Situation:
So this morning I had to go to Los Angeles to go serve as a juror, and when I went outside to turn on my car.. it cranked over but it did not turn on fully.. so I tried turning it various times and nothing.. just "sshhrrrrrrrrrshhhrrr" but no turning on...Finally walked outside and sprayed some VALVOLINE TB cleaner and unplugged and plugged the injector connectors, I went back inside turned the key did not turn on just cranking, second time it turned on like nothing had happen. Drove to Los Angeles and then parked the car for about 4 hours walked outside the courhouse and tried turning the car on, and nothing I tried it several times and nothing I just looked like a fool, so i let it sit for about 10-15 minutes then tried again and after a couple of hard turns it worked and the engine turned fully on and I drove back to torrance, stopped at a gas station since I was on E from inglewood to torrance I then filled up and tried turning the car back on and nothing!!! it was embarassing.. I felt like throwing the whole damn car away and buying me a brand new 2006 Chevy Silverado..Anyways got stuck at the Gas Station for like 6 Hours until I called a tow truck prior to that I was trying to find out what the problem was but after so many cranks.. the battery can only take so much before the juice drained out. Anyways towed it back home... took out the spark plugs.. they all looked oily and smelled like gas, I tried cleaning them up and putting them back except for the drivers side..the 4th one nearest to the firewall, because it was hard to remove. I cleaned the spark plugs and took apart the distributor and cap.. and found some corrosive build up... cleaned that up, sprayed some valvoline tb cleaner.. put everything back.. and tried firing it up and nothing.... just "shhrhrrrvvvvvvvv" like it wants to start but it just doesnt....Finally gave up at 11:00PM and now im ranting for help here.

 

Symptoms Experiancing:
-Flooding
-Hesitation of Starting
-Strong Ordor of Gas
-Flame coming out of the THROTTLE BODY openings at random times..
-Backfiring at random times
-Explosions or Hard pinging noises coming from the engine
-Battery Drained after more than 15 times of starting ignition




Action Taken:
Cleaned battery terminals,cleaned spark plgs (7),cleaned cap and rotor,checked firing order,jump started the car,recharged the battery,cleaned THROTTLE BODY,unplugged and plugged TBInjector connectors.


Results:
Engine strong hesitation to start, does not start. Strong gasoline odor, clicking noises and hard banging noises coming from the engine.

 

when u say NOTHING as in you hear nothing at all, not even a click
then first of all your battery needs to be charged.

step on the gas while turning the key for long time and see if that helps it at all.

flood as in is something dripping out of ur engine?

assuming that u have fuel odor, i'd do some fuel filter replacement.
i heard clogged f/filter can cause a whole bunch of bad symptoms.

injectors and fuel pump can be one too,
but since fuel filter is cheap and easy, i'd go from there, good luck!

 

it does click and try to turn over to start, thats what I mean by nothing, I replaced the fuel filter about 5 months ago. flood I mean, flood the TBI unit as in too much gasoline. Ive replaced 1 injector and Im considering in replacing the second, I have a plan for tommorow. Im going to take my brothers MSD distributor and replace my stock one with it.. see if that helps.

 

distributor sounds like a right guess actually..
since u have sparkplugs soaked with gas,
its probably not sparking then?

i feel u in how embarassing it is sometime though
i hate it when shiat like that happens in public..

i feel like i spend so much money and time on my car and take a good care,
and the car turns his back on me by not working lol

 

exactly!!! as awkward as the sounds, I feel my car is my friend and today she turned her back on me!

 

hehe, same here sometime.

anyways, hope ur distributor swaps goes well tomorrow,
good luck

 

have you tried setting the timing? i know it sounds dumb but it could be a possibility i had the distributor work its way loose on my 87 iroc and had a similiar problem.

also about a year later i was racing it at the track and after i finished i went back and shut it down to cool down and nothing when i cam back it just turned over and over until the battery died. that's when i replaced the ignition coil and the pickup coil.

 

the timing is correct. its at *0
----------
just got to see how the swap will go.. ill take some pics tommorow

 

are there any things I should look out for when removing the distributor? any precautions?

 

Ive tried and failed... so now I am forced too just leave the car in the garage until I have enough funds to finally rebuild and INSTALL my LT1.

Here are some pics of what I did, Cleaned up my garage in order to fit my Wide and long Camaro





Took apart the Distributor and took it out...heres how it looks like and on the lowest part of the unit where the gear is located there is up and down play...

