Altitude Compensator

[‘81cutty]

I have a 81’ Cutlass Supreme v6 231 engine with a Rochester 210 dual jet carburetor. When I was living in Los Angeles my car was running fine, the second I move to the high desert it would not stay on when trying to start it. I was going through a repair manual online and found a section that says:

Altitude Compensator: Description and Operation​

On "Minimum Function Systems" grounding ECM terminal 18 compensates for high altitude operation.

Los Angeles is 305’ altitude and the High Desert is 2,875’ will that make any difference into why it’s acting it? And has anyone grounded the ECM terminal as stated in the repair manual?

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Terminal 18 is the output for the fuel mixture control solenoid. Grounding it would default it to constant lean. Solenoid on is lean, solenoid off is rich. Grounding the green diagnostic plug in the engine bay would accomplish the same thing.

 

[ELCAM]

Engine high altitude is generally greater than 5000 feet.

The change in altitude that you have will certainly have an affect on the tune. Keep in mind that there will be less vacuum available as the elevation increases so things like the choke pull off and the EGR and EFE valves will work differently.

Look for and fix vacuum leaks, try advancing the timing about 4 degrees. Increase the idle 200 RPM.

 

[‘81cutty]

Thanks for the advance I’ll start the suggestions when I get time to work on my car and update when possible, I appreciate your guys quick response