1987 TPI will sometimes start and run fine and sometimes start then dies
12-14-2018, 09:56 PM
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1987 TPI will sometimes start and run fine and sometimes start then dies
My 1987 corvette will sometimes start and run beautifuly or it will start and die imeadiatly it has a new TPS and fuel pump and altinator
12-15-2018, 12:38 AM
#2
Team Owner
What have you checked? Fuel pressure? Spark and ignition module? ECM vs IR thermometer on the CTS to see who says what?
12-15-2018, 09:18 AM
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no I have not checked the fuel because sometimes it runs just fine I am taking it today to a dealership to get looked over I’ll give you information to what I find out
12-15-2018, 09:24 AM
#4
Team Owner
Besides, if you do some of the legwork, he can't jack around with you when he gets the car.
12-15-2018, 10:35 AM
#5
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To make this Corvette Forum work properly for you it is imperative that we know as much about your 1987 Corvette and if any modifications have been done, how many miles does it have? The more you give us the better the chance of a repair.
The first thing you need to do is get a fuel pressure gauge and install it on the fuel rail on the passengers side. You will find a small cap that covers a schrader valve (like on a tire stem), you remove the cap and connect the FPG to the windshield and secure it with something like tape someplace where you can see it while driving at the same time. If that is difficult have somebody else drive the car so you can observe what happens to the fuel pressure when the engine quits. This is probably the most important test in the beginning of investigating a problem. Tell us what happens when she quits as that will guide us to the next stage. Is the Check Engine Soon Light lit up or not? If it is you can look up how to download the codes and retrieve them, they are important. I use a code reader, others use a laptop to connect and watch it in real time but the simplest way is to use the old Paperclip method. You can learn how to do that on this forum as many use it.
Me personally, I have been burned bringing older Corvettes to a Dealership, the Corvette Techs get premium hourly rate and the dealer will hit you with a ridiculous bill and do nothing other than looking at your car. I would find a local mechanic that you trust that could help you, if you don't know any find a local Corvette group (even the NCRS people) know "who is good and who isn't". Where I live we have dealers that charge $150 an hour or even more for their mechanics. They are probably well versed in the newer Corvettes but they frequently know little about the older models. I took my C3 to local Chevy dealership to rebuild the posi-trac in my Corvette and they returned the car sitting way high in the rear, it looked like they jacked it up in the rear. Turned out they used the wrong length bolts (instead of the original bolts) to attach the rear Spring and that made the U-joints fail every 500 miles and so on. That one took a while to figure out until one day at Corvettes @ Carlisle a gentleman suggested that I check the length of the bolts used on my rear spring, they were 6" and supposed to be 8 or 10" long. On my C4 they could not diagnose the problem I was having due to their lack of experience with the older C4 models, it was another Corvette only shop that finally helped me. Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
If you do not have a set to get a set of the Factory Service Manuals for your particular year. Please don't try to use a Chiltons or Clymers as they just don't have enough specific knowledge of the car. The FSM set will probably be like my 1988 set which includes two books, one for the car's mechanical repairs and the other is a dedicated Electrical systems of the Corvette, it has complete trouble shooting charts in the FSM and where you are right now they could be important. The FSM are available in print or on CD at Ebay. They are priceless when you run into a strange problem.
Don't get too frustrated, there are a lot of great people at this Forum and they will get you on the right path if they have enough information regarding the problems you are having. You might want to fill out your profile on the Corvette Forum with your location and other pertinent information so people can help you. Again the more information we have the better it is for you!
I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of wonderful "Corvette Moments"!
The first thing you need to do is get a fuel pressure gauge and install it on the fuel rail on the passengers side. You will find a small cap that covers a schrader valve (like on a tire stem), you remove the cap and connect the FPG to the windshield and secure it with something like tape someplace where you can see it while driving at the same time. If that is difficult have somebody else drive the car so you can observe what happens to the fuel pressure when the engine quits. This is probably the most important test in the beginning of investigating a problem. Tell us what happens when she quits as that will guide us to the next stage. Is the Check Engine Soon Light lit up or not? If it is you can look up how to download the codes and retrieve them, they are important. I use a code reader, others use a laptop to connect and watch it in real time but the simplest way is to use the old Paperclip method. You can learn how to do that on this forum as many use it.
