Help !! My RS is dead
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Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4
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From: Williamsburg, ohio, USA
Help !! My RS is dead
The other day my 1992 RS started running strange (would run fine then it would run real bad "no power and blowing black smoke" for about 5 mins then stop) on and off all day.
So i decided to do a tune up to see if it would cure the problem, $90 later the car ran for about 2 mins then the rpm's jumped to 3000 and it died. Now it wont start at all, i rechecked the plug gaps and plug wires twice and found nothing wrong. I did notice just before it died the fuel pump was making a loud buzzing noise and there was a strong smell almost like fuel comming from the exhaust.
I checked the error codes and it gave me these numbers
15 - 23 - 24 - 53 - 54
I have no idea where to start on this problem, could one of you camaro guru's point me in a good direction to start on fixing this problem
Thanks
Dave Nagle
1992 Camaro RS - 305ci L03 TBI - Stock for now
So i decided to do a tune up to see if it would cure the problem, $90 later the car ran for about 2 mins then the rpm's jumped to 3000 and it died. Now it wont start at all, i rechecked the plug gaps and plug wires twice and found nothing wrong. I did notice just before it died the fuel pump was making a loud buzzing noise and there was a strong smell almost like fuel comming from the exhaust.
I checked the error codes and it gave me these numbers
15 - 23 - 24 - 53 - 54
I have no idea where to start on this problem, could one of you camaro guru's point me in a good direction to start on fixing this problem
Thanks
Dave Nagle
1992 Camaro RS - 305ci L03 TBI - Stock for now
Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 242
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From: waco, TX
It sounds like the fuel pump has went out. I would say start with the pump, if that seems to be the fix, don't forget to clear the codes and recheck after driving it around a while just to make sure all of your sensors are working properly. The black smoke "usually" means you are running too rich which may have been caused by a faulty fuel pump or relay. Just curious, how may miles are on your car? When my car hit about 120,000 I had a faulty egr, bad knock sensor, and a bad o2 sensor all in one month, go figure.
Just my two cents....Good Luck.
Just my two cents....Good Luck.
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Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 19,677
Likes: 314
Dave,
Forget about changing the fuel pump for now. Even if the pump was suspect, the proper thing to do would be to check the pump pressure first, then decide is a new pump is worth the the two-day effort of replacing it.
That DTC 15 is a good clue. It means the CTS is reading too low. The fuel control is highly dependent upon the CTS for correct information. If the CTS is failing, the ECM will assume a coolant temperature of 111°F and flow more fuel than is usually necessary. The DTC 23 is also a low temperature fault, but for the MAT/IAT sensor. The interesting item is that the MAT and CTS share a common ground connection, and are on adjacent pins at the ECM edge connector.
The DTC 53 is for a system overvoltage condition - voltage over 17.1 VDC for more than two seconds. The DTC 54 is also a voltage related error, meaning the fuel pump voltage was below 2 VDC for more than two seconds.
It sounds like you have more than a fuel pump problem, and all your problems might be electrical. Start checking engine and ECM grounds. Inspect the ECM edge connectors, and the connectors for the various engine sensors.
Has the engine been washed recently?
------------------
Later,
Vader
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If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Forget about changing the fuel pump for now. Even if the pump was suspect, the proper thing to do would be to check the pump pressure first, then decide is a new pump is worth the the two-day effort of replacing it.
That DTC 15 is a good clue. It means the CTS is reading too low. The fuel control is highly dependent upon the CTS for correct information. If the CTS is failing, the ECM will assume a coolant temperature of 111°F and flow more fuel than is usually necessary. The DTC 23 is also a low temperature fault, but for the MAT/IAT sensor. The interesting item is that the MAT and CTS share a common ground connection, and are on adjacent pins at the ECM edge connector.
The DTC 53 is for a system overvoltage condition - voltage over 17.1 VDC for more than two seconds. The DTC 54 is also a voltage related error, meaning the fuel pump voltage was below 2 VDC for more than two seconds.
It sounds like you have more than a fuel pump problem, and all your problems might be electrical. Start checking engine and ECM grounds. Inspect the ECM edge connectors, and the connectors for the various engine sensors.
Has the engine been washed recently?
------------------
Later,
Vader
------------------
If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader
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Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 19,677
Likes: 314
Dave,
Incidentally, Welcome aboard!
If you haven't already been surfing the boards and noticed, you'll find a lot of advice and suggestions here. There is also a lot of helpful technical information in the Tech Articles at the front of the site, and almost 12,000 members with experiences and ideas to share.
------------------
Later,
Vader
------------------
If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Incidentally, Welcome aboard!
If you haven't already been surfing the boards and noticed, you'll find a lot of advice and suggestions here. There is also a lot of helpful technical information in the Tech Articles at the front of the site, and almost 12,000 members with experiences and ideas to share.
------------------
Later,
Vader
------------------
If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4
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From: Williamsburg, ohio, USA
Well replacing the fuel pump relay did get it running enough for me to get it back home. After replacing it i cleared the codes from the ECM and drove it home, on the way home it still had the original problem with power loss and smoking.
After getting the car home i checked for codes again and it gave me the 15 again but no others. I will take your advice and start checking grounds, ecm connections, and sensor connections. Is there any way the CTS could be bad or be replaced ?
Also if its relevent the car did have the altenator replaced just before i purchased it, and the battery looks kinda old and maybe small 630cca, could these things have any effect on my voltages ??
Thanks for all of your help
Dave Nagle
After getting the car home i checked for codes again and it gave me the 15 again but no others. I will take your advice and start checking grounds, ecm connections, and sensor connections. Is there any way the CTS could be bad or be replaced ?
Also if its relevent the car did have the altenator replaced just before i purchased it, and the battery looks kinda old and maybe small 630cca, could these things have any effect on my voltages ??
Thanks for all of your help
Dave Nagle
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 760
Likes: 3
Of course I am not psychic, but it sounds a lot like what happenned to my 88 GTA a while ago. I had a lot of codes (15, 33, and 53, I think), but it turned out to be (only) bad computer. So you might consider a junkyard computer to see if it fixes the problem.
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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder
than normal.
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88 GTA 5.7 TPI Charcoal Grey Bone Stock except for loose muffler which makes it a bit louder
than normal. 
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