Big Problems

1988 chevy caprice classic brougham V8 305 4 barrel.

car will only act up only goin 40MPH and up.if i keep my foot on the gas pedal to speed up to 40-45mph,and let my foot off the pedal, the car will bounce or kindve kickdownn back and lose acceleration quicker than supposed to. when going up a hill or level road and go into 3rd or 4th gear, it will make a lower than normal sound and make a sound like a semi is in too high of a gear going up a hill;purring,pinging,knocking,clugging sound. sounds like carb. is choking itself or getting too much air into it. one time when i was slowing down on a 45 MPH street into a turning lane,around 20 mph or lower, the car shook and vibrated and bounced back like said earlier and then died.

sometimes the starter will make a loud noise. sounds like belts stuck and trying to move or a squealing sound. maybe not engaging.might need shims or something. might be the flywheel missing teeth.

the engine runs-on almost everytime i turn the car off.and when it still does it,if i turn it to the "on" position but not "start", it will idle and run again.

also, there is a hissing sound coming from behind the dash and radio area..

Things i have got worked on so far:
tranny rebuilt
new torque converter
new tranny mount
carburater adjusted 3 times
complete tune up 3 months ago
smog?small vacuum hose replaced(had hole in it)
new water pump
heater hoses replaced-summer
new fuel filter today and air filter today

If anybody would PLEASE give me a small answer or somethin on any of these problems and a price quote it would be a GREAT help to me.thanks
~EDIT~
forgot to add that *supposively* when they rebuilt the tranny they put in a new torque converter.but i dont know if they really did or not.
also, exhaust makes a put-putting sound and couple of times made a fishy/???? smell when i started it up.

That first one sounds like something is not right with your transmission. It sounds like the torque converter is locking up too soon. I don't really know what to do about it though. Maybe your TV cable needs adjusted. I think there may be some vacuum switches or something that have something to do with the tc lockup. Sorry, I wasn't really much help on that--identified a possible problem, but didn't really give a solution

I would almost put money on something being fishy with the TCC solenoid circuit on the transmission. Did you have it rebuilt by a shop? If so, take it back. Sounds like the TCC is engaging when it shouldn't be. Your car should have a TH200-4R transmission in it. I had an '82 Impala with the same transmission and the exact same problem with the torque converter clutch. Replacement of the solenoid fixed it, a $10 cost for the part from Cottman Transmission and 30 minutes under the car getting soaked with tranny fluid.

The problem is that the clutch is engaged at too low an RPM and this causes the engine to lug (the pinging, truck-like sound you describe). The clutch doesn't disengage when decelerating, this causes the engine to sometimes stall when RPM drops below a certain point. In the case of my TCC Solenoid failure, the thing would engage whenever the transmission shifted to second, lugging the engine, and wouldn't disengage unless I put the shifter in neutral or the engine stalled.

The hissing and the dieseling both point to a common issue - a vacuum leak under the dash (the heater control runs on vacuum). Make sure all hoses under the dash are attached and none are broken.

anybody have any more answers or somethin??thanks

There is something you could do to actually check if the TCC solenoid wiring is the problem. There is a wiring harness that plugs into the transmission (on the drivers side I think) Unplug that and take the car for a drive. this should disable the lockup. If your symptoms you described go away, then you have identified the problem. You don't want to drive it like that very much though. When the transmission shifts into overdrive, there is a lot of slippage in the converter, which makes a lot of heat. The lockup takes the slippage our and gives you better gas milage, and less heat. You can drive it with the harness unhooked, but I would not go on any long trips on the interstate. Heat builds up with when there is no lockup, and could eventually cook the tranny.

My torque converter solenoid is wired to a switch on the dash. I turn it on to lock it once I get on the interstate. It's pretty easy to do if you know a little about wiring, and you can find diagrams by doing a google search.

I've been driving mine for 40k miles with the solenoid unplugged. The thing shifts just fine, I do keep an eye on the fluid and have to add a pint per year. It smells ok, still red and not burned.

Maybe I should plug it back in and see what happens? I bought the car with it unplugged, the tranny is a 700R4.

Bob

I'd go with the crapped out vacuum lines behind the dash, I went to my local bumper to bumper and bought some new vacuum line, and replaced all of it, one line at a time so I didn't screw it up. Did that under teh dash to, when I replaced the head gaskets. I think your carb issues are a bad base gasket. My Raider did that and it had a FBC carb. I had tonnes of grief with it. When the engine is idling, spray some WD-40 on the base gasket, if the rpm changes (sorry can't remember off hand if it rose or dropped) then you have a leaky gasket. All the adjusting in the world will not compensate for the air sneaking past at the base.

ok so when you guys read what i origionally wrote, do you understand what im saying like do you KNOW from experience what its doing?because im taking my car to the shop to get evrything done and find the problem and i just need to make sure you guys know what the problem is.

You've asked a lot of questions, and most of us have only tried to answer the first.

Your next question, yes, it sounds like your starter may need some shims/adjustment. If it makes the noise after the car starts and you stop turning the key, then it needs a shim.

The engine runon-- there is some type of solenoid on the carb that takes care of that. Sorry I can't be more specific, but it sounds like that solenoid/sensor may be bad or not hooked up right. This may also be related to the vacuum leak--that is causing the hissing sound in your dash.

Many of these are things that, if you did yourself, could probably solve with just some time and little or no money. Taking it to a mechanic will cost more money for labor. It sounds like some of the wiring and vacuum lines under the hood need to be gone through. Do some research on some things to find out specifics. If you don't have the time to research all of the problems, then take it to a mechanic and have them take care of it, but it will cost you a lot more money.

Sorry if any of that didn't really help.

You've asked a lot of questions, and most of us have only tried to answer the first.

Your next question, yes, it sounds like your starter may need some shims/adjustment. If it makes the noise after the car starts and you stop turning the key, then it needs a shim.

The engine runon-- there is some type of solenoid on the carb that takes care of that. Sorry I can't be more specific, but it sounds like that solenoid/sensor may be bad or not hooked up right. This may also be related to the vacuum leak--that is causing the hissing sound in your dash.

Many of these are things that, if you did yourself, could probably solve with just some time and little or no money. Taking it to a mechanic will cost more money for labor. It sounds like some of the wiring and vacuum lines under the hood need to be gone through. Do some research on some things to find out specifics. If you don't have the time to research all of the problems, then take it to a mechanic and have them take care of it, but it will cost you a lot more money.

Sorry if any of that didn't really help.
o naw its cool ad everything i just needed some answers so i can give the mechanic im takin it to something to look at instead of him standing there and scratchin his head....im takin it to a guy i know and he wont charge me so much as the other ones do.he actually works on police interceptors and has been since the 80's so he knows about caprices

don't take this wrong but just tell him what its doing, as a tech there is nothing worse then people telling me what the problem is (mostly wrong too) or saying "my friend Joe Bob says you need to fix this so it'll work". I'm not an auto tech, but talking to my friends who are mechanics, they have the same issues. Besides if you are wrong then you are back, paying more. Not to rant or anything but yea, just say this is what is going on, and hand him a list of problems. He may have insight we don't.