Had to delete ECM now I'm stuck. Help

[Thediggsmang]

This post might be long but I want to get you as much info as possible. 85 El Camino. Bought with an Edelbrock intake manifold, a Holley 750 double pumper and flow master exhaust. I found out that the rest is all original so I've since had to replace the front, starter, alternator and blow motor. When I bought it none of the emission stuff was hooked up. No O2 sensors and the exhaust has no CAT at all. Bought it that way. The only on going issue was that she smelled like gas. Not just smelled but if I drive her for more than an hour then I would get a massive headache from the gas fumes. I even got out of 2 tickets because "that thing stinks. Here's your warning. Please get outta here." It was that bad. I bought a gasket with all new gaskets and figured i would work on that. First thing was I noticed that there was no exhaust manifold. Metal to metal so I replaced them. And that's when my problems started. Back firing, juttering, back fire through carbs. No get up and go at all bearly get up to speed. So I went on forums and was told that my CAT was clogged but since I have no CAT the said remove the ECM. So I had a buddy who knows how to do this kind of thing. Or so I thought. I planned on giving him an 01 ninja ZX11 for helping me. He removed the ECM and it has been at his place for almost 2 months and hes done with it I guess. So now I'm totally stuck. I need to get it outta there before its towed. I have the Gbody Chilton and planned on going off the 78 wiring. Diagram but none of the colors. What I need to know is what I need to do to make run and get home. Don't care about AC or anything extra just running to get home.

Also if there is anyone in the Oklahoma City Area that can help me get my El Camino going. I'll buy whatever parts I need then I will be willing to give up an 01 ZX11 motorcycle just for the help. I have the starter on the way and the will run no problem.

 

[SSpev]

so if it is all original, what engine? it has to be a 305 or smaller. 750 DP IS OVER KILL. And sounds like something is wrong with it to boot. no cat, no ecm, no prblem. good 600 carb and and hei distributor is all it SHOULD take if all else is in working order. heck I ran mine without ecm WITH elec Qjet, and cat for 2 years.

 

[69hurstolds]

Not sure where to start, but it sounds like your buddy doesn't know f*ck-all what he's doing when removing an ECM.

That carburetor would never be my first choice for the street. I'm assuming small block, so therefore there's no need for a double pumper. If there is, not sure what it would be. A quadrajet would be so much easier and better for your engine IMO.

I surely wouldn't give him squat sh*t if he's had your car 2 months and didn't do anything but f*ck it up even further. If it's backfiring after putting (I'm assuming this) exhaust manifold gaskets on, I'm guessing a plug wire or two got mis-placed back on the plugs?

He basically turned your car into a big pile of crap.

In reality, to get it to fire, you need a NON-CCC distributor. If it still has the original CCC HEI, you need to get a non-computer controlled distributor with a vacuum canister for vacuum advance. If it's already been changed over, something isn't right, obviously. Hard to diagnose in a few sentences.

Hook the distributor vacuum canister to either ported vacuum on the carb or directly to the intake manifold to a fitting. Disconnect it when checking initial timing, however.

The wiring is fairly simple. You can use the same wiring that goes to the cap and coil. You just won't have the CCC plug that goes to the ECM harness.

 

[08Malibu]

I ran my old Monte for a bit without the ecm with the original carb and an older distributor. It ran fine just a bit rich. Sounds like you have a few other issues.

 

[L92 OLDS]

The others are spot on regarding using the Holley 750 double pumper. The jetting is likely screwed up and you are force feeding the engine. Check your oil!!!! It's probably diluted with gasoline.
A nice Quadrajet carb with a non CCC HEI would fix the problem.

 

[Thediggsmang]

Yes it's a 305. Sorry. And I bought it with the 750 on. I'm realizing that if my buddy knew anything about cars like this he long forgot. I now have a 600 cfm quadrajet on her and she does have a HEI distributor. Thank you all for responding. I thought my buddy was going to be able to teach me some thing about these engines. Motorcycles I know very well but cars. Same concept but completely different in practice. I was mainly wondering my transmission has 4 wires that run from it. Do I need those wires hooked to something for it to work? And how badly can I **** up the engine by starting and trying to get it 30 minutes home? There also is a wire running from my distributor. Pink that I guess goes to neutral safety switch? Does and of that need to be hooked up for it to run?

 

[fleming442]

The pink is power to the distributor; leave it alone.

Did you use a non-computer distributor and carb?

It'll be fine to drive home, but you need to get it running right.

 

[Thediggsmang]

I only ran her once with the quadrajet on her and she was doing the exact same thing as was the Holley. She was acting as if the CAT was clogged. Yes non computer distributor and carb. I did catch that much when I was looking to replace the Holley. My bike isn't running right so I can't keep riding it across town until its fixed and I can't let the El camino sit for another week without being worked on. I just need to get it home so I can work on them without having to drive anywhere. I have the Chilton but it doesnt seen to tell me crap I also don't know what I'm looking at but I can figure out anything.

 

[fleming442]

Well, just to mess with your head: stinky exhaust could be rich OR lean. Pulling a plug will tell you. It sounds like you have a massive vacuum leak. Spray some carb cleaner around sealing surfaces and rubber hoses; it the idle comes up, you found your leak.

 

[Tc77]

check the spark plug wires and make sure the firing order is correct