I don't even know where to begin for searching purposes, what searches I did run were no help.

Car is a 1990 GXL.

Car idle hunts at startup, from about 1200-1800 rpm. On acceleration, all idiot lights illuminate, my gauges glow brighter, and the volt gauge pegs at 16. Pressing the brake brings everything to normal, with the exception of a lower-than-usual idle (700ish rpm). Car also seems to accelerate slower and smell more rich, but this could just be a misperception.

My guess is alternator, but the search feature is acting goofy tonight and not giving me accurate results. Search returned 2 threads, 1 for "How much boost can I run with these mods?" and "Oil and Water Temp gauge not working???". Neither of which pertain to my issue.

 

Skeet Skeet Skeet.























Have you tried pulling codes?

 

No new codes, just TPS.

 

Hunting idle= TPS bad or out of adjustment
Idiot lights all on = bad or failing or mis-wired alt
Anything over 15 volts = bad alt; don't drive the car!

 

Thanks Mark, I'll get it tested tomorrow.

Car is my sole transportation, so I'll have to cross my fingers until a new one arrives.

Hunting idle was not an issue until now.

 

i could be wrong but my car used to do that and it was a bad voltage regulator in the alternator

 

if you have to drive it, drive with every electrical thing on (lights, stereo, air conditioning, rear defrsot, blower on high). You want to bring the voltage down.

The ECU is only spec'd for 15.5 volts, so running on anything higher will eventually burn up the the ECU. Loading up the output should help, but remember it is only a short time before the alt itself smokes out if it is putting out at or above 16 volts.

 

yep, that would do it.

 

Hey mark, is there anyway to Fix the TPS? Or rebuild it? Or does it need to be replaced with another Used TPS that might fail

 

Thanks, will do. I work a short drive away (~10 min) but public transport is not an option. Found an FD alt that is available (thanks, you know who you are) and will now search for what is necessary to get it to work with my car.

 

I think there was a thread where someone tried to rebuild one and failed. Replace it with a used one or buy a new one (~$100 or something).

 

They don't fail as often as they get out of adjustment. Confirm it is not just out of adjustment before replacing one.

If they have failed (there are drop outs when you meter it) then it needs to be replaced. It is worn out.

 

Thought I'd update this thread, Mark was right (as usual). Replaced the alternator and I'm good as new!


Well, maybe not "new", but good as before I had this issue.