It indeed is a project , and me the Wife and even my 17 year old daughter have fun working on it. I do know how many connections there are..LOL..I took apart about 30,000 of them and cleaned them last night..

The water issue in indeed a problem however the car NEVER stopped running....he ran around town with a torn top wet seats....so yes we are aware of the possible problems on the horizon even if we get this kicked.

I pulled connections and replaced Vaccum hoses and it started right up..as it warmed it it seemed to start missing..and spark knocking like the Burn was bad.... I never thought a Timing issue would be intermitten , or even progressive...I always assumed it was Either in Time OR not..and the way it started up and hummed...like the Pony Killer it is...makes me think time is fine...again as it warms...gets worse...Will start up but WILL NOT stay running?..I am trying to find someone to come to the house to scan for codes....Car can not move....

How could you resist a face like this?

 

sounds like the opti may be toast. how old is it?

 

Intake or exhaust manifold? If that wasn't oil burning off from a leaky valve cover gasket, then your right bank might be running too hot. The cause? A rich air/fuel mix. Your problem could be anything from the ignition, injectors, sensors (such as an oxy sensor), or even a toasted computer. Did the car get rained on, or was it submerged in the hurricane? You really need to get the thing scanned to try and pinpoint the problem.

 

I just replaced the Opti with a brand new set up...I stated that in the begining of the thread on Page 1.

I am working on getting a scanner to the house...I am dying to find out what codes if any.

Car was NOT submerged...the Inerior was rained on...from a ripped top...which happened during the Hurricanes of 04...

When I replaced the Opti with a REAL GM set up...Steam never happened again...

I am not asking for a Quick Solution..just brainstorming with you guys...

 

could an OXY sensor cause the Problem of not idling and dieing?...Can you hook them up backward?

 

sounds to me like you got a pissed off o2 sensor like 69 was referring to. you probably have one that's going bad. if one isn't reading right, it will cause the computer to think the car is too lean, thus dumping more fuel to get the air/fuel mixture right. of course the computer is wrong there and you're stuck with a rich running car.

also, what did you gap your plugs at?

 

yes...i bought bosch o2 sensors and apparently my car didnt' like them. i figured, hey, they're new so how can they be bad already? but my car was stumbling and shaky and we couldn't figure out why. couldn't keep it running without pushing the gas. i unplugged the o2 sensors and it ran better, but still not ideal.

got new delco o2 sensors and the problem disappeared

 

A thought about the oxygen sensors though. They manage air/fuel after the engine is hot and the system is in "closed loop" mode.
If the engine is acting the same cold or hot, an oxy sensor wouldn't be the issue.

 

.050 on the gap

And the Engine fires up and idles like a champ...as it warms it runs worse and dies...

There is what looks to a replaced Oxy sensor on the lower pipe...wire was spliced/ but connected ..looks newer...knowing the previous owner..it is NOT delco...??

 

that's why i said o2 sensor, because he said it idles fine, but gets rough after it warms up.

check the connections, if nothing else, re-do the splice job yourself so you know its connected and then see what happens. if it doesn't work, i'd replace the sensor itself