why would my firebird formula want to die when the car warms up.

35

Asked by boweiser Dec 17, 2007 at 03:52 PM about the 1991 Pontiac Firebird Formula

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

my car runs eratic and wants to die when warmed up.the engine surges bad when warm but when cold it runs pretty good most of the time.the check engine light goes off and on.it seems to run best when cold in the morning.i was told the computer might be bad but i dont know how to check it or have any idea what else to look for before i replace the computer.any ideas would be a help.

3 Answers

84,385

Time to go back to basics here. Pressure test the cooling system to make sure you don't have a head gasket leak. Do a dry and a wet compression test also to check for rings, etc., which may be going bad and causing a problem as the engine warms up. You might want to check your ignition coil and module; these can be tested for you for free at most Auto Parts stores. Have the engine codes read to see what stored codes are coming from the Check Engine light going on and off -- even if the light is not on, the codes should be stored. This will point you in possible directions as well. Once you have eliminated all of these things you can see if the computer itself is bad. Likely it is something else causing your problem and not the ECM.

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35

how could a person check to see if a computer is bad before replacing it.

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