3.4 stalling and surging

[Berettaspeed]

I NEED HELP,

Well im at work and i have a 94 monte carlo Z34 with an auto(pace car if anyone cares LOL). my problem when i start it it has a really bad missfire and if i do not give it gas it will die right away. NO ENGINE LIGHT.(wonderfull GM right) right away i check the MAF and notice oil in the intake tube. I clean that out and notice its the vent tube thats leaking oil. also had a really bad air filter. still after cleaning this out i get the same problem.

Now when i start the car i notice a few things that may indicate a major problem. the dash lights dim and flicker. also when i goto start it its like a delay for the starter ti kick in and all the lights dim.(like a dead battery) then it will start fine. i then checked connectinons and such. still the same probelm. my tach when the car runs jumps from 2,000 rpm to 4,000 with no change in engine speed. I have 3 suspects but with our scanner broke i don't have any easy way to check.

my first thought was the oil in the intake tube maybe cause a hesitation. then when i saw the tach going crazy i am thinking the crank sensor and or ignition module. now with the lights flickering im thinking the ecu is bad. but the headlights go off when the engine dies and then pop on again and the engine runs fine again. I know it sounds like a ground/short probelm, but i check the battery and other grounds. anyother places to check or any ideas?
im hoping some of you guys might have run into this before and could point me in the right direction...

Ideas welcome. well im going to test a couple more things so ill check up on this about every 30min or so.

later,
mike

[z34phoenix]

i would first redo the grounds for the battery. sand the body where the bolts go and use dielectric grease on them. check the pos to the power distribution box. if they all check out, check your plug wires for cracks. and check all the connections to the Coil packs.

put a volt meter on the battery and check it, or take it to autozone and they will do a full check for free.

question... looking at your sig you say 3400 and your subject says 3.4L so what engine is this problem on? 3400 is not the same as 3.4L the 3.4 is the LQ1 DOHC and the 3400 is a push rod engine. judgeing from you saying 94 im guessing it is a lq1. but it also wasnt a monte carlo back in 94 either the z34 of 1994 was a lumina. so im guessing you got a serious problem cause the car your talking about doesnt even exist

i'd say check the things i listed above and you should be good. if those dont catch the prob, i'd check the alt. i know it is a PITA to get to but if the main wires are loose you could end up frying your ECU. one last thing check the pos wire at the starter. that could help too.

[Berettaspeed]

its a customers car in the shop and i just wanted to see if anyone had this probelm. i checked the POS connections and the grounds. I made my own ground strap from 8 GA wire in 3 spots just to see what would happen. I now believe its and ECU problem cause i tap the ecu and it flickers and lights get bright and dim out. well prodution date was 09/94 and yes its a 3.4 dohc. some kind of pace car. which i guess woiuld make it a 95. i just hope its not shorting out anywhere. monday ill tell you if it worked.

I forgot to mention it only does this once in a while. sometimes it will starts and run perfect. i don't think it has anything to do with the wires or ignition module anymore because the lights go out as well with total loss of power. and i sprayed salt water everywhere. there is also a new alt. the customer put in himself. everything was tight when i checked.
i hate electrical gremlins!!

[napatiger]

If it is a LQ1, you may want to rewire the POS from the term to both the Starter and Alt. I don't like the stock setup of stringing them together.
I used 2? ga wire independently to both. This cleared up all the gremlins I had.