Its a beautiful day, t-tops off, cruising all over town. Until.. BAM! Car shuts off. Not a problem, has happened a couple of times before, just put er in park, and start it back up. Starter tries to start the engine.. nothing.

A problem, yes, a bad problem indeed.

After troubleshooting about everything I could think of. I found out, that my injectors aren't firing. I have fuel pressure, but thats about it. Anyone know what may be wrong. Can a bad sensor stop the injectors from firing when you start the car? Or may it be something wrong with the wiring?

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Third Gen Project
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Ram Air II Hood
Centerline Champ 500 Rims
Edelbrock Open Element
MacEwen White Faced Guages

"Stock?! Theres nothing "stock" about a stock car."

 

Did you hear a "BAM!" or did it just shut off?

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1990 Iroc
Canadian Iroc (305 TBI)
-14x3 open element
-Accel: Coil, Wires, Cap&Rotor
-B&M stage 2 shift Kit
- 4 255/50/ZR16 BFGoodrich Comp TA's
-Hypertech chip, low temp thermostat and fan switch
-1.6 ratio roller rockers
-3" exuast: High flow cat, meanstreak muffler, dual 2.5" outlets

 

Check all the fuses for the fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Your injectors might be bad or you might have a bad fuel filter.

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Steve
88 Firebird TBI,TH700R4 - Open Element, Cat Delete, K&N filter 14*4 element, Dynomax Catback Exhaust, 160 Stant thermostat
1/4: 16.1@85.7 (Bone Stock)

 

possibly a bad fuel pump. Can u hear it turning on? Get a voltage meter and test for power. U also may have a problem with a fuel pump regulator.

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1989 pontiac firebird
bright red exterior(just repainted)
grey interior
5 spd
305 TBI (stock)
WS.6 formula wheels
3.73 posi rear end
http://members.aol.com/j007golden/Mikey89.html
http://www.geocities.com/firebird/myfirebird.html
-------------------------
1985 trans am
factory bright yellow
4 wheel disks
16 inch wheels
305 TPI
power antenna and mirrors
t tops

 

A friend of mine had a very similar problem. Was driving along one day on the interstate and his car just quit. He got it towed home and we started to diagnose the problem. We noticed that the injectors were not firing so we suspected the filter. We changed it and nothing happened. He had to have the car so he took it to the shop. There was something wrong with the ignition system on the car. Apparantly, certain ignition system components prevent the injectors from firing if they're messed up. Just something to try since you said that you had fuel pressure.

-Mark W.
'88 SC Camaro w/ 305 TBI

 

Steven,

You have fuel pressure.... Do you have a guage? or can you hear the pump operating?
I cant think of anything that would cut the injectors. Let me know what you find, id be more than happy top stop by and look at her as well. (i aint got **** to do tonight)

Later
---Rocky

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305 TBI
700-R4
L98 cam, 1 5/8 headers, 2 1/2 y-pipe, 4bbl edelbrock performer, holley adapter, open element K&N, afpr, flowmaster catback, MSD coil, accel wires cap & rotor, vette servos, shift kit, 2000 stall converter, TC lockup switch, 3:42rear, all the free mods and some I left out.

 

There wasn't a "bam" lol, the car just shut off.

The fuel pump is working. I can tell because when I start the car, and have the fuel lines off of the TBI unit, fuel does in fact pump out of it.

Mark305TBI seems to be familliar with the problem, I just wish I knew which components exactly are the cause of the problem.

Rocky, I don't have internet access at home, because of Northpoint going down, but please give me a call either during today at work (713) 461 5200, or after 7:00pm at (281) 296 0721. Thanks!

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Third Gen Project
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Ram Air II Hood
Centerline Champ 500 Rims
Edelbrock Open Element
MacEwen White Faced Guages

"Stock?! Theres nothing "stock" about a stock car."

 

Take off the injector wire plugs and use a multimeter (set on 20v, one lead on good ground and other test on each wire). If you get no electricity then you know there must be something with your ECM, maybe a short somewhere. TBI injectors usually never go bad, they're tank and can take a lot of abuse. Try pulling codes and see what you get, if nothing then it's very likely your ECM is dead. Before just swapping in a new ECM (if that's the problem), chase wires to make sure nothing is shorting out. It might be a very good idea to have the car brought to a mechanic if you don't want to fubar anything.

