Hi all, new to this forum. I'm in the Detroit, MI area and will be visiting my brother in San Antonio, TX over the holidays. He's got a real sweet 1989 IROC convertible sitting in his garage, that's not been driven in a few years. Black w/blue striping, 305 TPI 220hp engine, 5 speed manual driveline. Car has about 7K mi on the clock. 100% original, down to the factory 16" Goodyears. The car's mine for weekend visits, if I can get it running. Crank's fine, sputters a lot, but wont come to life. I told him to drain out the old crap gas, top off fresh and circulate the fuel system loop a few minutes. Don't think he's ever got off his lazy butt to do anything yet. Any help from you guys would be appreciated, as this is one cool ride. Also, a little about my background. I've built a few engines and have a car hoist in my garage. No expert, but know a few things. Mark

 

If it just sits the fuel pump might have gone bad. It seems like all the 3rd gens I have bought that have sat up for a while always need a new fuel pump. Good luck with it. Sounds like a very nice car. Put up some pics if you got any.

 

Mark,
Welcome to the boards.

I moved the thread to Tech/General Engine, they should be able to help more than us history buffs.

It could be a couple of things.

Dirty Injectors. Very common problem, in 1989 they changed to a new style injector that gave better atomization and better economy, BUT they clogged much easier. My 89 has this issue, it chugs and runs like its only on 6 cyl at idle, I just have not taken the time to change them out yet.

If you remove the air intake and spray some starting fluid in the plenum it should run a little. That would rule out ignition...

Or There may be an ignition problem. I have a friend that when he bought his 86 Trans Am new (still owns it) when it had 10,000 miles on it he would pull up to a stop light and the car would just quit. The car ended up going to the GM Tech Center for a time to see what was going on, and it ended up that there was a screw under the distributor cap that would cause a ground out under a particular condition... So it might be something as simple as that.

Thus the problem with low miles cars and not being driven.

John

 

Thank's a lot for the quick replies. Thought from the beginning it might be injectors. I'll bring a gauge down and test fuel pressure. Looks like my visit to San Antonio will involve a little work. We'll pull the injectors and change the spark plugs. Pretty sure he's got good spark, but curious about the mentioned distributor screw. Not sure what's involved in these seemingly simple task's. I had a 96' Z-28 LT-1, and couldn't get to anything. Spark plugs were an all day job and had to drop the rear axle for the fuel pump. Guess I'll find out in a few weeks.

 

THe drivers side you can get to, OK,
The passenger side you can get to the front two, but the rear two you might have to get from underneath.

Matter of factly I want to think that I did the rear four from underneath the last time I changed plugs...

John

John

 

You find some local, hands on help, at SA3GO

 

Spoke with Julie from South Bay fuel injectors earlier and just ordered a set for 10% off(thank's to you guy's). I'll let you know how things turn out. Planning on some pic's, too.

 

Well, back home from my brother's place in San Antonio, TX and happy to report with help from you guy's, the IROC Z' Vert is up and running. We first drained the old crap gas and got fresh stuff in. Did lot's of engine cranking and nothing. Pulled a plug and was soaking wet with crap gas and pretty fouled, trying to run on this stuff. We checked for good spark, then went for the starting fluid. My brothers foot to the floor, with me dousing this stuff directly into the throttle body and "WOW" she sure came to life. Kept it running a while to burn off the combustion chamber crap gas load up, but was still running rough. Next day, we changed the plugs to AC Rapid Fires and found #4 cyl was soaking wet. Pretty sure we got it. Back on the ground with our fingers crossed, she fired up perfectly. Of course a road check was necessary and was a blast(forgot to mention the 3.73 gears). He's still wanting to have the car looked over by a good San Antonio area mechanic, if anyone knows of one. Thank's again for the help, guy's. Mark