I have 1989 iroc-z 305 tpi. I started it for the first time in about a month ran it down the street stopped in driveway reved it a couplle of times to 3grand and shut it off. Now it will not start. I can smell fuel and the number one plug is getting fire. What could the problem be? It was idleing a little high before cutting it off.

 

Are you getting spark at any of the other plugs? It could be your pick-up coil.

 

Try some starting fluid first. See if it fires up, could be fuel contamination especially if the tank was low.

 

Its flooded. Press the throttle to the floor while starting. Might even have to remove the plugs and dry them out or put new ones in.

This would be right after you followed up on Trickster's suggestion of checking for spark with the other cylinders.

 

OK I got it to start by flooring it now it idles at about 3000rpm. the tps is new and is set at the correct ohms. Any other suggestions?

 

I hope you set the new TPS at voltage and not OHM's. It is supposed to be .54 volts plus or minus .08 volts.

 

OK Here we go - I ran out of gas. Put new gas in and ran ok. (Did not try to start it again) A couple of weeks later I fired it up and drove it about a mile - shut it of for 30 minutes and it would not crank without flooring it. I tried it yeterday and the same thing happened it fired up and ran great. I shut the motor off and tried starting it immediately it would not start. I floored it and it sputtered a couple of times. Did running out of gas cause this problem? Any suggestions are greatley appreciated.

 

So, as i understand it your having trouble with warms starts?

Check the resitance of your fuel injectors. They should all be about the same resistance. I had the same problem on my '89, and it wound up being 2 bad injectors. For me, giving it a shot of starting fluid would be enough to get it to start, but every now and then it just wouldn't catch after it got warm. Always started cold. I check the resitance on mine, and found that two of the injectors were bad (theres some article about how '89 got some bad injectors). I replaced them with some SVT Ford 24# injectors, and really haven't had a problem since. If it does turn out to be the injectors, replace them all in a set. No point in buying 2 of them or something silly and have another one go in like a month.

 

OK, there's the clue. Forget about changing the injectors. If you ran out of fuel and this problem developed sounds like you sucked some crap from the bottom of the tank. Depending on how old the fuel filter is I have seen some get so plugged they perforate with a pinhole allowing particulate matter into the injectors causing a leaking condition and a flooding condition when hot. Get a can of injector cleaner and run it through, best bet a good run at high speed. The stuff works really well if used properly. Suggest you replace the inline fuel filter. You mention it won't crank-that's different, does it crank and not fire? I think that's what you mean. Try the fuel system cleaner before getting into anything complicated.