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, Jon (350 TBI! getting 23mpg highway)
91 Red RS w/grey int, sq stereo (Alpine v12, kicker solo, MB quart premium etc)AIM: JPrevost

• Holley 670 TB unit w/ 1/2" spacer/adapter
• Edelbrock RPM vortec intake
• 350ho 330hp vortec crate motor
• 8" harm. balancer
• Stewart stage 2 water pump w/160 thermo
• SLP tri-y headers to full 3"
• Rebuilt trans w/ SLP shift kit
• Centerline 16x8's all around
• 36/24 mm sway bars
• Full poly bushings, even motor mounts
• SLP LCA and panhard
• Alston SFCs
• Edelbrock 3 point STB
• Global west steering brace aka wonderbar
• Eibach pro kit springs
• Bilstien high perf. struts and shocks
• All this and I still have AC

My websiteAny questions?

 

Man you wont believe it but that same problem happened to me on yesterday..I was driving and it just died and the injectors wouldnt spit fuel....I took it to a mechanic and it was a faulty relay and one of the wires that was connected to the tank didnt have current....im not explaining exactly but just the main idea...maybe you can just check it out and see if it is the same problem.......

 

Thanks for the info Happy17Yearold, and JPrevost. I am pretty sure it is something in the wire. I checked the current to the injectors, and I don't have jack. Its so small, it barely measures in milliamps. UGH stupid wiring problems.

Happy17yearold: How much did it cost you to take it to a mechanic?

Oh well, while the car is at least down, I am going to do some normal tuneup things that I shoulda done a long time ago. Replace the cap and rotor, I am going to rebuild the TBI unit, I bought a gasket kit for it. I may even actually replace the plugs and stock wires.

Oh, also, how big of a PITA is it to replace the wiring harnesses in these cars? Even though its Painless wiring kits, it isn't as painless as they make it sound, lol. The previous owners F'd up the wiring in this car so bad, its a wonder that the car even runs.

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Third Gen Project
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Ram Air II Hood
Centerline Champ 500 Rims
Edelbrock Open Element
MacEwen White Faced Guages

"Stock?! Theres nothing "stock" about a stock car."

[This message has been edited by Sonar_un (edited April 12, 2001).]

 

My dad knows a mechanic so he did it for free but while inspecting the car we figured out the fuel pump relay was blown and i gotta replace it.....

 

If the car hasn't had a new coil might want to do that too while your doing the tune up.

When mine got changed out at 165,000 miles it was cracked. The mechanic was surprised the car ran.

 

the ignition component mark is referring to is the ignition module (although I think a faulty pickup coil could cause the same problem but thsoe are less likely to go)

 

Ok, well, after a ton of work, I finally figured it out.

Ignition Module... ARRGH@!@%!#

I took it out, I was pretty much 100% sure it was bad. I got it tested at the local autozone. It tested perfect. Apparently, it may test perfect, but it may not actualy work. It was another day of messing around with the car before I finally gave up, completely clueless as to what could be wrong. I took it into a shop 7:30 that night, they called and told me it was an ignition module.

The next morning I took the car (They wouldn't let me work on the car in the lot, so I had to tow it myself to the parking lot across the street) and replaced the ignition module. It still wouldn't fire. Apparently there is a fuse right above the battery, attached to the front fender of the car which you have to take out and replace everytime you do any electrical work to the car. After that, it fired up perfectly.

So after that, my car is running PERFECTLY! I replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and the ignition module. My car actually idles REAL low now, I can hardly hear it when it idles now. Been trying to get it to idle where it is supposed to be for a while now. I also bought a TBI rebuild kit, which I am going to do soon, the gaskets are pretty shot in it.

All I gotta say though, is that I learned a TON about my car. I am sorta pissed that it was the ignition module the entire time, yet I am happy that now I know at least a little something about the car.

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Third Gen Project
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Ram Air II Hood
Centerline Champ 500 Rims
Edelbrock Open Element
MacEwen White Faced Guages

"Stock?! Theres nothing "stock" about a stock car."