i was using the search tool looking for answers to my question , " why is my car running rich ? " , and i found many threads related to this question but they never came to a conclusion , and in some cases it did . So basically what im trying to say is that wouldn't it be nice if there was some sort of trouble shooting guide to why an engine might run rich i.e. bad CTS or weak ignition system etc. , this would really help many of the members here on TGO . instead of having multiple incomplete threads , it would give members a list of things to check before posting "unless its a unique situation " kind of like the FAQ section on the homepage "wich many people overlook " or the stickies , basically a list of possible things that would cause that specific problem , in this case a rich running engine.

 

Well yea i have to agree with you about threads not coming to a conclusion. Because we all know virtually all of them do come to some sort of conclution or else what they got rid of the car? Just lived with a car that doesn't start? Even some will report that the problem was fixed and not what was wrong maybe from embarrassment for being something so silly but i think most of the time there just happy that the cars fixed and thats the end of it. Some people i have noticed are very good about posting the result and thanking those who helped but i wish it were more prevalent. Now the other thing you mention was troubleshooting guides for specific problems. The problem is i mean sure we could it but we would be basically rewriting the factory manual based on the factory manuals info and with excerts and pictures also from the factory manual and at that rate why not pick up the factory manual for $20 off ebay? Not much sense in re-inventing the wheel kinda deal. What i think would be better is if this forum just kept a log of all problems these cars have as kinda a follow up report after the cars fixed. It would include things like the specifics of the car (year, motor, trans, make and model, any mods that are relevant), the symptoms, a brief description of how they found the problem, what the problem was, the mileage at which it occurred, and maybe a guess as to why it happened (maybe old age or maybe it was a leaking gasket causing water to get into a relay or something). Having a database like this would allow people to quickly look up the common causes of specific problems and how people came to those conclusions, prevent problems if there cause was known and avoidable, and with a listing of mileage even expect problems and maybe include them in a preventive maintenance schedule to reduce down time by replacing them before there expected to fail. Also failure reports would have a standard uniform title that might just be a list of symptoms to aid searching. I think that would be very useful but again it comes back to we have a hard enough time getting people to just post what the problems were after they fix them what chance would we have at getting people to fill out a whole report lol. Although in industry this sort of thing is done and it is very usefull. Personally i keep track of things like this and although it hasn't been any use to me yet I'm only one person. A whole database of everyone experiences would be of use to all.

 

true about the manual thing , but then again not evryone knows about the manuals"guilty" but a list of things that could cause the problem and a list of components that could be causing the problem , it would be nice...

 

Well theres the thing most problems have many many possible causes and although its easy to list possible causes you need to know how to troubleshoot it to find out what it actually is. I mean a check engine light for example without having instructions on even how to pull the trouble codes it leaves almost an infinite amount of possibilities even if you already knew how to pull codes even then it could be a sensor, could bad wire, could be a connection, could be the ECM the list goes on and on and on. Although you now know a whole bunch of possibilities you have no way of figuring out which one it is. You might get lucky and replace a sensor and be in good shape but when that doesn't work then what? Your out time and money and you still have a car with issues. So it dosnt really help because there's many possibilities without any troubleshooting procedures to narrow it down your just left with throwing money at it till its fixed or taking it to the mechanic. So again your left with the need to explain how to troubleshoot it but at that rate why should we do it when its already done for us by GM? I know what your saying and it would be nice it there was a common problem these cars faced to have a troubleshooting procedure on how to get to the bottom of it just posed as a tech article or something but there really are not really any problems that are so prevalent in these cars to warrant that. Especially when you concider in many cases problems would have to be diagnosed based on the motor and being that theres the I4, 60 degree v6 carbed and fuel injected, v8s (carbed, TBI, Crossfire, TPI) each would need there own troubleshooting chart. Not only that things vary by year for example earlier TPI set ups were MAF later were speed dencity and then theres the 85 TPI set up which also has a unique set up which means even more charts. It just wouldnt be worth while to do.