I had my 82 Firebird repainted. It took the bodyshop three months to do it. The car was runing sweet when it went into them, start first turn of the key. Now, I can't get it to start, the engine turns but won't start. It is a 2.8 V6 with a 2BBl carb. I have checked that the battery is okay, the plugs are sparking and fuel is getting to the carburator. I also check to ensure the engine isn't flooding. I don't have much experience with engines and am trying to find the problem using the Haynes manual. I have some questions that maybe someone can help me out with. Could the ECM be causing the problem, Is it envolved in the starting of the car. When the car is being started should the choke plate be fully closed on the carburator. If anyone can suggest anything else I could check or any ideas on why it won't start I would greatly appreciate it.

 

basically all you need is fuel, fire, and compression to start. since the body shop shouldn't have pulled the distributor or anything like that it shouldn't be hard to find. you know you have fire and it's safe to assume the timing is correct. you know you have fuel, make sure it's not too much and the choke is working, maybe prop it open with a screwdriver or something if ti's stuck. shouldn't be any compression problems develope while it was in the body shop.

 

The gas may have evaporated in your carb, leaving a varnish to clog it up. Try some carb cleaner first. You may have to rebuild it.

 

Thanks for replying guys. I was reading the Haynes manual about the Choke but it doesn't say how the whole thing works. My understanding of what it does is when the engine is cold the choke flap on the carburetor should be horizontal and as the engine heats up this moves to a vertical position. Is this correct?. There are also two vacuum diaphrams on the Carburetor. The manual calls them Primary and Secondary vacuum breaks. I am guessing it is these that moves the choke flap to the vertical position as the engine heats up.

 

You are correct on how the choke works. It has been a long time since I worked on a 2.8 with a carb, so I can't respond about the vacume breaks. Did you get any results holding the choke open with a screwdriver or spraying carb cleaner in the bores and vent tube?

 

I had no luck holding the choke open with a screwdriver or spraying carb cleaner in the bores and vent tube. I even tried throwing a little gas into the carb to see if I could get it to ignite but it's still dead. I don't know what else to try.

 

Have you tried ether starting fluid? If you have never used this before be carefull. Have a fire extinguiser handy and don't stand over the engine while someone cranks it. I have seen it backfire a huge ball of flame out the carb.

 

I had a friend of mine have a look at the car last night. We Checked spark, fuel and compression and everything seemed fine. We found the spark plugs soaked with gas. When we had a look at the carburetor while it was being cranked gas was flowing into the carb without the pedal being pressed. It looked like the float to control the level of fuel into the carb wasn't working properly but when we took off the mixture solenoid it seemed to be working fine. I don't know what's the best thing to do now. I was thinking maybe If I disconnected the gas lines going into the fuel pump then maybe I could crank it a few times and dry out the plugs and then connect everything and start again.
Does anyone know where I could find a discription of how the carburator works and what all the various parts do. The mauals I have only say how to strip it but not how it works. I don't have much mechanical experience so I am a bit lost when it comes to carbs.

 

I would say that the carb needs to be rebuilt. Because it's a computer controlled carb and you are not experienced you might not want to do this by yourself. One option is to take the carb to a shop. Or give it a try with your friend.

 

At the weekend I tried to free up the float in the carb that was stuck, cleaned the spark plugs and put in a new battery. It took a while but I got it to start. I started it twice since and its been fine. I will order a carb rebuilt kit anyway as I think it could do with an overhall at this stage.

Thanks for your help CEP89 and ede.

 

Many years ago, I took my car in for paint. After they finished with it, they pulled it into the parking lot. For some reason they left it running, and forgot abt it.
When I arrived to pick it up, it had run out of gas and the batt was completely dead.
They charged the batt with a quick charger and poured something into the gas tank. Don't remember exactly what it was, but it wasn't gas. Paint thinner maybe? Anyway, it eventually started, but ran like crap. Once I got some real gas in the tank, it ran fine.
I wouldn't normally allow for the gas substitution, but I had to get to work. Besides, they said they "do it all the time".
This was one of the top rated body shops in San Jose at the time.

Just one more possibility..