 

have the module checked while it is out and if you put it back in clean the bottom and the area where it mounts on the dissy.

make sure that you place some dielectric grease on it before you remount it.

I have never heard of a small block set at 0 try 6 degrees btdc(advanced) It sounds like you are getting fuel now you have to check spark, get a spark tester and let us know how the spark looks. the spark tester is cheap like five bucks.

main thing to do is take that module to a parts store and they will test it for you for free

 

When I had the original hood it had a sticker on there that read, Timing 305 *0
so the mechanic always put it at 0 and it ran and idled fine. I used to work at Pep Boys and we don't check modules, would you know of any other parts store that would?

 

Also, does anyone know the part number for the whole distributor unit?
im looking at GMPARTS DIRECT and its coming up as

1103952

GM PART # 1103952
CATEGORY: Ignition Distributor
PACK QTY: 1 CORE CHARGE: $0.00
GM LIST: $230.06
OUR PRICE: $167.48
DESCRIPTION: EFI LATE MODEL DISTRIBUTOR
Complete distributor is used on late model v8 engines with fuel injection and computer controls.



it sounds correct. Could anyone confirm this for me?

I will buy this if this is the correct one. after I install the distributor and if it fails I give up. and the Camaro will sit for months maybe a year or two.

 

just need someone to confirm it

 

a new ignition module is 15 bucks

autozone checks them for sure and I think I have had one checked at pep before.

if that is not the problem than it could only be the pickup coil and that is around 15 bucks also. buying a new distributor is like buying the neighbors house for the pool because you dont want one in your own backyard!

 

What explains the up and down play on the lower gear of the distributor? I took out my brothers MSD distributor and his has no play like mine does.

 

When the engine doesn't start do you have spark.....Is the check engine light on. It almost sounds like a bad coolant temp sensor however also sounds like a bad coil,clock spring,ignition m. Its easy to fix cars that stay broken however is hard if its intermittent. If you have no idea where to start dont start untill you know what your missing.

 

wear is what causes the up & down play, some won't hurt. i don't like anything over 1/4 of an inch on a stock motor, less on a performance motor.

it sounds like the ignition system is a good place to start, but like was said, you need to find out whats missing when it won't start.

your rotor doesn't look all that good, pull it off & look in the hole where it mounts on the distributor shaft & look for any carbon tracking, its a common problem for the rotor to burn through there. if it was me i would replace the rotor anyway.

did you have the same ignition coil on it when you tried your brothers' distbutor?

 

His ignition coil is waay different than mine. That engine used to belong to a 1970 camaro.

 

does anyone know the part number for the ignition module??

 

just take it into the part store

 

alright, got the cap and rotor and new spark plugs. They did not have the ignition module... and it was 50.00 dollars. Ill just wait tuntil I sell my dasges on ebay and buy it online. Right now im going to go install the spark plugs.

 

Ok so earlier today I just got done installing the new spark plugs and I also did some other work on my car and found some amazing stuff, which is why i did the other work.

I found out that some of the electric fan wires were kind of cut and need to be cut and crimped back up.. fixed that. I took a drill and put a wire brush at the end of it and scraped all ground connections clean, cleaned the battery terminals, took my batttery to the parts store to get it nice and charged. And one other stupid mistake I did. I was trying to remove the temp sensor on the head next to the far left spark plug on the passanger side, and me having the car up in the air.. I removed it and out gushed gallons of ANIT FREEZE all over my garage floor but lucky I acted quick enough where I prevented it from going into the street. So after the clean up I cleaned up the temp senso and made it look like new with the wirebrush.. installed that and plugged it in. Now I await a new ignition module.

 

thats what you have to do in order to get to know your car.

Fondle her!

 

Alright, well finally took the keys to my dads beat up old astro van, went to autozone checked the ignition module.. turned out working excellent!!! I made the guy test it 3 times all 3 times it passed, so now I bought a new ignition coil so im going to install that and everything else and turn it on, im going to go do that right now. Ill let you guys know how it will turn out. And about the timing, my frriends going to come over later on with his gun.

 

alright so I bought a new distributor and installed it.. put the new cap and rotor in... set the firing order right... hooked up everything where it goes...fired her up and rshhhhhhhhvvvshhhhvvshhhhhhh click click click.... battery dies on me... Im going to pep boys to recharge it and let you guys know how it turns out...

