SupaFlyJedi

Hello all,
I bought a 1989 Pontiac Trans Am GTA about 3 months ago, before I bought it, it had been sitting in the desert of northern Arizona for about 4 years (from what I can gather). My problem is that I cannot get it to stay running on gas. It will start (and run) if you keep spraying starting fluid into the throttle body, once you stop spraying starting fluid, the engine dies. I have confirmed there is gas getting to the combustion chambers but not firing (wet plugs) Not sure what is going on, here's what I have done:

-New fuel filter
-Purged the crap gas, has 91 octane in it now (~4 gallons) the only place I haven't purged is from the fuel filter to the regulator
-rebuilt the injection system, cleaned the injectors and replaced the hardened or cracked seals/gaskets
-Replaced all spark plugs

Other stuff I have done to the car (Not relevant to this issue):
-Trans fluid and filter change
-oil change (synthetic)
-new(ish) tires
-Polyurethane bushings front and back (Energy Suspension)
-Rear diff fluid change
-New air filter


Things I have left:
-Bleed brakes
-Coolant flush
-Heater core replacement
-Unlock the stereo
-Take the illegal tint off the windows
-Replace the starter
-Get another couple sets of keys

In the most recent attempt, I confirmed there are no rust particles or crappy gas coming out of the tank, my current working theories are 1) there is still crappy gas in the fuel system somewhere, 2) the coil/wires are shot and will ignite the starting fluid but not just the normal gas or 3) ??????

Admittedly the coil theory is probably a bit of a stretch, but I'm now looking at other systems because the fuel system has essentially been rebuilt.



Thanks in advance.

antares57

iTrader: (8)

Understand this is your first post, welcome to the forums. Although I don't have a TPI, some things to look at. Have you checked your fuel pressure, ohmd your injectors, and does your fuel pump prime when you turn the ignition switch to on? Also, have you checked for any fault codes stored in the ECM. I'm sure you'll have other members chime in that have your type engine but until then, these are some things to look at. Good luck.

SupaFlyJedi

Fuel pressure was at 45 psi, I haven't ohmd the injectors (we did verify they click open/close when we pulled them), the fuel pump primes when the key is turned, I didn't have a reader for the OBDI, but using the paper clip method I didn't see any codes pop up. A more mechanically minded friend of mine is going to have a look at it sometime in the next week or so. I do have a new fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump on hand in case it's either of those, thanks for the input.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Oil Pressure Switch

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Bob, you give a lot of good advice but....what are you talking about? Oil pressure switch doesn't stop the car from spraying fuel.......? Am I missing something?

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Are you sure the injectors are being told to fire? I'd get a noid light and check them. Second would be to make sure the timing is correct. Starting fluid will light a whole lot easier than fuel so that and spark strength would be my first checks.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Alice..after re-reading the post, I stand corrected. I missed the fuel pump supplying fuel. Best guess would be clogged injectors maybe from sitting for 4 years.

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Aha. I thought maybe you replied to something from a different thread....or I was going crazy second guessing someone who knows more than me....

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

Your not crazy! It's my "Sometimers" taking over! Also, he mentioned wet plugs and I was thinking injectors "dripping" and not atomizing. Thoughts??

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Good call. He did say he had the injectors cleaned but which injectors? Multecs? Then they may have been bad for years. If the fuel pressure isn't holding I'd suspect that.

SupaFlyJedi

The injectors are the factory ones , all 8 were cleaned when we took apart the plenum and fuel rails. So I think my first step would be to confirm the coil/ignition system is putting out enough voltage to light off gasoline (not just starting fluid), next would be to check the injectors to make sure they are atomizing correctly. Could the oil pressure switch still be stopping it, or was that ruled out? I haven't checked the plugs since we got the intake back together, but will do so when I get a chance.

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Ruled out, that would be if you had lack of fuel supply.

SupaFlyJedi

Ok, thanks for the suggestions everybody, it'll probably be after the holiday before I get to work on the car, I'm debating getting new injectors for the car just because I found some decent priced ones on SouthBay (http://www.southbayfuelinjectors.com...rvette-c4-l98/) I don't plan on modifying it much more than stock (headers and a free-er flowing exhaust are in the works) for now I'll be content on getting the car running. Thanks again.