Help! 83 turbo is sick...

[z e r o]

Geeze... what a basket case this car has turned into. Its a 1983 turbo, federal, 5 speed. I got the car, and it had a stumble/hesitation/loss of power at light or part throttle pressure while in the 2-3k rpm range. Manifold vacuum at idle is 20, so no major leaks. Fuel pressure numbers are good. Cleaned the under hood and ECU connections. Did a tune up, ngk spark plugs, cap and rotor, pcv valve, fuel filter, new oxygen sensor. Swapped in a spare TPS. ECU rebuilt. Nothing, no change and the problem is still there. Try to cruise in 2-3k rpm range and you get loss of power/stumble and backfire in the exhaust. Press the gas it picks up and acts normal. Let of the gas, it acts normal. Light pressure on the throttle is where the problem is. Went to the 81 turbo supplement and did the test for the AFM at the ECU plug. Should be 240-400 ohm. I get 199, a fail. Instructions then say test AFM. I get 199 again, fail. Bought one from the classifieds. It failed too with 201. Tried it anyway. Problem still there. I need some help and advice. I dont know what to do. Went to a shop for help and thats how the ECU got rebuilt. They are dumbfounded and told me not to drive in that rpm range. (Wow, great solution) I called the other z shop in my area and they told me they dont like working on turbo cars. (I am alone.) I have nowhere else to turn. My skill level is low middle area. Please, I want to know what my dream car is like to drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[signal34]

Hopefully someone will chime in here because I have a similar issue with my 83 turbo. I've also went the connection cleaning very thorough tune-up route with no change in the problem. I haven't checked the AFM yet but I'll try that next.

[z e r o]

Its pretty easy to do with a multimeter. I can walk you through it. It would help me if I could compare your test results with mine. Having results from a known good AFM would be better, but I am willing to try anything at this point.

Edited January 15, 2012 by z e r o

[z e r o]

Tested the TPS at the ECU and the part. It passed. Adjusted it by the instructions for the TVS section. That made no change. The problem is still there. Any thoughts?

[signal34]

Its pretty easy to do with a multimeter. I can walk you through it. It would help me if I could compare your test results with mine. Having results from a known good AFM would be better, but I am willing to try anything at this point.

It will be next weekend before I will probably have time to check it but when I do I will post the results. Maybe between the two of us we can cure both of our cars ills.

[z e r o]

That would be great but we are going to need more help. Do you know anyone on here that may be able to help? I bet there are several people on here that could guide us in the right direction... I just do not know how to get their attention. Do that bat signal thing.

[signal34]

There are not a lot of second gen turbo guys on here, hybridz may yield more results.

[z e r o]

We are fleshing out the problem at zcar.com. Read up on the thread called `Never ending problem.' When you get around to testing, compare what you get with the threads info.

[z e r o]

No resolution in the thread, it became more important for me to look like a monkey because Im a beginner. You may find parts helpful. I will keep you updated as progress is made.