missing @ high RPM

[sheepshoop]

When I’m driving and I’m running in a High RPM range my 85 celebrity starts missing usually when I hit 70mph this also happens when I mash the gas from a dead start and it idles rough in the cold but when it is warmed up the idles fine but still misses at high RPM. My celebrity has the 2.8L if it matters

Some things I did to try and fix this were all new ignition: plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and Ignition modal.

Sprayed 2 cans of Amsoil Powerfoam in to the Carburetor to try and clean that out
Also after driving and the car is shut off it will either back fire or sputter kind of like old diesels.
Any ideas?


My other question is does anyone make stiffer coils for an 85 celebrity wagon?

[notsoslimshady76]

In my opinion its either clogged fuel filter or dying fuel pump. As for stiffer coils, if you get the ones out of "U body" vans (pontiac transport, Lumina APV, any of the ones that look like dustbusters lol)....they alll have stiffer spring rates from my understanding

[dcjredline]

The backfire leans towards timing. Try that if it is a distributor on those cars.

[Jr's3800]

I agree with Don...

Does this 85 have the HEI distributor?

I am thinking that 86 was the transition year for it iirc..

But do check that timing..

As for the springs, as it was stated above the U Body was built on the A body platform..

But you may want to do your research to see what the Install height is... As well compare your current spring rate to springs the Sport models used...

[sheepshoop]

ok thanks

it does have a distributor

[Tuddi]

Hi there sheepshoop.

You have the same age/setup Celeb as I have.

Timing is the reason for the backfires. It should be set at 10° BTDC, and that's easy enough to tune it to... if you don't have the same problem I have, which is a destroyed harmonic balancer (on which one finds the markings of the timing). You should also check on all the parts inside your distributor cap. Mine were rotten... cracked up and missing. The wires leading out from under the distributor cap should be checked as well, mine were cracked, and resulted in the engine stalling... often times the engine felt like running out of gas... while it was simply not getting any sparks. Insulation tape was the short time fix which worked, changing the wires was the long time fix (I hope).

[CieraSL92]

What do you guys have for junkyards in Peru? A used balancer is like $25 here. I got mine new last year at AutoZone for 130.

[Tuddi]

I have heard of a junkyard here, but have gotten no directions to it. Mainly the junk is riding in the streets, causing accidents and deaths. Of course there is an abundance of spareparts from hundreds (if not thousands) of sparepart dealers, but the variety of cars here is very limited, and finding something for a vintage car like mine, is very tricky, if not impossible. I have thought about buying another car for parts, but until now I have not found anything for sale. A friend of mine has some family that supposedly owns a Celebrity that's been parked for years (either with a bad engine or bad tranny), and he has promised to ask these folks if they'd be interested in selling it whole or in parts.... but until now I have heard nothing more from that.

Everything here can be fixed, and cheaply too... but there is also the problem with bad fixes, bad workmanship, bad attitude.... and I have long ago reached the point where I simply prefer to do things myself... if I have the tools... or be involved in the repairs if I have someone to do things for me. A good example is when I got the Rochester carb. Just before they wanted to put it in, I took it and checked it out. There just so happened to be missing 3 screws and other 3 were so loose that they'd been shaken out of their sockets during the first day. This is the way people down here do "repairs"... they really believe they can get their clients to come and pay for new repairs, if (when) the first bad repairs fail, due to missing parts or bad workmanship.

Even the simple task of securing a radiator hose properly, by tightening the ( ... what's it's name... arrgh... well, it's the metal strip/band one puts on the hoses to hold them in place.... ) is beyond their abilities.

One CAN find people who do their jobs properly, on time and in an honest manner, but that's like the famous needle in a haystack. Exists, but hard to find.

$130 for your harmonic balancer... that's a bit expensive. I see that it is listed at around $90 HERE (http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1221062,parttype,5512)

For my engine it is less than $50 (http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1038529,parttype,5512) for the most expensive one... of course there is the additional cost of transport and import-taxes and value added tax when it comes here, but at least it's going to be new and last longer than what's left of the car. I have been offered a used one for $50, but I'd rather have a new one than something that has unknown history and might just as well fail in a week.

[CieraSL92]

Hose clamp?

I didn't really shop around for that. I needed it and my buddy was out of town for the next week except for that evening, so it was either get it or go another week. It's held up nice though. Not too crazy about junkyard harmonic balancers for the 3300. They all go or are on there way out.

We have TONS of a-bodys still in service in the U.S, and many in the junkyard. What are you guys rolling on? Old beatles? 1970's?

[Tuddi]

Yes, there is abundance of VW beetles from the 70's and then there's Daiwoo Tico's and Toyota station cars (and other stations... main competitor is Nissan).

Here is a rather non-glamourous description of the fleet in Peru:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/01/18/tico.extinction.ap/

Everything else is measured in handfuls. Most cars here are used for taxi driving, and models differing from the bulk, are to be found, but not in large quantities.

This is a country of almost 30 million people (roughly 1/10th of the US population), and last year only 27.000 cars were imported and sold here. In another comparison is Venezuela, populated with roughly 25 million people, yet they imported and sold 270.000 cars last year.

Yes, Peru is a 3rd world country, and that is clearly seen when one looks at the car-fleet.





All of the above cars are in daily use. The fourth one (the youngest one) has been in a crash, and the whole body wobbles when it drives... there is no structure left in it... I have passed it several times during the past 6 months, I've even seen it drive past police, park in front of a police station etc.

Personal freedom down here is almost complete, and police does not act like the prolonged arm of a fascist government... as it is in most western / industrialized nations.

[mickstan_VR]

ahhhh freedom. We loose little more of that here everyday it seems.
Anyway, some of those old trucks look to be in fairly good condition.

[mickstan_VR]

WOW! Those Tico Taxis are SMALL!!!

[Tuddi]

Yes, the Tico's are the size of a bread-toaster. Deaths in Ticos are very common, even in crashes of minor significance. The engine is 3 cyl, and the carburator is almost 1/4 of the size of the engine... When I take taxis, I prefer anything but Tico ... and VW beetles...