It's been a year now since my wife went to start the Camaro and it wouldn't fire. It turned over, but never would fire. It has sat in my apartments parking lot ever since, registered and insured, lol. Long story short, it just wouldn't fire one morning but it ran fine the night before. Plugs were COVERED in gas and soot when I pulled them (I think from trying to start it so many times before I replaced the distributor) so I put new ones in. It did start after that, but barely, and ran like $hit the whole time although it did move under it's own power.

I did plugs, wires, cap and rotor, new ICM, then took it back and got a whole new distributor. After I got the distributor is when it fired finally. But it took alot of effort and ran like the timing is way off or something. It started to smell like gas really bad after about a minute of it running like that so I turned it off. Since then I have not been able to get it started.

Busy life had me abandon it for the past month, but now there is problems with my truck also, and I have no job right now so I definitely got nothing but time during the day!

I gotta get this P.O.S. running again so I can work on my truck and then find a damn job. And I need to do it soon, before I run out of money. I bought a timing light to help me out with it, but do you guys have any idea's from past experience of what I may be chasing here?

 

have you replaced the fuel filter?

 

Since you're throwing parts at it, try a coil.

 

Whoa now, I'm not "throwing parts at it" anymore... That's the point. lol

Besides, it acts nothing at all like the last two times I blew a coil, and now it has an Accel Supercoil for a 350 on it that's like 2 years old. I will definitely test it though, just because I'm desperate and I hadn't really thought about it before.

I'm gonna check the fuel filter too, haven't done that yet... But I did get 40-45 psi at the fuel rail last I checked (little over a month ago), so I figured I was good. Might as well K.I.S.S. first though.

 

How do you blow a coil? Why check the fuel filter if you got 45 psi & fuel fouled spark plugs. Consult a professional and expect to pay $150 to start.

 

NO WAY would I pay $150 bucks to a shop to "start" anything with this old heap, I know how that goes... Next thing you know I'm out $500 more on the cheapest parts man can buy (half of them I didn't need btw, they just "threw" them at it) that either Billy Joe or Jose (who I got another $350 on my bill for because he's in a fully equipped shop and still can't figure something out inside the 4 hour mark) installed right before his long awaited lunch break. So all my crap is hanging halfway off, I'm out $950 bucks and my family is starving now. But hey, maybe I can sell my 3rd and make 50 bucks after shop expenses, right? Until it breaks down a month later and the guy that bought it throws a brick through the window of my truck. Now I gotta pay $100 for that too.

No *cough*shopsareanalrapists*cough* thank you, sir.

 

Or you can make friends with such mechanics here on the board, and perhaps they will hook you up Isnt that right Marc?

 

Oh ya, I highlighted the problem with your car. you can thank me later.

 

Just for that Travis, I'm checking that coil tomorrow. It jumps a good gap to a screwdriver with bright blue spark, but I just got this multimeter (didn't have one when I first checked it) so I can do a much more accurate test now, on the bench. It is yellow though. From my understanding, yellow parts not only make your car handle better and go faster, when combined with the raw power of brand name stickers directly on the parts they also last forever.

Edit: 3rdBird - The coil thing is a common problem if you get a junk auto store brand. The original blew, and it blew one like every 9 months after that until I got the Accel. I've actually seen it alot in 80's GM vehicles (esp. with remote coil).

 

it could be your air filter.....

 

Sorry, I can't help you much diagnosing your vehicle via the internet. How much have you spent trying to have the vehicle start/run? For what you've spent so far maybe you could of just have a mechanic/shop diagnose it and repair it yourself. Even I would charge you to come take a look and diagnose the vehicle. My time is not free and hauling some equipments and tools to your location cost me time and money as well. Maybe you can call some of those mobile mechanic from Craigslist. I have seen some cheap ads there but never dealt with any them though.

 

Did you ever check the timing? It's obviously not burning all the fuel, you figured that out easily. My vote is for timing or coil. Check both starting with timing. Timing can slip. When you put the distributor in though, you didn't set the timing then?

 

As others have mentioned, it's really hard to diagnose a car over the internet... but one thing stands out as I read the comments.

