hellow all,
i have a 1987 el camino conquista all original with a factory v8 305. all of a sudden it has no power. starts, idles,and revs fine but when on the road she barely moves at 25mph. i thought the cat converter may be blocked so i had a new one put in and no change whatsoever.carb , distributor both rebuilt. new plugs and wires . no lifter noise, knocking sounds or engine shake ,idles smooth. checked tranny fluid ,clean and full not burnt. does not overheat but does run a litttle hotter than usual.car has 210k miles , engine never had the heads off. reccently replaced intake manifold gaskets due to water leak . problem arose before i changed the gasket.
all help and suggestions are much appreciated.
thanks,
arnulfo

Check fuel pump & pressure asap

Have you done a compression check yet and when was the last time that tranny fluid & filter was changed? Could be a vacuum leak but you said it idles and reevs good. How about that air filter? Did you try running down the road without the air cleaner on? I had an air fliter plugged up with oil once that did that and I didn't figure it out until I ran down the road with the air cleaner off and it ran like a bat out of h*ll! I would have never thought a dirty air filter would make that much difference but it did! (I was pretty young & dumb then!) :nanawrench:

Parking brake stuck on? It might sound stupid but it would kill the power.

Good call Woody! :beer:

had tranny serviced less than a year ago. i did try driving without the air filter (air filter is new) and got the same results.when i pulled the plugs they were all dry and brown. i have not tried checking the fuel pump pressure only because it does not die out , bog out ,or miss at all even when i accelerate, it feels like an exhaust blockage which is why i had the cat. converter replaced. is there any other point in the exhaust system where a blockage can occur besides the muffler or cat. converter? has anyone ever had a muffler blockage? emergency brake was released .

I would check that fuel pump pressure anyway. also make sure you have a good fuel filter. A bad EGR val could also cause you to loose power. don't rule out engine compression, that's a lot of miles. is she smoking any, loosing some oil between oil changes? if I thought it was the muffler, I would just saw the dang pipe off near the inlet and run it down the road; if that wasn't it, I could always weld it back on or clamped it back together with a reducer from the parts store!

Yeah, it could still be the exhaust system. When it's idling, you could listen at the tail pipe for what is normal sound and exhaust output. Even the muffler could have a baffle broke loose, blocking the flow somehow. Just ideas...........:smileyb:

Yepper, Sounds like the OLD POTATO, UP THE PIPE TRICK, don't it? :dontknow:

It does sound like the old potato trick but that could easily be ruled out and it probably wouldn't run right at all!

I basically stole a 65 327/300 horse 4 speed Impala once because of an internal collapse of the right header pipe. Pipe looks perfect on the outside but inner wall collapses.

+3 on the compression check, try it, you may have a couple off, and its easy takes 10 minutes probably, and I liked the fuel filter/pump you might be getting enough at idle but then try to speed up is starving itself. just a thought.

Social Rider, I forgot to ask you if you have checked it for codes?

Let's us know what you come up with/what fixes it as I also have an 87 with the 305!

I had an 83 with the 305 and it puked the guts from the cat and clogged the muffler it wouldn't spin the tires on a stone road but idled fine and started fine finished gutting the cat and put new muffler on fixed my problem jim:beer:

With 210,000 miles a likely culprit is the nylon gears on the timing chain may have taken a hike and the timing may be way slow. That would allow the engine to start and run fine but be way down on power and cause it to run a bit hotter also, seems to match the symptoms he has sooooo?????? The exhaust is also a real suspect including the heat riser on the passenger side being stuck causing that side of the engine to have to "breathe" through the crossover under the carb---that too would raise the temperature and kill the power. A quick check of timing and heat riser operation should put those issues to rest quickly..............Dan

Great Idea there old coot.

I bought my wife a new Camaro in '86, and after 4 or 5K miles, it would act up so bad it would hardly run, and had a lot of intake noise ( like a carb with the air cleaner off) It turned out to be the converter. Kind of strange on a new car. That's when I noticed very little sound or flow from the tail pipe.

I'm not much on 5th Gens, but by the sound of it I'm thinking its timing or ignition related. Put a timing light on it and make sure it's advancing the way it should. If the timing mark stays put even when you're goosing the engine, then it's computer, distrib, or the wires that connect them. If the timing mark moves like it should but is way off from where it should be, I'll bet either the distrib is off a tooth or the timing gear has jumped a tooth.

Good luck

Great Idea there old coot.

Thanks Woody31...One of the few virtues of being older is having experienced a lot of problems to base advise on....one of the big problems is being able to remember them long enough to transfer the knowledge:dontknow:................Dan

I know what you mean Dan, same problem here......I think...or....what were we talking about?:smileyb:

I agree with Dan, on both posts.:yell:

If it revs fine and idle fine and you get no traction, it would be the tranny or the rear end, or it could even be the torque ! Well, everything behind the engine :)

I would check:
Fuel Filter
EGR Valve for a tiny bit of trash keeping it open always
Timing (worn gears causing it to jump around under revs)
Fuel Pressure under acceleration (under load as on a dyno is perfect if you can)
Spark Plug wire grounding out (hey...its easy to check)
Air Cleaner element (cleanliness = flow)
Just throwing darts here......Good Luck!

man this thread takes me back --71 camaro and a slipping turbo 350 tranny-but i would try checking the timing- per Old Coot suggestion. Let us know what you find? CSI CENTRAL LOL:poke:

x2 check timing...check the knock sensor...:texas:

210k WOW.. It might be telling you that it wants an over haul, and complete exhaust system. Unless it's your only ride. Then I would agree with the amputation.
Jeff.

That should say Muffler amputation.

Hello Social Rider, we're dying to know what fixed your 305 "no power" issue! Please, please, chime in and let us know! Thanx! :dontknow:

sorry i took so long to reply fellas , im going to try to get back to the car within the next couple of weeks and try some of the good ideas you guys gave. i recently bought my daughter a house that is in dire need of repairs so thats where all my spare time has been going. as soon as i get it figured out i will let you all know. i really appreciate all the help you all have offered.youre'a great bunch of people.many thanks to you all,
arnulfo