Me personally, I have been burned bringing older Corvettes to a Dealership, the Corvette Techs get premium hourly rate and the dealer will hit you with a ridiculous bill and do nothing other than looking at your car. I would find a local mechanic that you trust that could help you, if you don't know any find a local Corvette group (even the NCRS people) know "who is good and who isn't". Where I live we have dealers that charge $150 an hour or even more for their mechanics. They are probably well versed in the newer Corvettes but they frequently know little about the older models. I took my C3 to local Chevy dealership to rebuild the posi-trac in my Corvette and they returned the car sitting way high in the rear, it looked like they jacked it up in the rear. Turned out they used the wrong length bolts (instead of the original bolts) to attach the rear Spring and that made the U-joints fail every 500 miles and so on. That one took a while to figure out until one day at Corvettes @ Carlisle a gentleman suggested that I check the length of the bolts used on my rear spring, they were 6" and supposed to be 8 or 10" long. On my C4 they could not diagnose the problem I was having due to their lack of experience with the older C4 models, it was another Corvette only shop that finally helped me. Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
If you do not have a set to get a set of the Factory Service Manuals for your particular year. Please don't try to use a Chiltons or Clymers as they just don't have enough specific knowledge of the car. The FSM set will probably be like my 1988 set which includes two books, one for the car's mechanical repairs and the other is a dedicated Electrical systems of the Corvette, it has complete trouble shooting charts in the FSM and where you are right now they could be important. The FSM are available in print or on CD at Ebay. They are priceless when you run into a strange problem.
Don't get too frustrated, there are a lot of great people at this Forum and they will get you on the right path if they have enough information regarding the problems you are having. You might want to fill out your profile on the Corvette Forum with your location and other pertinent information so people can help you. Again the more information we have the better it is for you!
I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of wonderful "Corvette Moments"!
12-15-2018, 11:40 AM
#6
Team Owner
Me personally, I have been burned bringing older Corvettes to a Dealership, the Corvette Techs get premium hourly rate and the dealer will hit you with a ridiculous bill and do nothing other than looking at your car.
Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
That is your "Corvette Specialist" right there. He is the one they send older cars to since he drew short straw.
12-15-2018, 03:06 PM
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To make this Corvette Forum work properly for you it is imperative that we know as much about your 1987 Corvette and if any modifications have been done, how many miles does it have? The more you give us the better the chance of a repair.
The first thing you need to do is get a fuel pressure gauge and install it on the fuel rail on the passengers side. You will find a small cap that covers a schrader valve (like on a tire stem), you remove the cap and connect the FPG to the windshield and secure it with something like tape someplace where you can see it while driving at the same time. If that is difficult have somebody else drive the car so you can observe what happens to the fuel pressure when the engine quits. This is probably the most important test in the beginning of investigating a problem. Tell us what happens when she quits as that will guide us to the next stage. Is the Check Engine Soon Light lit up or not? If it is you can look up how to download the codes and retrieve them, they are important. I use a code reader, others use a laptop to connect and watch it in real time but the simplest way is to use the old Paperclip method. You can learn how to do that on this forum as many use it.
Me personally, I have been burned bringing older Corvettes to a Dealership, the Corvette Techs get premium hourly rate and the dealer will hit you with a ridiculous bill and do nothing other than looking at your car. I would find a local mechanic that you trust that could help you, if you don't know any find a local Corvette group (even the NCRS people) know "who is good and who isn't". Where I live we have dealers that charge $150 an hour or even more for their mechanics. They are probably well versed in the newer Corvettes but they frequently know little about the older models. I took my C3 to local Chevy dealership to rebuild the posi-trac in my Corvette and they returned the car sitting way high in the rear, it looked like they jacked it up in the rear. Turned out they used the wrong length bolts (instead of the original bolts) to attach the rear Spring and that made the U-joints fail every 500 miles and so on. That one took a while to figure out until one day at Corvettes @ Carlisle a gentleman suggested that I check the length of the bolts used on my rear spring, they were 6" and supposed to be 8 or 10" long. On my C4 they could not diagnose the problem I was having due to their lack of experience with the older C4 models, it was another Corvette only shop that finally helped me. Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
If you do not have a set to get a set of the Factory Service Manuals for your particular year. Please don't try to use a Chiltons or Clymers as they just don't have enough specific knowledge of the car. The FSM set will probably be like my 1988 set which includes two books, one for the car's mechanical repairs and the other is a dedicated Electrical systems of the Corvette, it has complete trouble shooting charts in the FSM and where you are right now they could be important. The FSM are available in print or on CD at Ebay. They are priceless when you run into a strange problem.
Don't get too frustrated, there are a lot of great people at this Forum and they will get you on the right path if they have enough information regarding the problems you are having. You might want to fill out your profile on the Corvette Forum with your location and other pertinent information so people can help you. Again the more information we have the better it is for you!
I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of wonderful "Corvette Moments"!
