[Dustin1984]

My '94 Firebird occasionally has trouble keeping an idle going... sometimes it will drop down to 500 rpm or lower and stop altogether. I thought that with changing the distributor to MSD, the problem might have stopped, but that is not the case, what should I try next?

 

[hendy94Z]

Check for any check engine codes...some of them won't trigger the check engine light itself

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[Dustin1984]

it seems the AIR system is the culprit of the codes most, if not all, of the time. there's also an exhaust leak which I haven't yet taken care of because I'm replacing the exhaust in entirety in July. I've been thinking the ICM might be on the way out, but it's perplexing because sometimes it starts up normally and idles nicely around 700 rpm...

 

[hendy94Z]

Could be a number of things. Vacuum leaks to the ICM. Next suggestion is visit shbox.com, very useful site for diagnosing/fixing most issues on these cars

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[1_black_LT1]

IAC controls idle, check that?

 

[steveo]

how does it run the rest of the time?

there are so many things it could be, it's rediculous to guess at this point, we need more info, a realtime datalog from when it dies would be a great start

could be anything from a sketchy idle air control motor, a dead spot down low on the tps, a stuck open EGR, an ignition switch issue, a sticky lockup solenoid in the trans, any number of wiring issues, a loose ground, fouled o2 sensors, failed ICM, intermittently failing coil, the list goes on and on

an exhaust leak or a failure in the AIR system wouldn't cause it to stall, fyi

 

[Dustin1984]

the only time it is an issue is at idle and startup... it seems I have to crack the throttle a bit to get it started now.