Still having LT1 problems on 94 z

[bigbadspoon]

Hey folks. I posted on here a while ago about my car having a really high, idle (1500+), stinking to high heaven, buring a hellava lot of gas, and have a very severe loss of power. Some people told me the MAF could be the trouble, so I got a new one, and it did help. I got a bit of power back and my fuel economy went up about 5 mpg, but I'm still having problems.
I saw that someone mentioned the IAC could be another problem causer if it's really dirty or some such. How would I go about getting that thing out to clean, or is it a real pita to do and I should just call a mechanic? It's in the TB, right? Would spraying one of those 5 dollar cans of tb cleaner into there help at all, or are those just a product on the market to let people think they're actually doing something?
Also, something to mention that I left out last time: I had to have my opti-spark replaced a couple of months ago when it failed on me. Up to about 5 minutes before the SES light came on saying the opti was out my car was super fast and had tons of low-end torque. Now that it's fixed, It barely gets off the line and has just about zero power until over 2000 rpm. Think maybe the mechanics messed up something or didn't fix it right?
Thanks for your input. With any luck I can have this problem fixed and be down at the track with the local car club and show up the imports a little.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Do you have a laptop? If so, I would HIGHLY recommend getting an ALDL cable and hooking it up. It was one of the best investments I've ever got. I got mine for $50 through ebay. It came with all the software, but Freescan seems to only work with it. With this program, you can see exactly what your IAC readings are, injector pulsewidth, BLMs (for telling if the PCM is compensating rich/lean due to another problem), O2 sensor readings, MAP, etc. You can read trouble codes as well. Instead of wasting money replacing parts that don't need to be replaced (what I've done too many times), you can diagnose it well. Just my $0.02.

To answer your IAC question, IMHO, it would be best to remove the throttle body to get the IAC out. It has 2 "star" screws that hold it to the TB. Once removed, you can clean it out with carb cleaner, or replace the whole thing.

Hope you get your problem fixed though...I've had a terrible stumble as well with the T/A and have replaced a countless amount of parts, yet it just keeps coming back. But with the ALDL connector, I can at least read that something is causing my left bank to run rich.

[bigbadspoon]

I wish I did have a laptop because that sounds like a pretty cool thing to use. When I pay off this car and all the repairs I'm having to make on it, I'll probably invest in one, but until then, I'm completely broke and have to rely on my mechanic not ripping my head off. Maybe I can blame the problem on their fixing of my opti and tell them they have to do it under warranty. Who knows? I might get lucky with that.

[Craig 94 TA GT]

A less practical idea is to haul your PC over to your garage and record the readings from there. It saves from buying a laptop, and you could read the PCM at high idle, then properly diagnose it. The cable I bought was plenty long, about 9 ft. in length. Just a thought...

[DeWynter]

Is there a cable and software for the 89 TPI computers? and where can I get it

[Craig 94 TA GT]

Here is the cable I bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33598

I see that WinALDL supports your '89, but I have never used that software, nor used it with the cable, so I don't know about compatibility?? I guess it's supposedly supposed to work, but...

this cable works with Freescan on mine, yet doesn't work with TTS Datamaster on mine (although is says it's supposed to). But TTS Datamaster works on Steve93Z's Z28, yet Freescan doesn't work on his. A bit strange.