My car is a 1992 Camaro Rs, the previous owner put a carb on it so the first thing I decided to do was swap it to TPI I am currently in the final stages of it all but I ran into a problem.

I have the ecm and prom and the harness came from an 89 trans am that was swapped to speed density. I have everything connected up and bolted down. But when I connect the battery I have absolutely no power.

i changed out both of the battery cables also.

The battery has been tested and charged and it is good.

Does anyone have some insight on this?

Appreciate any kind of info you guys have to share

Thanks!

 

The only way that seems possible is if the fuse block wiring isn't hooked up or, no chassis ground (no cable from battery/engine block to chassis) . It's safe to assume this wasn't an issue until the tpi swap?

 

When you say the fuse block wiring do you mean the thing that connects to the firewall on the drivers side? If so I do have this connected but I will double check it tomorrow.

I have the negative battery cable grounded to the back of the compressor bracket, thats where it was grounded originally, and to the fender on the passenger side.

The positive is going from battery to the starter and than to the alternator. Is this correct?

 

Check continuity at several places in the harness. Could be fuses, fusible links, loose connectors, anything. I spent a lot of time before I realized a fusible link had blown and was preventing my alternator from turning on to charge the battery. Fusible links are places in the wire (usually thick wire) where a plastic cylindrical covering separates the wire and is supposed to act like a fuse.

 

So none of the wires in the harness have power running to them. I checked the fuse block it was a bit loose I tightened and still no power to anything thing. I could not find any fusible links to check and all of my fuses look good but have no power.

There has to be something I missed, is it possible my harness is somehow bad?

 

Go under the car and look at the starter. You should have a battery cable going to it along with a couple other wires. Take them all off and clean them with a wire brush or sand paper, then put them back and make sure it is tight.

 

Went under the car and discovered I had the wrong wires grounded to starter, the ecm grounds were down there and that is why I was getting no power.

I grounded it off on the power block next to the battery ran a power wire to it from the battery and problem solved. I have power to the essential things now, lights, wipers, windows, alarm etc. But i do not have power to radio, horn, or any of the accessories. Not sure why, been very busy with work lately but next day off I am going to check fuses and investigate everything else that it could possibly be.

Also need to bypass vats, somehow the car crank the first time I turned the key but I could not get it to go again.

Thanks for the help so far guys and appreciate any other kind of help you guys may have to offer.

 

Your main battery ground wire should consist of a thick black wire and a skinny 14 guage wire. Check to see the 14 guage is connected to the body in front of the battery. Another thing.... You should also have an engine to body ground at the back of the engine.

Also If you had your dashboard out for any reason... There is a ground wire on the center brace (visible when you remove the dash pad) check that. Also other grounds you might want to check: look at where the dashboard is bolted into the car. This is visible when the hush panels are removed. If it is rusty clean it. These not only mount the dash, but also serve as grounds. The metal bracing on the actual dash serves as a ground distribution block. If something isn't working check these things out. If it's rusty or dirty take a wire brush to the connection points.

 

The battery wire is grounded off on the body.

How many grounds should there be on the block?

I believe I have two grounded off on the back of the head on the drivers side.

Going to check the other grounds.

 

So ive ran through the diagrams a good amount of times now and im sure my connections and grounds are correct. But Im still having problems with what I believe to be the VATS.

The car will crank but it is intermittent, Would it crank at all if the VATS was the problem or am I dealing with something else here.

 

If VATS was the culprit, and you went to start it, you would not even have a click. It will not turn over. As on mine (GTA), my security light would be lit when I went to crank.

Must be another issue here.

 

power dist 92'

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