mypony89

I haven't been able to find anyone that knows what this could be but I'm still hoping. My car is having problems when I first start it up. Here's what it will do. When I first turn it on, or if I leave it off for a little bit and turn it back on, the car won't drive right. It hesitates beyond belief, like something is holding it back, especially when I really step on the gas. If I do that it just starts to bog down and back fire. After a while of driving it, 30 or so minutes, I pull of to the side of the road, turn the engine of, wait a minute and turn it back on and it works like a beauty. The car is an 89 LX 5.0 with a 331 Stroker and Tremec 500 for tranny. The EEC never has been reset from the original motor but I don't know if that would mean anything. The only real problems that I know of right now is that the speedo gear isn't the right one for the car anymore, I'm driving 10mph under what it says I am, the front main seal on the engine needs to be replaced and there is a slight ticking under the hood after it runs for a while like a lifter is clogged or rocker arm is loose. Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

mattdel

got stock cats?

mypony89

There aren't any cats on it. Its an off road exhaust.

TwotoneVert

That could be the IAC, if it runs right some of the time, I would rule out timing. Almost sounds electrical. Rule out the simple stuff first and work your way up. With the conversion and not tuning the ECU, I am not sure though.

mypony89

Ireplaced the IAC, TBC and the ECU and it did the same thing with the new ones on it.

samseed101

I was thinking along the lines of a fuel delivery problem (i.e. a bad filter or something restricting flow) or clogged cats (like an Impala I recently worked on.) But I thought differently when he mentioned that turning the car off and then on again immediately solved the problem. Makes em think theres an electronic or computer problem.

mypony89

Yeah, I was thinking it may be the fuel filter so I bought a new one and I'm going to put it on today, not like it can really hurt to replace the old one anyway. If its electical I'm screwed. I don't know my face from a hole in the ground with that stuff and don't really have the money to take it anywhere.

samseed101

You're right, a fuel filter never hurts, but I'm not sure it would solve your problems. If it was the opposite problem then I would believe it. Usually if you have a clogged filter or a clogged screen, then it would run okay at first and slowly die out as the car ran (due to it getting clogged and restricting flow.) But then as the car sat, the sediment would sometimes settle down enough to let fuel flow again. And the car would start up and run fune until the debris and sediment got picked up and pinned against the screen or in the filter again.

But your problem seems to be the opposite. It runs crappy for 30 min and will un crally until you turn it off then back on again, at which point it runs fine. If turning the car off and then on again instantly solves the issue that would otherwise continue until it was shut off, it makes me think that it has to be something in the computer or at least something electronic.

2 kwik

has the key switch ever been replaced?

mypony89

The people who dropped the engine and tranny in it mentioned that when they had some problems getting the new key switched installed. I'm under the impression its still the old one. I can turn the car on without pressing in on the clutch whether its in gear or not. (I don't start it when its in gear.) Also when you first turn it on, you hear a grinding noise that last about 2 or 3 sec. This happens everytime. They didn't say it would hurt the car and are the more reputable place in Louisville I was able to find so I didn't really think of it till now.