Cadillac Repair: Semi-stalls, Ignition lock expert, transponder expert

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).

Answer
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