1990 Pontiac Firebird Logo
Posted on Jan 31, 2009
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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1990 Pontiac Firebird dies when given gas

I dont understand why once u give the car gas, it will die unless u let go before it dies, in which case it goes back to idle state. It was doing this 1 year ago before i lost the key.
the car has the following new parts in it:

Battery
Throttle Position Sensor
PCM
Fuel Pump
Intank Fuel Filter
Outside Tank Fuel Filter
Plugs and Wires

As for the mechanics, they said no errors were coming up and everything shows to be working fine.

after fixing all that, car still died when given gas. I then somehow lost the Key and it sat for about a year.

Just a few days ago, i got the ignition replaced and got a new computer key for it. The first attempt didnt work, as one of the wires in the igniton broke apparently. The second attempt however DID work. Finaly could start the car again. now with the new key, and ignition, the mechanics also said there was a wire loose that they tightened that had something to do with the computer part. So now i have the car again. finaly got the key made today, and put the key in the ignition, and it fired up! it never sounded sooo good. No problems whatsoever! didnt even die when i gave it gas. i let it sit and idle for a good 5-10 minutes. Revved the engine and didnt die not once. I turned the car off twice and back on, no problems at all. Called up my dad, and he said dont drive it until he got there (its his car, but working on giving to me) . So i turned the car off, took the key out and my friend drove me to his place to get an air pump so we could pump up one of the tires. We get back and my dads waiting. I throw the key in and start it. Now it has a low idle likes it fighting to stay on. so i give it some gas and its back to square one. its doing what it did originaly before i lost the original key 1 year ago.

So my question now, is..wtf? lol it worked GREAT when i first threw that new key in. no problems at ALL until i took the key out (i never drove the car just let it idle and gave it gas while in park). Left, came back with pump, turned on car and now back to what it was originaly doing.

My friend and my friends dad both say that its probably because the key lost the program when i took the key out, because i didnt drive the car around long enough (in this case at all), for the computer to what, record the code?

so whats anybody else's info on this? car worked GREAT before i took that key out. Not a single problem until i took that key out of the ignition and left it out for about 15 minutes or so.

  • 2 more comments 
  • jazzman170 Jan 31, 2009

    ya its the computer. PCM = Computer.

  • jazzman170 Jan 31, 2009

    yea its the computer. PCM = computer

  • jazzman170 Jan 31, 2009

    i will be buying another key this monday so we'l see what happends, and ill keep everybody updated as this could be a future fix for others too.

  • jazzman170 Feb 04, 2009

    SUCCESS! the brand new key i got (the second key) fixed the car!



    odd enough that u MUST drive your car when first inserting a new key. MUST DRIVE CAR. i hope this will help others out there. Simply put, if u put in a new ignition and get a new computer key, make sure to drive your car around so the computer can realize that the new key is now your main key and not a theft.

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  • Posted on Jan 31, 2009
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I not to up on computers but you say you chg. the pcm is that the computer? or something else? i have chg. computers before and i know when you do that you have to chg. the prom or prong from the old computer to new one. thats the best i can do for you. witch is most likely nothing.

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