guitarplayersteven

So every now and then when I start my camaro, it will start up fine but will idle at around 100-200 rpm, and when i try to give it gas, it will sound normal but as soon as i let off the gas it will idle again at 100-200 rpm again and eventually dies. I noticed that when this happens, if i take the key out of the ignition, wait a couple seconds and start it again, it will start completely normal every single time this happens. what is happening here?

BobDoLe

iTrader: (11)

sounds like it could be the MAF... except i'd expect it to die when you give it gas. how does it drive? does it die when you're idling when you come to a stop?
service engine light on?

it could be any number of things. any modifications? o2 sims?

guitarplayersteven

Everything is stock. Now, when I start the car and it idles that low, I don't even try to drive it. I can give it gas and it will rev and sound normal, but once I let off the gas completely, the rpms will drop really low again and eventually die.

There once was a time when I started it and it idled really low and then after a couple seconds it went back up to 900 rpm. As I started pulling out of the drive way in neutral, the rpms dropped again and the car died. I really don't know what it could be.

metalmilitia606

iTrader: (8)

My TA does something similar. No codes or anything. The guy who looked at my car said the MAF might be on its way out, but I don't know. It seems like one of those random glitchy F-body deals, because my friend's 99' TA did the exact same thing mine does, but his stopped.

1sick'98WS6

iTrader: (19)

have you ever changed the fuel filter on the car

guitarplayersteven

Nope, the only thing I've ever changed on my car are the springs and the wheels.

Is it possible that it could be the battery?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Have you ever used fuel stabilizer? If not, its definitely time for a new filter. (It could be all gummed up, especially with how infrequently it has been driven.)

2001redSS

My '01 SS when it had less than 60k used to do that too. Then it just quit as well. Never got it fixed.

guitarplayersteven

Well I think mine has been getting worse now. It happens more frequently and now every now and then, I will try to start my car, but nothing happens, almost as if the battery were completely dead. Ill try starting my car many more times to see if it would do anything, and its still a dead car. Ill do something random like turn the headlights on, then start my car and it will do some kind of test for all the gauges on the dash (the speedometer, tachometer, and everything else will go all the way to max), and then ill start my car and it will work.

What is going on? It is getting pretty annoying now!

matt1289

sounds like one of your battery cables is loose. I had the problem before just had to tighten one of the battery cables. It could also be the main computer acting up as well.

the idleing issue sounds more like the MAF sensor.

Joe's99ss

It may not be the fix, but I've seen dirty throttle bodies cause this condition before, not alowing IAC valve to properly function. May want to try cleaning it out, esecially around the throttle blade.

DaddySS

The idle is controlled by the IAC which in turn is controlled by the PCM. It uses the temperature to determine how much additional fuel to give to the engine on start up and controls the idle speed. I would reset the PCM and then do the idle re-learn procedure. Do a search on here to get the procedure for both of those.

1 FMF

iTrader: (1)

this is exactly what happens when you clear the PCM via disconnecting the battery for a period of time, or pulling the PCM BAT and PCM IGN fuse,
the short term fuel maps in the PCM are cleared and it has to relearn them, which happens over some short period of time as the engine runs, maybe like 30 minutes.

When I have cleared my pcm manually as described, it would always start up and and idle very low (less than 500 rpm) the first time, and i could let it run and manually keep the idle up and drive the car for 20 minutes and it would go back to a normal 800 rpm idle. But I also could always shut the engine off then immediately restart it and have the idle be perfectly fine. I've never got or found an answer why this happens.

guitarplayersteven

So what could I do to fix this? DaddySS said to reset the PCM and then do the idle re-learn procedure, would this fix it?

It has been getting worse over time, almost every fresh start it will do this. As more time passes, the odds of absolutely nothing happening, like as if the battery were completely dead, start happening more and more and all I do to fix this is, take the key out of the ignition, flash my headlights, and start it back up.

hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

check your battery, the battery cables+terminals, change your fuel filter, check the maf and iac