i was driving my camaro today and it started to bog down everytime i touched the gas and then she died and wont start. shell try to start but only motor turns over. also when i try to get it to turn over it dont get power at all. i tap on starter and it turns over... anybody know anything thatll help me??? its stranded and need it home

 

Do the simple things first. Check for spark and check and make sure you have fuel. chances are you will find out something just by running those simple tests.

 

ok what should i do. i wsa told to check the spark but itlll turn over and wont start and sumtimes when i drive and park it and go to start it again i have to wait till its ready to start its gettin annoyin

 

i had on go out and i would drive it shut off on me once and i rolled in to my drive came out 2 hours later and started right up it would just turn over and not do anything without u wount have any spark from the coil if u run for a while shut it off and if it dont start try it a hour or so later and see if it starts

 

when was the last time you replaced all of the ignition components, you could have a bad coil, or plugs, or cap and rotor. check for spark. take the #1 plug out and connect it back to the boot on the wire, have someone turn over the engine and see if there is spark. if not tkae off your cap and clean all of the points and put it back together. then check for spark again. if there is still no spark then i would say replace your coil and if the cap and rotor need it do them too. it wouldn't hurt while you're out to get everything, and give the ignition a tune up.
good luck, hope you get her home

 

because it runs when its cold, and not when its hot, there is a 90% chance it is one of two things, depending on whether it is a fuel or spark problem

if its spark - ignition module - the heatsink grease on these tends to go, and then whenever the car gets hot it'll shut down or work sporadically, hence the "fire it up, it dies, let it sit, it fires up again" (i've seen it happen with coils too, but they are much more common to just go out completely)

if its fuel - fuel pump - same principal as above. most electrical motors will work ok while cold, but once they've worked up a considerable operating temperature will fail. some go quite awhile before they go out completely. (power window motors, hatch motor, starters, it happens to all of them frequently)

i bet its an ignition module though.

 

all the freakin cursing aND stressing my dam car ran outta gas...... i need it to be timed does anybody know step by step how to do it?? i never used a light and would like to learn... so would the module make it lose power all together and id wait and try again and it would start????

 

yes, the module can do that. it will heat up, and then fail. while the motor is off, it will cool and let you start your car, maybe even run fine for awhile. and then fail again once it heats up.

i've also seen it cause some serious surging and bucking, misfires, and backfiring. sometimes it will have these symptoms, sometimes not.

timing light is easy

unplug the EST. (usually a brown wire with a black connector on it, close to the firewall on the passenger side)
clip your light to a power source (battery), and the #1 plug wire
aim it at the timing marks behind your crank pulley
wherever the mark shows up when the light flashes is what your timing is set at

if it wobbles and jumps around while your EST is unplugged then you probably need a timing chain pretty badly.

you can plug your EST back in when you're done setting the base timing, and give it some throttle while you're watching the timing mark. your timing should advance smoothly with the throttle.

 

thank u i have put a new timing chain on not even two months ago. so can that moduler make my car hesitate a lil bit and then go? cause starting probs even when cool? cant hurt to replace then.

 

the module is a very good possibility, it doesn't always work fine when it's cold, but its been known to happen.

i would also point a suspicous eye towards your coil, it can have the same symptoms. there is a very easy way to test it with a voltmeter to know if the coil is good or not. you may want to do that before anything else.

 

so its either my coil or module... i was told it would be my module more then anything but should i get it tested first? or just put new one in to be safe??? i been threw hell and back with this car.......

 

i had the coil and modular checked and they were all good! starter maybe going makin it not start sumtimes and start other times?

 

Your HEI ignition uses a pick-up coil buried in the center of the distributor under the flyweights, under the rotor. The symptoms you are getting can all be caused by that little coil. It has a two-wire connector to the module. Disconnect it from the module, put a good ohmmeter across the two wires. Check for about 800ohms (that's from memory, I don't have a manual with me right now). Wiggle the little wires and see if it jumps up/down. If its steady, then its OK. If not, the distributor can be dismantled with a 3/16" pin punch to remove the drive pin on the gear, then just pull the shaft out of the housing. There will be a very small 'C' clip at the pick-up coil, so use a pick to remove it. If you go slow and carefully, you can do the whole job in a half hour. Re-installation of the dist. and timing to the engine is a bit confusing if you have no experience though. You may need help with that.
Good Luck!

 

a mechanic told me that the coil wouldnt make my car do what it was so i dunno... i know it needs timed bad cause when i drive normal the exhaust is so loud it sounds like im flying but doin maybe 25mph, and its not gainin speed like it should.

 

Your distributor has a very small magnetic pick-up coil. The ignition coil is the big lumpy thing sitting inside the ignition cap (or remotely mounted near the pass. side firewall if you have that type. Two coils, very different!

 

exactly

these guys are right about checking your pickup coil, it definitely sounds like erratic spark and something failing with heat

i would've said your starter like you implied, but that says nothing of your drivability problems, a starter wouldn't do any of that. you may have two seperate problems, but if they started at the exact same time, i doubt it. there is always the possibility though, i've seen some strange problems... lol

and also, i would swap out that module to see if it helps anyways, if it doesn't, just pull it out, clean it up, and take it back. the reason i say this is because when mine went out i had it tested and they said it was ok. but after throwing a few other parts at it i got to thinking... because my car only acted up after it warmed up considerably i figured it was probably ok until it soaked in 220 degrees for awhile, so i changed it anyways. voila, all was good in the world. you'd have to blast that thing with a heat gun to get some real world condition testing done on it.

 

i got a new starter cause my ignitoin thread where bolt goes on was stripped and not lettin me tightn so i think that might be my starting prob. im gna give that a shot then im goin for the module