LT1 Dying at idle
Here goes:
I have a ‘72 C10 with an LT1 from a ‘95 Impala...just got it about a year ago. Starting about 3 months ago I began having an issue where I’d get to a traffic light and it would die at idle...not all the time, but sometimes. I also started having hesitation issues when hitting the gas. Then, one day it just died in the middle of a drive and wouldn’t start back up...it would turn over but just not crank, so it had to be towed.
My mechanic thought we may have a fuel delivery issue, so they messed with the wiring and ultimately replaced the fuel pump. Then, test driving it after that, had the same issue....during a 1 hour drive, it recently died 5 different times when coming to a stop, but would start back up again each time. So, my mechanic thought it was likely a sticky idle air control, which they tried to clean, but wouldn’t clean up well(I guess), so they replaced it.
Then, we drove it again, same issue dying at idle once it was warmed up, then died in the middle of a drive and wouldn’t start back up, so had to be towed...again.
At this point, I asked if they checked the vacuum lines and they said they did and detected no leaks. I asked also if they were getting any codes and i was told by the shop that the OBD1 doesn’t really give codes that would be helpful...🤷🏻♂️?!
They said they suspected the dreaded opti-spark. So, they found a bunch of corrosion around the connections of the optispark and ran some other tests and decided the opti was bad, so they just replaced that today.
I just talked to them and they said they drove it once with new distributor and it hesitated once when hitting the gas, but didn’t do that again. Then said it died as they pulled back into the shop at the end of the test drive but it started right back up.
I’m frustrated to say the least. I don’t know if it’s a mass air flow issue or map sensor or something else all together, but I feel like I’m replacing parts that aren’t fixing the problem.
Is there a better way to diagnose the issue? Based on what I’ve said, what do you guys think?



