ECM Delete / back to analog

I am having a intermittent stall / rough running issue on my 1984 LeSabre. The problem is very difficult to diagnose. (crankshaft or camshaft position sensor / Fuel or ECM / or combination of all). Would I lose performance at all if I switched to traditional HEI distributor and non-feedback carb? If so, could this be mitigated easily?

Thanks - John

That would be the first thing I would do, other than an LS swap. A well tuned regular carb and properly set distributor would work very well. IMO. It would be relatively easy to do depending on the availability of interchangeable parts in your area.

I did the same thing on my '85 olds delta 88 wagon. The only functional thing you lose is the lockup for the torque converter, but they make kits for that.

Just make sure whatever carburetor you convert to has a provision for the kickdown cable on the transmission.

Kit1078, why did you bother getting away from computer on the 85 Olds? Also, did performance change one way or the other after change out?

the electronic quadrajet was trashed when we got the wagon, and it wasn't worth fixing. Considering how badly the car ran before we converted it back to a regular carburetor, it's hard to say what performance we 'gained' but it certainly ran better. It was just one of those things where there were so many issues with the system it was easier and cheaper to convert it. The hardest part was changing the distributor, really.

If I delete CCC Carb and distributor and go with old school carb and distributor, can the rest work fine ..meaning leaving computer otherwise intact as well as lock-up? If I do this, will lock-up service necessarily go away? - thnx

I don't know about the torque converter lockup functionality on those old computers. I do know that the diesel B-bodies had a provision to lock up the torque converter without using a computer (at least the early 80's ones did). I'd have to do a lot of digging to figure out how they did it, tho.

OK. If I keep feedback carb but simply replace distributor with a vacuum advance type, could that work? My CC Carb is brand new. Thanks - JF

I honestly don't know. I would keep the distributor you have if you're going to keep the electronic carb, since the ecm needs the pulse signal from the ignition module to make fuel trim adjustments.