You said your plugs were heavily fouled, and that there was a strong odor of gasoline? Have you checked your oil? The reason I ask is because you could have a leaking injector, which will flood the car out and eventually you will see fuel in the oil.

When we restored my son's bird, we had to buy a replacement engine (his block was cracked). The replacement had exactly the problem that I just described -- a cracked fuel injector. A quick way to check this is to check your oil -- if the level is too high, and it is thin and smells of fuel...

Not saying this is your problem, but it's really easy to check.

 

Didnt read all above but if no one said it, it sounds like a fuel pump

 

Maybe its just a loose nut behind the wheel...

If you look back at this thread most of them include helpful information like
"it could be" or "have you tried" or "how about"

If I had a dollar for every do it yourselfer that came in the shop after spending 3 times the amount of what they should have, I could afford throw a kickin TGO GTG. oh wait I have, twice.

 

ya, I need to win more prizes, whens the next one?

 

That sounds like a good idea. If we didn't throw out our idea's and experiences what would we do on a car blog? Every thread would start with a question and end with go see Marc Freire at Rocklin Automotive. Just kidding, I agree if someone needs there car for daily use, in most cases they should probably drop it at a shop that has all the tools and know how (hopefully) to diagnose it. However, in some cases people just don't have the greenbacks to do that and the rest of us just want to figure it out for ourselves and have that sense of accomplishment regardless of what it cost. Remember, the next time we won't need help and will be able to recognize the symptoms our self and won't do all that unneeded spending.

 

I don't think Mark was criticizing the fact that guys are posting here looking for help, or that other guys are making suggestions.

What I think he is saying is that it's bad troubleshooting to just start throwing parts at a problem, and that's usually what people do when they don't know what's wrong. Besides, every change you make introduces the potential for new problems.

Troubleshooting is like scientific theory -- first you propose a theory as to why you have the problem, then you try to dis-prove that theory. If you can, your theory is not valid... if you can't, you have found your trouble. The problem is that you have to understand how it works before you start troubleshooting, but there's no reason why you can't learn that stuff from asking questions on a car blog...

 

While there is good info on forums, there's also too many opinions, and not enough facts. Without following a diagnostic procedure and ruling out if a part actually works or not, you are just guessing at it.

There is nothing wrong with learning, or learning the hard way for that matter.

 

No argument there at all.

 

im pretty sure my solution to the problem is dead on.
I hate accel..

 

I agree with that. That's why I hang here and read all of these things to find out how to troubleshoot things. I come from a family of backyard mechanics (few trained) and I have learned more in these forums as far as troubleshooting than I ever did from them. I used to just "throw parts" and your right, that can cost a lot of money and cause more problems. We always just looked at it like this, "New parts can't hurt". To be honest with you, a lot of professional mechanics throw parts at it when they are stumped and charge the customer for it. My Chrysler has been in the shop since I bought it new, October 2007, for a faulty cruise control. It still doesn't work and they have replaced just about the whole system. Luckily that one is not coming out of my pocket but if I didn't have a warranty it would be.

 

I took his original post & just cut out the BS and hers what I found.

Signed NOTALLSHOPSARERIPOFFS, we exist for a reason.

 

3rdBird, please don't be offended if I don't want to take it to a shop. You're in the wrong place to advocate that route so soon. After all, this is a DIY type of community. It's common to post up a thread to toss some idea's around and I've seen alot of stuff solved that way. I was just joking about shops there's no need to flame me for it. You suggested "throwing parts at it", not me. I think I've done just fine so far in troubleshooting with my limited resources, so to try and make me look stupid and make assumptions of my character only reveals your character to me, and is not a good way to get business, sir.

To anyone else that cares to actually throw an idea out there without advertising (like the leaky injector that's the exact kind of stuff that gets overlooked) so far I've done...

Distributor, it looked so bad when I opened it, it really needed it, was cheaper than rebuilding it. It already needed a tune up also, so plugs and wires went on when I discovered the old ones were fouled. I checked fuel pressure, checked for spark, ohm tested the injectors, and set it up to TDC then restabbed the dist and redid firing order twice, I think I mentioned buying a timing light to help me out with that, timing is ok. I've tried to fire it with the MAP unplugged, and with the intake ducting off. It sprayed a mist from the intake after I tried starting it for awhile. I'm definitely going to fix it with income taxes, but I can't dump a lot of money into it. This one has me stumped. I'm going to check the oil and coil today since it's sunny out and they're free to try. Any other suggestions would be helpful, I'm running out of ideas.

