I have a 92 with 30,000 miles on it. yesterday I was on the highway going about 70, I was on reserve and it started to buck like it was running out of fuel. So I took the next exit to get fuel. as I pulled in the station it started to smoke a little from the rear of the engine. It seemed like the tranny was over heating. Anyway I checked all the fluids seemed fine, fueled it up and drove it about two miles home. It ran great after refueling. A freind said that the stabil can cause excess exhaust gases to burn when youre near empty? he also recomended puting a lower thermostat, tranny cooler and change the fluid in the tranny. The engine temp has always ran around 210-228 I was told before it is normal temp for a C-4.

 

I drove it today for about 10 miles it is running go or no go, I dont think it has anything to do with the transmition. Transmission shifting fine no slippage, no warning lights, just no happy medium on the throttle? Either right into it or idle? Its definitely not running as it should.

 

Well, not sure exactly what you are trying to explain in the second post. Are you saying that the car only goes if you give it full throttle?

Temps when idling in traffic will get over 200 pretty quick, but just rolling down the highway, it should run around the thermostat temp (185-190 for most thermostats).

Did the smoke have any odor? eg. did you smell antifreeze, oil, or tranny fluid? I would have to assume that the smoke is from some fluid in the area. Did it smoke when you took it out the second time?

 

SteelBlue91,
Thank you, for verifing the normal temp. range. Mine has always ran over 200 at minimum normal cruising temp. A lot of Vette owners in our car club say its normal vettte's run hot. I am going to change the thermostat.

What I was trying to desrcibe is, it wont maintain any rpms below 2500 except for at idle. You cant hold it there. The smoke was an oil smoke because I am a quart low. I checked all the fluids and they are all fine except for being a quart low on the oil.

 

if you go to a cooler thermostat it will cause you more problems the ecm doesnt start changing timing & fuel curve till it reaches 190 - 195 degrees & being a quart low on oil shouldnt cause it to smoke .

 

With that much oil lost, it should be pretty easy to identify the exact source. It may help to run it a little and check before it gets hot enough to start smoking (Leaked oil won't have time to burn off). However, I'm guessing if you look around before-hand you will see evidence.

When I did mine last time, I think autozone offers at least 2-3 different temp thermostats (like 185/190/195). I wouldn't think 185 would be a problem, but I went with the one they had labelled as stock (I think 195). Like fasteddie said, for the 160/170F ones, you need a special chip setup for this.

As for your other problem... You mentioned stabil... how often/how much have you used it? Do you store over the winter (and use stabil each time)? Normally I would suspect something at the throttle body, but it may be a gas problem. Do you have a factory service manual? They have a large section regarding runability symptoms.

SB91

 

Well, I feel like an idiot... I took it over a friends garage and as I opened the hood the throtle cable was off the track. One problem solved. We put it up on the lift and it is leaking oil from the distributor and the intake. I assume it puddled up and then blew out over the passenger side cat, causing the smoke. I guess it is a good size job replacing all the gaskets. Another vette owner told me that when you by parts for a vette tell them its for an Impala. He said there the same an they charge you more, because it is a vette....

 

You might as well replace the distributor if you have oil leaking from it. It will be toast and probably in short order. I have a '92 as well and I bought an MSD Optispark for mine. I have not installed it yet but it is vented like the Gen II opti. They are pricey but I think they are well worth it.

Funny thing is that this weekend my throttle cable did the EXACT same thing.

Also, I had a 160* stat in my car for the last three years. I flushed my cooling system a couple of weeks ago and put a new 180* OEM stat back in. My car does run a few degrees warmer now, which is odd because it shouldn't, but on the freeway in 85-90 degree temps the car was averaging 195*.