86 Omni GLHT Question

[bordin34]

I looked at an 86 GLHT a guy had for sale today and have a few questions. The car doesn't run right, it is a bit hard to start and misfires. The guy said that it used to run fine and then he swapped ECUs and it ran bad on the new ECU so he put the old one back in and it still runs poor. He says the car breaks up when it hits boost.
I did a little bit of looking around under the hood and when I removed the plug wire nearest to the driver fender the rpms barely dropped. I am thinking he may have hurt the rings with the bad ECU or there is something he isn't telling me. Also there is no air tube connecting the air box to the box on the driver's fender. Where is the Air Flow Meter located on these cars. I put my hand on the exhaust while it was running and it seemed consistent.
Is there anything particular to look at with these cars. Is there a reason why it would run fine one day and misfire the next?
The guy is asking $1500 obo for the car and it is almost rust free, the interior isnt great, and the paint is a bit faded.
Thanks

[roachjuice]

There is no air flow meter on them. There is only a map sensor. The map sensor is attached to the logic module or ecu (which is in the passenger side kick panel).

[roachjuice]

Sounds like he cracked a ring land. It will sound like a Subaru while idling. It will go away in boost.

[cordes]

Realistically, rust is the biggest problem on the L body cars. Everything else is cheap by way of comparison. That being said, it sounds like that car needs a thorough look before a purchase. A rust free example with the mechanical issues that could be present should fetch 600-800 dollars IMO. The rust makes that the very high side of what I would spend on it.

I would certainly want a compression and or leak down test performed before purchase.

[tryingbe]

Mechanically sound, condition of interior, and condition of exterior are the 3 things I look for when buying car.

A car should have at least 2 of them before I'd consider buying. That GLH has none, I'd skip it.