 

SHE STARTS!!! but the timing is super off

[B]StatusB]

I traded my old battery in for a new A/C DELCO and got a bigger one.. with more cranking amps, FOR FREE!!!
Installed it made sure the firing order is good. Turned on the car BAAAM she turns right on then I hear loud poundings and turn it right off. My friend was with me and he said since I removed the distributor.. I might upsetted the balance of the firing order. So I would have to find TOP DEAD CENTER and told me he would help me tommorow when there is daylight. Since I bought a new IGNITION COIL... it worked! so that was the problem the ignition coil, but finding the problem caused this problem.

Are there any other suggestions in making it turn on, I know im going to need to time it and need a timing gun, but I just need it to turn on just enough where I can set the timing and let it stay on, any suggestions? any will be greatly appreciated

 

i have been having a similar problem.. well like 4 problems.. and one of them i was having is similar to the orignial problem u were having.. i have replkaced a bunch of stuff including the ignition coil... ai havnt test drove it yet.. or tried to start it.. but since it worked for you.. im hoping it will work for me..

What is the ignition module ? what does it do if it doesnt work right..

where is it located and such...

 

This is the ignition module

it goes right under the distributor cap.. its actually mounted on the distributor plate where the distributor cap sits on. I think the symptoms I described are what happends if it is malfuncitioning. It's a process of elimination in order to find out the problem.

 

wow i know exactly where that is located now...
and a replacment only costs $15 bucks... no too shabby


i wanna get a new one before i start the car.. just because

thirdgen.org is the ****

what is the pick up coil...... i heard it only costs $15 bnucks...

I might need this.. because my car lost its "pick up" instead it makes wierd noise's

 

The ignition coil was $30.00 and the ignition control module was $33.00

 

Stock factory timing is 0, emission legal is 0, what works for our cars is something in the area of 4 to 6 degrees advanced.

 

Thanks for that information greatly appreciated, but what about the hard starting? my friend said I have to find TOP DEAD CENTER since I removed the dristributor and might of upsetted the balance and piston firing order, what can I do about this??? or is the solution just moving the distributor to where it turns on enough, where the cars engine is acutally idleling and not turning off?

 

Oh hell, that brings back some bad memories *LOL*, when I removed my intake manifold and replaced the intake gasket, I did upset the timing too. However I had it 180 off.

Here's how to make sure you're at TDC on no.1 piston and so on and on.

Pull out no.1 spark plug, turn the engine over (i.e. "tap" it, by turning the key to on), you may have to crawl underneath the car (like I did), or lay on top of the front and turn the pulley until your marks on the timing indicator and the pulley line up.

You'll need some sandpaper and some whiteout or white paint, since it'll be rusty and hard to see the marks. And maybe a little wooden stick or wooden ruler to stick inside no.1 spark plug hole.

You'll know when it's TDC, it's when both marks line up, and when your no.1 piston is at TDC, i.e. you can't push the stick in very far at all.

After that, easiest way go here:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tb...-ultimate.html
STEP FIFTEEN

 

OMG.. I had with this car............. We put the damn thing on TDC like 4 times today, the first time it sounded like it was going to turn over but then IT died.. and the other times it just would not TURN over.. at all just kept making that infamous sound... "vsshhhh shhhh shhhhhhh" ...... and when I removed the spark plug on piston #1 it looked all black from the carbons... and smelled like gasoline..... AND THEYRE BRAND NEW!!! this was the first start up.... what the hell is wrong??? My friend is going to come over with a timing light gun and gonna try to help me figure out this problem.. if he can't help me I don't know what else to do...what is the correct digit to set the timing at???? Just need 1 digit (degree) not 4-3-2 or 0 what is the digit that it will work at someone please tell me!!!

 

Looks like I took all the juice out of the battery. It's still not starting and it is on 0 degree like it is suppose to be!! so we advanced it a little and it still will not start so im going to clean the spark plugs and charge the battery fully. It was really flooded and kept spitting out flames from the THROTTLE BODY barrels...but at times it sounded like it wanted to work.

 

Check ALL the wires and connections, as ridicolous as it sometimes may sound, check them all. My problem after I had done the timing etc correctly, was that my wires to the IAT were off 90 degrees, since the tab had been broken on the IAT, so it was to figure out which way the wire assembly went.

Check the wires around the distributor. Check everything.

Slowly .. slowly

 

IAT? what is that... how do I know if my spark plug wires are bad??

