ok i jus got my 87 automatic firebird with a 305...very lil gas. i was sitting reving the engine in my driveway and i hear the car just kinda die out. NO GAS! so i go to the store and fill up a big gas can. i come back and fill it up. it wont even turn over, just the engine fan comes on. my starter or alternator bad? is my car fuel injected and need to be reinjected? whats my problem!?! please help

 

does it make a clicking noise or anything...describe the exact noises or lack of noises it does

 

sry, but i doubt its a gas problem, it sounds like your charging system. have the alternator bench tested.

 

it doesnt click...it get to where it should turnover and i just trys to start but it cant. sometimes i hear a faint whining...its got a week old battery

 

is it carb or fuel injected....if its carbed...you may need to prime the carb....or the fuel pump may have gone just throwing stuff out there now

 

i dont know much about my car....cars in general actually. i dont really know the difference between a carb or fuel injection....sorry...im 16 and this is my 1st car

 

no problem man..im going through the same thing..im 23..this is far from my first car..and i ran it out of gas just by starting it once a week while it was off the road....now my only issues is i need a new ignition module...not sure what your problem is but im sure someone here will have a good idea...keep checking...

 

thanks...this sites members so far have been nothing but help to me, i know someone will help me out.....thanks again

Karl

 

heres what my car looks like

 

thats a great engine setup. looks very clean

 

yeah it is...when i clean it...ive removed all the uneccassasry stuff and now i just need to clean it and get it all back together

 

trust me you will learn. try to read as much as you can off of these boards, and it will give you a good foundation to start on.

 

yeah and when in doubt..search the archives are great on here

 

yep im off to the tech section right now....thanks again guys

 

Cars need 3 things to run... plus being able to turn over.

Fuel... take the cover off the air cleaner, look down the front two barrels while someone pushes the gas pedal down. You should see a squirt of gas go down the barrels. You might need to move the choke plate to see it.

Air... unless you're trying to start this in outer space you should be fine. While you have the air cleaner off, check the filter. When you put the air cleaner back on, make sure you hook up everything, there should be a vacuum line, should go to the front/top of the carb, and the EGR, which should go to the passenger side valve cover.

Spark... This get's a little harder. The safest way is to purchase an ignition spark tester. This will go onto one of your spark plugs and you'll hook the plug wire to it. Try starting the engine with this hooked up. It lights up when the plug is getting juice. The way I've always done it is to pull a plug wire, hold it close to a metal part of the engine, and you should see or hear a spark.

Since the engine isn't turning over, it's either the battery or starter. You probably drained the battery trying to start it. See if you can get someone to jump start it for you. If that doesn't do it, then I'd first take the battery to an Autozone or other parts store to see if they can charge it. I would also take the alternator and have that tested at the same time.

If it's neither of those, then I would test the starter.

OK, fill it up with more gas. Same thing happened to me last week. Tried starting with 2 gallons of gas... nothing. Put another 5 in and poof it started.

Something you should know, if the tank is under 1/2 it's getting close to empty. Read that online, and my car died when it was at 1/8 tank.

Oh, and save yourself some trouble and get a chilton or haynes manual for your car. It has a lot of this basic stuff in it, and is a good reference. I always buy one when I get a new vehicle.

And here's what your carb will look like if you have one. Of course this one is clean. The front of the carb has the blue plug on it. The color of yours might be different. You can see the front barrels, the primaries, covered by the choke plate. You can see the rear barrels, the secondaries, covered by the 2 air valves. The secondaries are larger than the primaries.



Hope this helps...

You should also check on the Mid-Atlantic board, to see if anyone is in your area that might help you. Hands on experience is hard to come by over the internet...

 

thanks keith you were right! i had a lil under an 1/8th of a tank and on a bad incline. I jus put a lil in...not to much. but since you said that i went and put about 4 gallons. startd right up! thanks!!!

 

Cool beans...