I have an '89 RS, and ever since I've had it, every now and then when I turn the key, nothing happens. All the power comes on, but the starter doesn't make a sound. Now here for the past 2 weeks or so, I haven't been able to turn the key and crank it at ALL. I have to jump the starter off with a screwdriver just to crank the car. We've replaced the starter, ignition switch, and solenoid switch, and the problem remains. We narrowed it down (most likely) to it being the starter relay. One small problem with that - WHERE IS IT?? Anybody have an idea?

 

Should be behind the driverside kickpanel

 

I have the same problem...Hey, does anyone know what the wire colors going to the starter relay are? I looked and found a relay attatched to a green and yellow wire...Are those the wires going to the Starter Relay?...All I need to know is if that is it. If it is then I should be in some good shape...Please help me...

 

We found it...it WAS behind the drivers side kick panel. Thanks

 

HEY! Mike wouldn't lie. That's where mine is.

 

yea but where do you get a replacement?

 

Omron or Potter & Brumfield (www.newark.com)

 

could be getting heat soaked also... if you let the car sit for a while does it start?

 

Nope, it could sit all day, still wouldn't start.
We replaced the ignition in the steering column, it works now. Apparently someone must have dropped my keys in water or something and depolarized the magnet on that little chip in the key. But it (was) all fixed. Everything was fine for a few days... until i tried to go to work yesterday. Maybe one of y'all can help me with this one.
Some of it might be due to cold weather, I'm not sure though. Okay; it took me 10 minutes just to get out of my driveway (probably because it wasnt warmed up, but when i cranked it to let it warm up it went dead on me), even after I got on the road, every time i slowed down to turn, it went dead; the 'service engine soon' light stayed on the whole time, and whether I'm in gear or in neutral, driving or at a red light, it revs itself up whenever it feels like it. I went and talked to this guy at Advanced auto parts that i know, he said something about an idle something or a throttle something...............watcha think??

 

LBG,

The "not starting" issue is a little different than the "stalling when turning" issue. Your no-start can be caused by many things, including the VATS. incidentally, the pellet in the key is a resistor, not a magnet. Both the key and the contacts in the ignition cylinder have to be clean to make a reasonable connection so the system can read the resistance of the pellet in the key. Wetting the key shouldn't be a major issue. Your new ignition cylinder may have solved that problem, but if that were the case, you should have noticed the "SECURITY" light on the dash staying on while you tried to start the engine.

As for the stalling, the SERVICE ENGINE light is trying to tell you something. You should retrieve the stored error codes to see what the ECM has stored. This may be a significant part of the problem.

To do that, you'll need to acquire a GM OBD I ECM Diagnostic Trouble Code Retrieval Tool (commonly known as a paper clip to TGO members). You could also use a bare wire of any kind, but paper clips are already bare and seem to be relatively common items.

With the engine and ignition turned off, locate the ALDL connector under the dash, just to the right of the steering wheel in the driver's foot well area on Firebirds, and on the left on Camaros. There should be a small rectangular cover over the access hole in the lower dash trim.



Insert a tool as described above (paper clip) into the 'A' and 'B' terminals on the ALDL connector:



WITHOUT STARTING the engine, turn the ignition to the "RUN" position. Watch the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) - it will begin to flash. This is also commonly called the "Service Engine Soon" or "SES" lamp. The first code will flash three times, and will usually be a code '12'. This is encoded by one flash of the lamp, a brief pause, then two successive flashes of the lamp. Each code will repeat three times, so you should see a "Code 12" flash three times. Any other error codes will follow in numerical order, and each code should flash three times. After all codes have been displayed three times, the "Code 12" will again flash three times, then all other codes will follow as described earlier. This cycle will continue until the jumper is removed or the ignition is turned off.

After you have made a note of all error codes, turn off the ignition and remove the jumper immediately. If you forget to remove the jumper and attempt to start the engine with it in place, you could damage the ECM. For this reason you should remove it immediately.

Once you have a note of all error codes, check this file for the decoding:

GM Error Codes.pdf.

You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open/print the file.

