1988 iroc z, car ran fine untill a week ago then just would not start. Came back 3 hours later and it ran fine for 10 minutes so i shut it off. Now car wont start at all unless i advance the timing so far it should not even be running but if i start to retard while it is running it stalls out? This is why i hate computer cars, if it was not injected it would not have a computer anymore! So please if someone could lead me down the right path that would be great. Thanx

 

Check for fouled out spark plugs, bad rotor, coil and cap. If you need to advance your timing to start it chances are you aren't getting enough spark. Check your coolant temp sensor located in the front of the manifold where the coolant comes out to the radiator. Could be that while in closed loop that sensor may not be sending the right info and may foul out your spark plugs. Also check all ignition components as a bad spark module could cause that problem. Having the same problem with mine right now. Just started on July 22-08. Going to throw in some platinum plugs tomorrow, new O2 sensor, fuel pump, and so on. Hope we can get our cars running.

 

Find the wire that will disconnect your est system. Im not sure on all years what the wire it is but mine is an orange wire with a black stripe. It is a one wire quick connector that is on the passenger side engine compartment. It is located in the thick bundle of wires just above the hvac system. Unplug this wire and try to start the car. If your car starts fine it means the electronic spark timing system is screwed up. Make sure you put your distributor back to where it originally was first. This is the same wire used to set your base timing.

 

Whenever time permits, I will attempt to disconnect that wire when I have that hard start problem again later this week, I'm not drivin it at all right now. I believe on my 87 Berlinetta it is a 3 wire fitting located behind the distributor cap. The one like you said that is to be disconnected when setting base timing by bypassing computer control. But right now I am changing a radiator, alt, and batt in my 94 Corsica 4 door 2.2l. From the specs you can see why I'd really like to get the four banger back on the road. My car's mileage stinks right now. Carb "305" v8. This will give me some time to diagnose my camaro. She's been real good to me for 16 years.

 

i've had a simular problem once before. i traded my camaro for a trans am not running, but i had a feeling i'd get it running. they told me all the things they tried. it would start sometimes but was hard to keep running. i went and changed the timing chain still ad the problem. read up in the manual.i didn't know about this, but i sure felt stupid anyway. there was a main power source wire for the ecm by the battery. looked at the clip it was fine .looked further down that single wire, it had corroded and broken. soon as i repaired the wire , it started right up and ran perfect. hopefully its that simple for you.

 

I wish it was that simple. ECM wire checks out just fine, though I will check it better when I have the time. My check engine light is suppose to be flashing quickly at all times if the computer is out or the wire had a short in it, at least that what I read somewhere. Why come your trans am light wasn't flashing when you had a short in your wire? Could it be possible that I can still have ECM problems and the light won't flash rapidly to tell me?

 

If that wire was disconnected then the light would not come on at all. That is the main power feed for the computer. If the ecm isnt getting power then it wont flash. Put the key in the ignition and turn the car on but don't start it. The ses light should come on and stay on if the computer is working. It will stay on the entire time until you start the car. Once you start the car the light will go away if there are no codes. If there are codes it will come back on and stay on while the car is running. The codes will never flash rapidly on their own. If you ground out the aldl a and b terminals to check the codes then they will flash.

 

I had the exact same situation. Ended up being my coil. Swap your coil out and see if that fixes the issue. Remember to reset your timing before you start it back up.

 

If you change the coil then change the ignition module in the distributor. They usually affect each other and when one breaks it likes to kill the other one.

 

SES light does stay on until I crank and hopefully start it so I guess the ECM checks out for sure. The funny thing is that when I replaced the coil the car wouldn't start at all. Did that yesterday. Put the old one back on and it eventually started. Once I got it going I switched back to the new one and no start, then right away as soon as I reconnected the old coil car fires right up. This is weird. As soon as I get my Corsica running, say next week, I'm going to have my module tested. I have also noticed that it is now the skipping and sputtering is back, so I checked the timing, just fine at 6 deg before TDC. Not shure why it is skipping but have a fealing it's got something to do with the problem. The spark plugs are brand new, the wires, cap and rotor are a year old. I start it up each day and shut it off to see if she'll start back up. Nope until I play with it. I want to change the fuel pump since I've got a new one but would a fuel pump cause all this or is this an ignition problem? Thanks for the tips though.

 

I am able to get my car to start now in less than 30mins, mostly 10mins after driving and shutoff, but I just noticed something with the 4bl electric quadra jet carb w/electric choke. What I have noticed is that when facing the car and looking down into the primaries the left jet is dripping slowly and the right one is completely dry at idle. When I throttle it up I then see two even sprays from both jets, then the rpms steadily drop back down then bog and surge back up. While this is happening I can see the fuel flowing but it doesn’t seem right. Can somebody tell me what is wrong here and how to fix it? Maybe this is my problem so I posted a thread in the Carb forum also.