Picked up a Beater 87 lxi.. ISSUES!!!!

Hello all.. Been awhile. as some of you know, i had an 86 dx.. then got into the Toyota world and the wonderful line of the 3s Motors.. Now im back the the a20 for Economy driving..

theres a few Problems that are pissing me off though.

#1. The PGM-FI light has come on a few times, it goes away once i restart the car. and lately ever since i started using Premium it does not come on. (got rid of the slight knock it had)

#2 It will not rev past 5k rpms what so ever. even in neutral or any gear. 3rd only goes to 4200 rpms.. When i say this, i mean, Its like it hits Fuel cut. it nose dives. The car runs fine. seems Really under powered but manageable around town. Heaven forbid i try to pass anybody on a Rural highway though.

#3 the Idle seems a tad rough. likes to just randomly. move between 7-1100 rpms.

#4. Lately it has a BAD Warm starting problem. It will fire right up and drive no problems cold. But alot of the time, if its warm. i have to crank it 5-15 times and then take a break. and try again. Eventually it start. but it bogs for the first 3-8 seconds




Can you guys Please help me out. it has 174k it is a 5speed. and its gas mileage seems a bit lower then expected. (25mpg average)

:)

when was the last time you did a tune up on it....check your plugs, cables, cap and rotor...also check if the timing is on the dot.

Have you checked your fuel system? You say it's like you're hitting a fuel cutoff, so you may not have enough fuel flowing to your engine to power your engine. This could also partially explain your pinging problem that you took care of by using premium fuel.

The fuel filter should be changed out IMO any time you buy a car, especially one that may have been neglected. If the car has been sitting, consider your fuel filter bad.

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, we all know that, and has already been brought up.

Have you pulled the code to see which you're throwing? Your hot start issues could be IACV related. The idle problem is more than likely caused by an IACV problem.

Anothr possibility with the hot start problem is your main relay. There's a how-to that shows how to fix them, or you can buy one new. I have one sitting here that I can inspect, but I'd rather not sell it because I can't gurantee it will work. If I sat down and resoldered it, it would be fine, though.

What vanilla said. Also check your air filter. The next time a code is thrown, slide the driver's seat forward, open the little flap on the ecu cover underneath and count the number of blinks. 86-87 LX-i didn't have an IACV like the 88-89, but rather a series of solenoids to control the idle.

Ok, Well I was thinking the Fuel filter aswell.. and i remember in my dx, it had a similer problem with the fuel cutting, and it was the Fuel pump. anyone else think the pump could be on the fritz?

I know the Plugs and wires are new. (3 weeks old) the filter is probably Factory 87 equipment.

I also think it could be due to Timing. I dont have a Timing gun so minor adjustments with the Distributer is all i can do for now.

Thanks for the help. If i get the Light, i will pull over and check the ecu box light.

thanks all