I did. It's also running rich, doesn't like to idle in gear, has a misfire, and there is a clunk that sounds like its coming from around the shifter (AT) or behind when accellerating hard from a stop, sounds about mid-car, but hard to tell.

I have my work cut out for me.

 

Sounds like a real cream-puff!
That clunk is most likely a torn trans mount, letting the trans lift and whack the tunnel. Happens a lot.
You'd want to take care of that sooner than later, before you tear up a u-joint.

 

it may be that all you need is an opti, plugs and plug wires. lol, thats all,,, if it sat for a couple years i would suspect the opti has created some moisture and the plugs and wires are not happy.

 

The guy said it sat for about 10 months. He had just replaced the water pump, (still looks new) so if it had opti problems I don't know why they wouldn't have replaced it at the time also. It may be of note it has a BBK throttle body on it with a CAI. MAF looks brand new inside, so it's good. When it's cold it runs fine, but as it warms up it runs worse, but cold it idles too fast, hot idles too low or it will flat out die. It may have so much blowby oil got into the IAC, I don't know. Don't seem to have any vacuum leaks. Also smell raw fuel so I need to check the vacuum line on the FPR to see if it's bad. My haynes and LT1 book should be here today so maybe I can get some of it figured out. Did I mention it has a LOT of blowby? But hey, 1500 isn't bad, the body is in good shape, has a nice set of American Racing Special Edition black powder coated rims with the polished aluminum outside on it (looks decent on Maroon), interior is good, and, the T-Tops don't leak. I should be able to deal with the engine issues - I just want to get it running decent and drive it a while before I rip it apart. Looks like I can get a master rebuild kit for about $540 from Rock auto.

Going to replace the plugs this weekend, I suspect it's the original plugs in the car still. The SES light comes on after it kicks into what I'm assuming is closed loop, so I'm betting one or more o2 sensors are bad.

I have a crappy picture of it I took with my cell phone if I could figure out how to post it.

 

think I figured it out how to post pics. Realized after I put them on my computer my camera lens was filthy.

 

I also noticed it had AC Delco plug wires so they're either original, or replaced with OE.

 

Replacing plugs and wires is a pain in rear on these cars. The driver side is not too bad, but the passenger side is a complete nightmare.

For 2 and 4, you will want to remove the alternator and do those from the top. I was able to get 6 and 8 from below.

Unless you get OEM wires (or new wires that are the same diameter) routing them on the passenger side is a challenge getting them all through the small area under the alternator and above the A/C compressor. Definitely a project to take on in the shop and not in a parking lot.

For the car running crummy when warm, that can be the opti or any number of other things. Could be any of the sensors are dirty or just need to be replaced. At any rate, if it is still the original opti, it is way past due for replacement. Also, spend a bit of time and get the codes pulled out of the computer and see what is in there. Could save you some time, money and effort.

The Haynes manuals are okay for the most rudimentary repairs, but for anything in depth, you will want a factory service manual. I see them on eBay quite often and Craby has one that has everything you could ever want to know about these cars in it.

 

coil and ignition control module can fail as they heat up. test maf, map, temp sensors

 

I'm actually going to purchase the manual from Bishko from rockauto.com but it's $150 so that'll have to wait until next week or so.

More Information for BISHKO 9033

 

That's a good one. I would check eBay first though as they are usually there for about 1/3 of what rockauto is charging.