Hey guys, glad I finally joined TGO, been meaning to do it for a while now...

So I came home from school and havent been able to get my firebird running, Im gonna provide as much info as possible and here are the specs...

89 Firebird Formula, 305 TPI engine, 5 speed.

Problem: Car sat in storage while I was at school, the battery died and since then I have not been able to get her to start.

The car burbles and cranks fine and sounds like it wants to start but no success so far.

what Ive done so far

FUEL: I went over the entire fuel system...Fuel filter is new and situated in the right direction...Fuel pump is putting out a 1/2 pint in 15 seconds, i put a stethoscope on 2 of the injectors and can hear them ticking, Fuel pressure is 42 psi, no kinks in the fuel lines. It has gas in the tank lol...

Electrical: Pulled a plug and cranked it, the plugs are sparking you CAN Smell fuel on the spark plugs, put a new ignition cap on. plug wires and injector wires are fine....wires are in the correct firing order

ECM: checked the computer, its not showing any codes although the battery has been disconnected so i dont know if it would pick up any codes from just trying to crank it since any previous codes would have been erased...

SO essentiall it has spark fuel and air but still wont fire up...I am open to any and all suggestions since i am starting to suspect the problem is something stupid and simple to fix.


Thanks in advance!!

 

How many miles on the engine? Try putting gas directly into the carburetor, a little bit though, and see if it starts.

 

the engine has 84,000 miles on it. The car has tuned port injection so it doesn't use a carburetor.

It was running really well before it went into storage, I replaced a ton of parts on it myself (fuel injectors, fuel pump, all filters, fluids, plugs wires, MAF and some other stuff)

 

Were those parts direct replacemnts of equal value? By that I mean stock injector swapped out with same lb/hr rating, or did you stuff something different in it's place?

 

yes, everything was replaced with stock parts, done by myself so i know its all correct...

I need to test my ignition coil next, does anyone know the EXACT steps/settings to do that on a 5.0 tuned port injection engine?

what else could cause a weak spark bc i know it is getting gas

I am awful with electronics...

 

I went through the same process and it turned out to be the battery. I was shocked cause it did not give any indication that it was low or cell blown or whatever it was.

When you checked the spark on the plugs, were they yellow/orange or blue/white? If yellow orange it might not be enough to get things burning, should be blue/white.

In my case the spark was yellow/orange. Changed the battery and they went back to white/blue and the car has run ever since. <knocks on wood>

I even checked the coil like you are thinking of hehe!

 

yeah thats what i was thinking about doing today as well, swapping in a battery from another car just to see if i can get her to turn over...

however, the spark appeared to be blue/whiteish in color so it looks like it is hot enough but i guess it cant hurt to try...

any ideas on the resistance specs of an MSD blaster coil?? and how to check it it is within tolerance