Zepher86Z28

I am at wits end. Today I was trying to my 86 Iroc-Z running, been having problems with it since I took her out of the garage for winter. I adjusted the timing and got her purring really good one day. Then few days later I started it back up and it ran like ****, running rich according to my A/F gage and it stalls out when i give it gas, doesnt want to idle at all.

I took the upper intake off and went over everything made sure egr was connected. took out my IAC and readjusted it, knock my TPS sensor in tolerence .55 volts (book told me .54-.56). I got everything back together and fired it up and it ran kinda rough but it did idle. But I forgot to plug in the Brake Booster cable, so that would explain it. also frustrating since i cant read anything from the ecu with my aldl cable,

While it was running the belt was squeaking, it was a little out of square, so i loosened off the bolt and tapped it, while i was tapping it I forgot the battery was plugged in and brushed the post going to the battery and sparked to the housing. Now it wont even try to fire. I am getting compression and 40psi in fuel. not 100% sure on spark thou kinda hard to check that myself. I went threw the fuses under the dash they all check out and the 2 behind the battery.

Is there anything else I can check out or anything I could have fried? is the ecu protected by a fuses, I am kinda a noob, I had the car for 2 years and just starting to really get into it. All I got to go on is a Haynes manual and it doesnt have the detail i want. Does anyone know if they sell the assembly manuals for these cars? i know my friends dad has one from 85 and it dwarfs my manual.

/end rant


any ideas or points to a direction would be appreciated.

Rolling Thunder

Ok well lets get it to try and fire and well see what we can do from there. Irst off we need to figure out whats missing fuel air or spark. Since its kinda hard to lack air well look at the other 2 possibilities. First thing i would do is spray some starter fluid in the throttle body and then try to start it. If it starts and then stalls we have a fuel problem if it does nothing then were looking at an ignition problem. Once we figure out whats missing we can do more in depth troubleshooting from there. Now you mentioned the manual issue and you are absolutely right the little Haynes manuals are great as a quick reference but when you really need in depth info the +1000 page (dedicated to your particular year not like covers 82-92) factory manual is what you need. I have one for all of my cars and can be typically be picked up off ebay for $20 or so. Just search for 1986 camaro shop manual and and youll see what i mean.

Zepher86Z28

Thanks for the reply,

I went through and check some stuff I read in other threads, I pulled a fuel injector plug and tested it with a light, and i am good there, lit up and got a pulse too. So i am getting a signal from the ecm, and combined with the fuel pressure 40-42psi, i am getting fuel, also can smell it from the exhaust too.

Didnt get a chance to test spark yet. Dont have any starter fluid, Can I use WD 40, Fogging Oil or Throttle body cleaner? and didnt pull a plug and ground it to a block yet. But I did change the Dis. Cap earlier in the year, because of loose connections and bent pins. but i left the rotor cause it didnt look burned out to me. was that okay to change one but not the other, and i read too that some modules like to burn out too, so I will check that.

Also tried my hypertech thermo chip and my 89 305 tpi promm too no difference.

and my shop manual is on the way, I was looking for the assembly manual and wondering why there wasnt one lol.

Rolling Thunder

Ok well if thats the case it looks like its probably spark then. Still i would check with starter fluid though or something equivalent. I dont think wd40 or fogging oil would work but carb cleaner is pretty flammable and may work not 100 sure on that though so maybe worth a shot but probable not a good test if i dont know what to expect lol. As far as changing the cap and not the rotor is concerned no there is nothing wrong with that obviously there not matched components or anything like that so unless you had a reason to change it theres really no requirement to do so. Yes these modules do have a tendency to fail due to heat so just to make sure you know if you do replace it just be sure to use the thermal paste on the bottom of the module or else it will fail.

Yea its very understandable that an assembly manual would be hard to find as i don't believe there ever were assembly manuals for 3rd generation f bodies lol. On the bright side though its better that way because if you ended up with an assembly manual instead of a service manual you would have been missing out and may have never realized the difference. I think you will be very pleased with it when it arrives. Though also shocked and over whelmed with the depth of info these manuals have but when you need serious technical info theirs no better source or manual more complete.

Gabe10

My car has been having a similar problem. I replaced all ignition components, new vac hoses, and my fuel pressure is 42 psi. Any ideas? Sensors maybe?

Rolling Thunder

Like the original poster you need to figure out whats missing fuel or spark. Ide recommend you do the same testing with starting fluid and see if it runs briefly and troubleshooting from there.

FireDemonSiC

Just by skimming this post over from what you said I bet $5 you blew the ECM fuse when you shorted the battery. It should be in a weatherpack connector under the hood somewhere. Follow the smaller wire coming off the battery and it will lead you to it.

Pull a spark plug wire off a distributor post and have an assistant watch for spark at that post while cranking. That will tell you if It's spark related. If the ECM doesn't receive power, the injectors won't fire.

EDIT: Disregard that. Just read where you got an injector pulse. Sounds spark related. Something got cooked. The ignition module maybe?