 

There are only 2 real things in life. Time & Money. This post started on 1-28-10 and the car still isnt running.

I'm not dissing, but can you post what you have spent so far?

 

Keep this thread decent guys. We're all here to learn.

This is pretty accurate about a lot of things in life unfortunately.
I remember my late teens/early twenties when I had nothing but time and not so much money to work on my car.
Fast forward 5-10 years and I'm always OUT-A-TIME, but the money is much better.

I'm looking forward to the next phase when I have time and money for both.

 

But I dread what comes next. No time family gets all the money and all I have to show for it is a plugged spetic tank 6 feet under.

 

Found the problem, just wanted to post the resolution. My coil was one of my first culprits when this started. But it was putting off spark, it worked with the timing light, gave a bright blue spark to ground, and tested OK with a voltmeter. But when I used the leads from the Vantage scanner I borrowed from a buddy it was a new world where I could see clearly, and the real-time bar graph that it gives you showed me an intermittent short on one of the circuits in the coil. It would hold steady for about 3 to 8 seconds, and then read as an open circuit for a split second. So I thought I found the problem and I replaced the coil, but the car still wouldn't start.

After some poking around, it turned out the brand new ICM that I got in my fully loaded distributor was bad. I put the old one on (from the old dist.) and it fired right up. Out of curiosity I put the old Accel coil back on and it fired right up again. Ran great for half the day and about 4 or 5 starts, then wouldn't fire again. That suspicious short came to mind so I pulled the coil back off and put a new one on again. No start. A new ICM, now it starts. Old coil back on, started again. So I pulled that coil off anyways (now I'm scared of that intermittent short) and put the new one back on with the new ICM.

It's been fine for two days now (that is until my battery died last night from a constantly running fuel pump, HAHAHA....... No seriously, it's not funny) so I feel the problem is resolved. Pickup Coil put it down, and the Coil was killing ICM's somehow even though it was giving off spark fine. Now I'm going to buy an Oil Pressure Sending Unit while praying that's the reason my pump won't stop running. I'll be pissed if I have to chase down a short somewhere for the fuel pump after all of this... lol

 

your fuel pump was staying on even when the car was off... i dont think its the sending unit. Sounds like a short. Maybe a bad relay... you could start there.

 

RamAir - Thanks for the suggestions. But it was the sending unit. The unit turns the fuel pump on when oil pressure is detected and off when it drops to zero. Since it's all wired on a constant power source it happens whether the key is on or off, in the car or out.

While poking around with a flashlight after it happened I noticed my valve gasket was leaking onto the oil pressure sender, just a little bit, but I'm sure it's been doing it a long time. So I pulled it and it was full of oil. Changed it out and now the fuel pump has been working fine. I pumped that connector full of dialectric to protect it as much as it can until I do the valve covers.

 

I like it! A successful backyard mechanic story! Too often the pros in here don't want you to solve the problem yourselves, they make that very clear. This forum works well for those that want to try and do it themselves and not only save a few bucks, but learn about their own vehicles as well. Even if it doesn't initially save you money, you know more about your ride and can help others, congratulations.

 

Thanks NoCal, sometimes just the process of writing it down to get it straight can help you a lot, sometimes it's fresh outlooks and input from other people that give you that jump start. That's why places like this are great.

I still have a bit to do though. I need to change the oil and find a cause for the wandering idle it now has. It also has a battery drain issue (I think the battery might be bad instead of an actual drain though). Little "kinks" to work out from it sitting for so long, lol. A couple little wiring fixes to be done like EGR pigtail, knock sensor pigtail, temp sensor wire for the gauge - nothing big though. I'm going to straighten all of this out, rebuild the front end, and get it painted this summer... It needs it BAD

 

If the plugs are soaked then you dont have a problem with the fuel filter. sounds to me like a typical gm electrical problem i would suggest that you take a look at the module

 

lmao

thanks anyways shovelbum!