1986 Chevy Astro acceleration problems and dying

Have you checked the catalytic converter to see if it is plugged?

Seems to have good airflow out of the pipe, but will check. New issue has arose also in that the check engine light does not go off or anything. Can't even check for codes now. Pulled and checked the wiring harness to ensure no shorts or anything had occurred, but harness is good.

Ahhhhh!!

That is where I would start. You may feel good air flow, but it may still restricting. Let me know what you find.

Joe

Checked the CAT today, can see daylight through it with no problems (honeycombs).

First start up, even with the check engine light blaring, it runs pretty good, but as soon as it warms up, it dies. It will start back up, but just dies, and of course no revving past 2000 rpm.

have you checked for codes if the light is on?

That is one of the issues. The light only goes out when you completely turn the ignition switch to the off position. Other than that it is on constant for unknown reasons. Even when attempting to pull codes. As for the computer that shops use to read codes, that is one price I have attempted to avoid as the last time I had a shop hook up and $600.00 later it still ran the same with the shop saying they could not find anything wrong. It was fixed after I swapped out the distributor doing the same as what I have this time, just replacing components. This is probably a band-aid approach, but it worked up until now.

As for the light staying on constant, this was why I thought their was a short somewhere in the wiring harness, but have checked the harness which is good. (Three days of chasing wires)

At the moment I am attempting to determine a reliable, affordable, proficient mechanic here in the El Paso, TX area as PCS time is soon approaching and the wife will be using our primary vehicle and will hopefully be using the 86. Heck, I don't even know where I am PCS'ing to yet.

Please continue to give me assitance as the CAT is one thing I had totally forgotten to check and I gladly appreciate your assistance.

I totally understand your concerns with the check engine light. However, if it is on, there is a code stored in the computer that will tell you where the problem is coming from. If there are any nationally recognized parts stores like Auto Zone, Advance Auto... they will scan the computer for free. At least to the best of my knowledge. They do here in PA, but I know it's a law in CA that they can't do it. Thank god we live in a free country. Regardless, I never heard anything about TX being like that, so see if you can find one to do it. Again, here in PA they do it for free as well as most all states. They will tell you the code and then we can go from there.

Try it and let me know what you find.

Joe

Well I tried the autozone and o'rielly route and they said they could only do OBDII. So I took it to Firestone, $95.99. However they could not figure it out so they did not charge me. I was informed that they could not get any comunication with my ECU, and have no clue as to what may be causing the issue of the computers not being able to communicate.

There has to be a wiring problem. Now to find that. You need to check wiring from the scan point to the ECU. Check for continunity. Make sure the wiring harness to the ECU is tight, clean and free of corrosion.