Today I removed 7 of the spark plugs. I found that all the spark plugs were drenched with throttle body cleaner and gasoline. Cleaned them off and dried them, I took my NEW battery to PEP BOYS to have it charged came back home sprayed some starting fluid on it.. and it did not start kept doing the "vshhsshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" thing.... I give up... I just about had it with this problem I do not know what else to do!?? replace the spark plug cables?? I just bought them last august ACCEL 9000s This is what I have done...

Replaced the IGNITION COIL which was the problem all along.... (but since my dumb *** removed the distributor.. I caused this)

checked the ignition control module.. passed all 3 tests... replaced cap and rotor cleaned all ground cables that are visible... replaced spark plugs... replaced battery... put the thing on TDC (top dead center) timed it with a timing light.. messed with the dist cap to advance it... and did not do anything.... what else can I do??? I mean what did i DO WRONG?? besides take out the distributor, I did all the things you guys told me to do and I have got very close to turning on this engine but it hasnt?? what else could I do??? pleeease help me, this is my only car..

 

IAT is the intake air control valve, on your throttle body you'll have a big part on the side, which would take a damn big *** wrench to remove it with. That part has a set of four wires running to it.


When you made sure the engine is at TDC, did you also, at the same time, make sure the rotor points towards no.1 spark plug wire ?

 

yes we made sure it was pointing at #1 on the rotor but we couldnt really get it right on the dot... it was about 3 centimeters off, would this make a difference??
we spent the whole day doing this... and put it on TDC 3 times!!!

 

Oh wait.. I remember now I replaced this valve.. it's called the idle air control vavle... It's new I got it only 2 months ago... but after I installed it.. the car ran like it did before...how could this valve change things right now?

 

It needs cleaning every now and then, and to be readjusted, however I doubt it could cause the severe problems you're experiencing. I got tons of them from the junkyards, in case the spring or something in mine wears out too much.

You're 100 percent sure it was at TDC on no.1 piston ? Did you guys check it several times in a row to make sure, or tried once, worked around it, tried again, worked on other things and then tried again ?

 

we made sure it was at TDC, we took a flat head and put it inside the spark plug hole... and cranked it manually and my friend said he felt the piston go up...and I cranked it some more and he said it wasnt moving... so we thought hey its a TDC! and we pointed the rotor twoards piston #1...and tried turning it on... the first time it did almost turn on.. alot of smoke came out of the exhaust... and the second time nothing.. we repeated this same procedure 3 times... right now im going to go check everything again.. and try it.. ill be right back

 

It's not starting.. I dont know what else to do... I need a car and I dont have money to spend on it to take it to a mechanic... so I will just sell it along with all the parts and the LT1 engine I have for it. Im sorry it did not work out for me. And thanks everyone for all your time and idea's im so dissapointed with this car. I guess this is what happends when your broke, dont have any money and need to get around and get to work.


Should I sell it for parts? or sell the whole thing?

 

I will be selling the car with the LT1.

Thanks VORGATH, for all your help and input.

 

I'm pretty much broke too, what you need to do, is to calm down, relax heck even get intoxicated and maybe it'll all clear up. Read through all these posts again, carefully, and look it all over again.

Did you check for error codes ?

Are both your fuel lines good to go, any kinks anything ?

Cap and rotor, if not new, heck take them off, use some sandpaper on the points, and that's all it needs.

Don't rush it with either selling the car or by running and buying brand new parts that are overpriced.


I did that mistake once, replaced my fuel pump, fuel tank etc has been messed up ever since, the problem turned out not to be the fuel pump, but the fuel pump driver in the ECM.


Did you try pulling out all sparkplugs, have them hooked up to the sparkplug wire, and one by one, touching bare metal as you turn over the engine, and see if you get a spark ? Because if you do, you're at least positive that you're getting power through the wires and to the sparkplugs.

 

When you guys made sure the no.1 piston was at TDC, did you ALSO verify it, by making sure the line on the pulley lined up with the timing mark ?

i.e. did you sand the mark down, put some white-out in the groove so you can see it ?

Too tired to remember the exact technical term here, had something to do with being either at the downstroke or upstroke something like that, anyway, VERIFY !! Check it !!

 

The cap and rotor are both new.. the ignition coil is new..the spark plugs are new. No I have not tried that testing process yet. How exactly do you run that? Also today when I pulled out the spark plugs, they were all drenched in gasoline, what does that mean?? flooded or something else?

 

you mean TOP DEAD CENTER? no we did not mark it down.. we used a flat head on piston #1 and felt the piston to see if it was all the way up.. and my friend felt it and said it was up and then we pointed the distributor to piston number one and made the rotor position to hit piston #1... thats all we did.