 

We fooled around with that thing for about 4 or 5 hours and really didn't get anywhere with it. (Although it did help fix a couple other minor things, it didn't help with the big problem). After being good and frustrated with it, I called a friend of mine who just got back from basic training in Missouri to see if he could help. He said his car had a similar problem, and all it was was the throttle body that needed to be cleaned. So we got a can of carb cleaner and used the WHOLE thing. There was shredded metal and oil and all kinds of crap under there. So what COULD have been a $200 mechanic bill and a day or two in a shop turned into about $1.50 and 15 minutes. After we did that, we ran it on the highway and everything, and it ran better than ever. He said to do that about every 6 months, and I shouldn't have any problems.
Now that I'm back to where I started again, I have to find someone to work on getting my lifters adjusted, and the muffler fixed. I'm not sure which one's more important (or expensive) at this point in time...play it by ear I guess. I'm sure something else will go wrong before then though lol...I'll keep yall posted.

 

MY 1990 FIREBIRD HAD THE NO START PROBLEMS , END UP BEING A BAD ECM. WENT THROUGH ALOT TO FIND THIS OUT. IT WAS A VERY INTERMINTINT PROBLEM THAT GOT WORSE OVER TIME.

 

Okay, here's the final story.

I got my muffler fixed, $45, no problem. Then I got him looking at my valves and lifters and all that, he worked on it all day...kept it until 10:30pm...and he came to this conclusion: the camshaft is pretty much shot. He said he could tear it down, take a look at the cam and lifters and all, and he could MAYBE fix it. Another thing, there might be a crack in the block itself. I asked him about replacing my cam, lifters, etc., and it came out to be around $900, and it STILL might not fix the problem(the knocking sound). We talked about it for a good hour, threw around some ideas, and came to the bottom line that the best thing to do is just drop a whole new engine in the thing. Somewhere along the line, before I got it, somebody had totally screwed it up, and when I first saw the car for sale, I was too excited to think 'Well, I need to have someone CHECK IT OUT first.'
So I could either save for a couple years and come up with $2000 for a new long block, OR just sell it to somebody and they can do whatever to it. Since I've wanted a 93-96 model for awhile, I figure I can sell mine and use the money towards that. Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it, but she's just too much hassle for me now.

Anybody want an 89' Camaro RS??

 

Linz,

You really don't have to "tear down" much to check the cam lobes for wear. All that is necessary is to remove the rocker covers and stick on a dial indicator to test lobe lifts. If the lobes are at proper specs, there should be no unusual wear. That's pretty rare with a roller cam anyway (not impossible, but rare).

While the covers are off. you might want to take a close look at the valve springs, rockers, rocker studs, and push rods. It's likely that your valve train noise can be solved without even removing the intake.

 

After serious thought, and the fact that even though it runs like crap, its way too pretty to just get rid of.
Guys, I need your help again.

I plugged in that whole diagnostic error code thing, and with the answer it gave me, along with a couple other people who drove it and suggested the same thing, my MAF is screwed up BAD. It seems like it wouldn't be too hard to replace it, from the looks of where it is and everything, but I looked around to try and find instructions on how to do it and nothing really came up. Anything I should know before I dive in and screw things up?

 

You have MAF on your RS? You sure?

 

positive. I'd take a picture if I could, it's right there in the air hose. I'm not positive if that's what's wrong, its either that or the idle air control, (so they say) and I have no clue where that is. Do you?

 

Maybe it's time you listed specs of your engine.

Under normal cuircumstances, a RS would have a 305 with TBI.

If you have MAF, this would imply someone has put on a TPI unit.

Let me ask you this, when you pop the hood, do you see a round aircleaner? Or a silver set of tubes, 4 on each side seperated by a 4inch wide piece of Al?

If TPI, the IAC is located on the left (facing) side of the TB.

 

This is not my engine exactly, this is the v8 version, but that is what my intake looks like. As far as I know, mine has always been TPI...

 

this is whats on top of mine...I just found this picture somewhere, just to give a basic idea since I'm lazy and can't find a camera around here lol

 

Okay, I see now...you have a V6, not V8.

Replacing the MAF straight forward, only tricky part is unclamping it (assuming it's original) from the aircleaner duct.

But before you do anything, here's what I'd suggest...

Start a new thread.

You've gone from starter relay to valvetrain to emissions equipment, most likely the only ones following your woes are those who looked in for the starter relay issue...no one else has a clue you have other issues.....to be honest, I only looked in to see why there were so many replies on the starter relay.

So, start a new thread, list your engine combo and codes.