yesterday, and man could i feel a difference. The car just didnt feel right. I put some Sonoco 94 back in and after an evening of driving you could definitly tell the difference between the two. Any other suggestions?

CAP AND ROTOR

check and see if there are any codes showing. If you show any let us know... that'll be the biggest help in figuring out your issue.

I have a new msd cap and stock rotor. The car seems like its not advancing the timing. Can autozones scan tool read the codes? If not i will try to locate someone who can. At this point i'm still fishing. Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.

Definately sounds like a fuel pump. Hard to start, no coloring on the plugs, and missing at high rpm when you get on it definately sounds like a fuel problem.

Thanks for the feed back. The fuel pump was a consideration, but i just wasnt sure. Your car is looking good if i dont say so myself.

Thanks, haha.

But yea, I would bet that it is a fuel pump, and if you replace it, and plan on doing any more modifications like heads and intake manifold down the road, go with a 255lph unit. Don't even mess with a 190lph. It doesn't even cost that much more either. You won't have any issues with this pump now either, like running rich, etc., because your injectors cant flow anymore than they're made to, and also your fuel pressure regulator will restrict the extra flow. And if you get a Walbro, make sure its a real Walbro, there has been a recent scam going on with these pumps, and many are made in china and are not the real deal, and fail early. Make sure it is made in the U.S. if you buy a Walbro pump.

I actually have one that came out of my DSM. I'm sure i can make it work somehow. I appreciate the advice again.

check the fuel filter first

if you hear the pump prime when you just turn the key a click the pump is probably ok


Before you touch the pump check the filter

I do hear it priming. I will ckeck the filter as soon as the darn rain goes away.

+1 Sorry.. But welcome. Hope you get your problems fixxed.

ok, i was reading this and i had a the same problem, same feel, good colored plugs, timing correct, good pump and pressure, current ramped my pump and still good, then i found it by mistake. when you said starts hard in mornings, mine did too. you said the engine was rebuilt so it could be this, one intake gasket was slid down causing pirated air. i put new gaskets and no missing feel, and now starts and stays running no matter how cold it is out. my problem was fixed, hope this helps!!!

I found out the car wasnt running the stock mafs. I measured and the inner diameter was approx. 73mm. Could this be causing an issue?

Check and see if it is a C&L 73mm meter. If it is, they are known for their calibration issues. I had one on mine, ran like crap, stumbling all over the place. Then I switched to a Pro-M 75mm calibrated for the 19's and its run perfect ever since.