wont take fuel, idles fine

[loc8tor]

I drove the 81 to work today ,even though there was a slight drizzle of rain, and got maybe 15 miles from the house, tach dropped to 1000 and stayed there, it was as if throttle cable was disconnected, after a few pumps of the pedal it came back to life, but only for a short time than back to idle. I got off the road and with no load it seemed to accelerate fine, intermitently it would cough and stumble. Temp guage just past 190, and plenty of oil press. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance......

[So Cal Mark]

first step is to check the intake air boot

[loc8tor]

what am I looking for? is this between the plenum and the mass air flow sensor?

[So Cal Mark]

yes, check for splits or a disconnection

[loc8tor]

didnt see any splits....and it seems to be fine now....could it be anything weather related, like dampness or water effecting electronics, or ???

[loc8tor]

while it was running, sprayed all connections and the hose with carb cleaner, no increase in rpm, so Id say that, that isnt the problem.....George said that it needed a small gasket on top of the plenum, could that be the issue?

[So Cal Mark]

the gasket on top of the plenum is for coolant only, glad to hear it fixed itself

[brunorahl]

Sounds like your air flow meter is on the way out. You can try cleaning the plug for it. Sometimes the corrosion of the contact's plating braking down will cause small issues. The vibrations of the motor shaking the car may have been enough to scrape through the corrosion and allow contact. Also, you can remove the meter from the car and check the door inside it by hand for smooth operation. They can become bent from back fires and such and will then drag and catch.

[loc8tor]

Again, you guys saved the day....pulled the air flow meter out, door moves freely, pulled the harness off and there was a little corosion on the connectors. I didnt have a wire brush that small, so I used a small flat screw driver. Some fresh dielectric grease and it even starts better(if that was at all possible, lol). I also found the boot covering the connector cracked so I taped it up to keep the elements out of it. Will take on another long road test(to work 40 miles 1way) this week.