The first thing you need to do is get a fuel pressure gauge and install it on the fuel rail on the passengers side. You will find a small cap that covers a schrader valve (like on a tire stem), you remove the cap and connect the FPG to the windshield and secure it with something like tape someplace where you can see it while driving at the same time. If that is difficult have somebody else drive the car so you can observe what happens to the fuel pressure when the engine quits. This is probably the most important test in the beginning of investigating a problem. Tell us what happens when she quits as that will guide us to the next stage. Is the Check Engine Soon Light lit up or not? If it is you can look up how to download the codes and retrieve them, they are important. I use a code reader, others use a laptop to connect and watch it in real time but the simplest way is to use the old Paperclip method. You can learn how to do that on this forum as many use it.
Me personally, I have been burned bringing older Corvettes to a Dealership, the Corvette Techs get premium hourly rate and the dealer will hit you with a ridiculous bill and do nothing other than looking at your car. I would find a local mechanic that you trust that could help you, if you don't know any find a local Corvette group (even the NCRS people) know "who is good and who isn't". Where I live we have dealers that charge $150 an hour or even more for their mechanics. They are probably well versed in the newer Corvettes but they frequently know little about the older models. I took my C3 to local Chevy dealership to rebuild the posi-trac in my Corvette and they returned the car sitting way high in the rear, it looked like they jacked it up in the rear. Turned out they used the wrong length bolts (instead of the original bolts) to attach the rear Spring and that made the U-joints fail every 500 miles and so on. That one took a while to figure out until one day at Corvettes @ Carlisle a gentleman suggested that I check the length of the bolts used on my rear spring, they were 6" and supposed to be 8 or 10" long. On my C4 they could not diagnose the problem I was having due to their lack of experience with the older C4 models, it was another Corvette only shop that finally helped me. Be careful if you go to a dealer with a older Corvette. I even heard one of the mechanics telling his supervisor how much he hated the old Corvettes, at hearing that I took my keys back and left.
If you do not have a set to get a set of the Factory Service Manuals for your particular year. Please don't try to use a Chiltons or Clymers as they just don't have enough specific knowledge of the car. The FSM set will probably be like my 1988 set which includes two books, one for the car's mechanical repairs and the other is a dedicated Electrical systems of the Corvette, it has complete trouble shooting charts in the FSM and where you are right now they could be important. The FSM are available in print or on CD at Ebay. They are priceless when you run into a strange problem.
Don't get too frustrated, there are a lot of great people at this Forum and they will get you on the right path if they have enough information regarding the problems you are having. You might want to fill out your profile on the Corvette Forum with your location and other pertinent information so people can help you. Again the more information we have the better it is for you!
I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of wonderful "Corvette Moments"!
12-15-2018, 07:10 PM
#8
Safety Car
My experience with the dealership was bad and they charge a ridiculous hourly rate. The reason I had them do my Posi unit was believe it or not they gave me the lowest quote for the job and the best warranty on their labor and parts.
My Corvette specialist is priced "lower per hour" and has an incredible amount of experience in the mechanics that work there. They have Corvette mechanics that work on anything from a C1 to the C7's. I go to Tony's Corvettes in Gaithersburg, MD. The last time I went up there I was really impressed with what they can do "in house". As for my Corvettes they are the only people that will "touch" either of my Corvettes. I had them re-install the 427 in my Corvette and they repainted the whole under hood area, replaced a wiring harness and all the vacuum lines. They even rebuilt my shifter to get rid of the "play" and when I got my car back I was so impressed with their work and attention to detail.
I strongly recommend any Corvette Forum people in the Washington D.C. area to check out Tony and his awesome shop if you have a Corvette that needs "help".
Tony is a true Corvette man and he loves helping others in his chosen field. "My Corvette is a better Corvette for having gone to his shop". I find comfort in knowing that if I can't fix it I know Tony CAN!
My Corvette specialist is priced "lower per hour" and has an incredible amount of experience in the mechanics that work there. They have Corvette mechanics that work on anything from a C1 to the C7's. I go to Tony's Corvettes in Gaithersburg, MD. The last time I went up there I was really impressed with what they can do "in house". As for my Corvettes they are the only people that will "touch" either of my Corvettes. I had them re-install the 427 in my Corvette and they repainted the whole under hood area, replaced a wiring harness and all the vacuum lines. They even rebuilt my shifter to get rid of the "play" and when I got my car back I was so impressed with their work and attention to detail.
I strongly recommend any Corvette Forum people in the Washington D.C. area to check out Tony and his awesome shop if you have a Corvette that needs "help".
Tony is a true Corvette man and he loves helping others in his chosen field. "My Corvette is a better Corvette for having gone to his shop". I find comfort in knowing that if I can't fix it I know Tony CAN!
12-16-2018, 03:42 PM
#9
Team Owner
Some codes? Which ones? Was there more than one or just one?
12-17-2018, 07:34 AM
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