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Question
Dear Rob,
I have an '82 Cadillac Eldorado (HT4100) and I been having the problem of stalling on certain situations. When I start the car it turns on with no problem, but when I put it into 'drive' or 'reverse' it stalls and turns off BUT if I step on the gas right before it feels like its gonna stall, it'll stay on and wont turn off by itself anymore. Ive been told it could be my 'Vacuum pump' and/or 'Thermo Vacuum Switch' but 1) I dont know if it is and 2) I cant find the location of either of those parts on the car. So I need advice as too what it could be and what I can do about it. I REALLY like my car because its my first car ever, so I would hate to "put it down" (so to say).
Hello,
There are more than two things that can be wrong, not always serious and yes it could be a vacuum issue at the throttle body, an idle speed motor and other things. Although some like to tinker, it is sometimes less expensive to have a professional look at it.
Find a good service center that has the right diagnostic equipment to fix the car. If you want to hold on to the car for $30 and if they still carry info that old, a good place for the complete factory manual giving you the locations of the parts you and I mentioned with all the diagnostics would be at http://www.alldata.com
You should be able to go as new as 1985 if you can't find 1982.
If nothing else, if the shop you pic to fix it doesn't have info that old, you would.
Good luck!
Http://wwwautotheftexpert.org
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Rob Painter
Expertise
Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?
Experience
Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.
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