Hi,

I bought a parked (parked for 5 years since the previous owner, a friend from work, had 2 sons join the USMC.) 88 RS Camaro 2.8l V6, A/T, A/C, cruise control, Power windows, t-tops, etc...

I have several issues with the car now that I have gotten it running after replacing the fuel tank, sending unit, fuel pump, fuel filter, battery, radiator, speedometer cable, tune-up items such as plugs, wires, cap, rotor, timing chain and gears.

The car is starting to run better and better as I do more things to it here and there but there are still are a few issues that need to be addressed before I can turn the car over to my 16yo daughter.

The car sat on the side of the previous owner's house uncovered, in a grass/mostly dirt area for the majority of his son's USMC enlistments without too much attention after the first six months or so after being parked. The windows were up but the seals on the t-tops have definitely seen better times and the driver's door due to a bad upper hinge did not shut all the way unless you were able to lift up on the door as it was being closed. Which explains the broken door handles which I had to replace as well.

Anyway, here are few issues, I will list more in the appropriate areas later.

1. When I try to start the car, sometimes the starter will just click. Try turning the key a few times and sometimes it will click a couple of times and then crank the engine, sometimes it with crankover and start on the first try. I have checked and cleaned the cables and terminals on the starter, checked the ground connection from the battery to the fender well, cleaned the ground connection to the block, checked the ground strap at the back of the engine from the firewall to the engine and all seem to be good.

2. Driving during the day the tach works fine, oil gauge works, battery gauge reads under 13 volts, the battery is new, the alternator has been checked and it puts out 14 volts when running above idle and 13 at idle. When I turn on the lights, the tach drops to 0, the volt gauge goes below 8 volts, the temp gauge drops down to almost 0 and the right turn indicator on the dash glows. All exterior lights work, all running lights work, heads work on low and high beams, turn signals flas at regular rate with light switch off but, with the just the running lights on or even with the headlights on, the right flasher flashes very slowly and the left will flash about the same as it does with the light switch off, which appears to be normal.

2.a. With the running lights or headlights on, the right turn signal flashes very slowly, the tach, voltage gauge and oil pressure gauge with bounce with the turn signal flash. The indicator on the dash for the right signal will glow lightly between flashes and bright during the flash.
The left signal will cause the tach, volt gauge and oil pressure gauge to bounce but very, very little. When the headlight switch is turned to dim the lights in the dash, right now it seems that the interior gauge lights are either on or off. I plan on changing out or at least pulling the switch to examine it but, I want to post this to see if there has been anyone else that may have experienced any or all of these problems.

3. The heater controls do not have any lights at night with headlight switch on. It it fairly easy to pull thiese controls out to check/replace the bulbs?

Now that the speedometer is working, I have tried the cruise control and it works, the wipers and delay wipers work, the stereo works, the overhead light works when the doors open or when the head light switch is used to turn it on.

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to get as much detail in as I can think of of the top of my head. I am trying to get this camaro road worthy and safe enough for my daughter to use to drive to school and where ever else a teenager needs to go, up to a point! lol I want this to be reliable enough to feel good about driving it anywhere anytime without much prep work before hand.

Thanks!

 

1) Starter - I'm assuming you DO NOT have VATS - I can't remember the cut of year for the VATS key - read my post here https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ng-please.html
If you do have VATS, let me know and I'll update with the different scenerio for a VATS car

2) Might be a ground issue for starters I'd check grounds. I'd also replace the turn signal bulbs and see if that helps - a bad filament that hasn't burnt through yet will require more amps and thus cause increased drain on the system.

3) Heater controls - remove the face plate that covers heater/stereo controls (torx), you might have to take the cover off the bottom of the driver side dash. The upper left screw that holds the faceplate on is fake in mine, so see if the faceplate will come off first by only removing the other three screws. The heater controls are held in with 7mm screws, 2 or 4 of them, remove those and carefully pull out the heater controls - they won't come out very far - just barely far enough to change out the bulb - there's alot of vacuum lines that you don't want to pull off in there by pulling it out too far. The bulb is on the right hand side, twist counter-clock 1/4 turn to remove.

 

Your starter has a dead spot, I have the same issue with my firebird. Just replace the starter and you won't have anymore starting problems.

 

I am going to pull the starter and try bench testing it and going through it to check it out. All the engine grounds have been checked and are good, the power cables are all clean and tightened, no changes.

As far as the electrical problems with the tach, when I have adjusted the light switch, I noticed some changes in the tach and instrument lighting. A couple of times leaving work I have noticed that everything has worked as it is supposed to and then it goes back to the troubles it has always had. I am going to check all the running lights and wires going to them. I think the problem may lie with the wires to the running lights but we'll see.

The bulb for the heater controls is burned out, just bought a replacement and will install later this morning.

Thanks, for the tips. I will let everyone know what I find if and when I find it. Thanks again!

 

There is a bad ground in the right side turn lights... The power applied is backfeeding through the turn signal circuit to find ground, which is why the turn indicator on that side is on. The ground is right next to the charcoal canister, behind the headlights. Remove it, clean it and the body, replace the ring terminal if needed, and put it back. Do the same with every ground wire you see. And with the battery cables, both positive and negative. And the ground between the battery and the body. Sitting causes corrosion. Corrosion causes wiring headaches.