Im new to all of this. I dont know much about engines yet and got my first camaro earlier this week. its a 84 z28 , I went to go to try to start it and it took a while at first i had to give it some gas but it would start. but recently its been turning real slow i changed the battery the same thing every thing in the engine moves but very slowly i looked around n i found a pretty bad leak going to the carb and i tightend it up but i havent tried firing it up yet i wanted to wait for some of the gas to dry up a little bit, the gas was leaking all over the engine i wiped alot of it up but does anybody think this will solve the problem?

 

Simple answer: yes. If you had trouble starting your car and gasoline was leaking out of (one of the carb input lines, I'm guessing?) that should fix it.

If the engine is turning over slowly... that could be a bigger issue. Are you sure it just doesn't sound a little different?

Welcome to the boards and to third gen ownership. Any problem you could possibly have can be solved here.

I would change your oil as soon as possible. If you're thinking about going synthetic, there's a lot of info on the topic on the boards here. You might search the "big chunk theory" for some further reading.

Enjoy

 

Perhaps I read incorrectly. If your car was idling slowly, the fuel leak was likely the culprit. If it was Turning over slowly (when starting) that could be a bigger issue. I wouldn't worry about that, though. Just misread.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Thanks and i will....but at first it was turning but just wouldnt start and then started to turn slow a couple hours later when i found the fuel leak today i just figured that the engine turned so slow because no gas was getting to it or would that even have an effect on it?

 

The engine still wont turn .. im thinking that the gas leaked onto the starter and is causing it to malfunction..its making a high pitched grinding noise and sometimes turns very slow and sometimes does nothing

 

Gas really cant get into the starter, and even if it did, it wouldnt make any difference.

It sort of sounds like your battery died from cranking it too many times. Jump it and try again.

high pitched grinding noise sounds worrisome.

Make sure you check your oil. Consider taking your starter off and having a look there, too, if jumping it doesnt fix the problem.

Let me know what you find.

 

Maybe someone can correct me, but when you turn your key, the speed at which your engine turns is determined by factors inside the engine, (friction of pistons, cam, et al) and the electrical properties of the starter. Lower voltage because you've got a light on, spins slower, for instance.

Until your car actually starts, the presence of gas in the engine is basically irrelevant.

As I mentioned before, if your starter is cranking your engine very slowly before it fires for the first time, it could be a sign of trouble.

If you can't get it going with the jump, you might consider taking it to a professional.

 

maybe your timing is to far retarded? when cranking over it would seem as if your battery was dead if you were to retarded. mess with your timing if chargin your battery doesnt help. have you had the camaro runnig since you bought it, or even heard it run yet?

 

Your carb should have enough fuel in the floats to get the engine started and running for at least a minute or 2 without any fuel lines hooked up.

The gas leak to the carb it self will not cause the engine to crank very slowly. With a healthy engine, you can remove the carb entirely and try and start it up and it will crank just as fast as it normally does.... without actually starting up due to no gas obviously.

The reason the engine is cranking so slow is because of either massive internal friction, weak starter or weak battery from cranking too much. You already changed your battery so that leaves the starter or massive internal friction.

The starter itself can be hard to diagnose without actually pulling it out. So check for internal friction. It may be flooded with gas in the cylinders. remove the plugs, disconnect power to the distributer. It should now crank over nice and fast, faster then normal due to no compression. This will also clear out any gas flooding the cylinders.

If it still cranks slow with the plugs out, then you have either a weak starter on it's way out, or BIG internal engine problems causing a lot of friction. Most likely it will be the starter.

And oh yeah, check the easy stuff first, like loose battery terminals. It's surprising how big an effect on cranking speed dirty terminals can have. Clean them up good, with sand paper if they're corroded, and tighten them as well. If you're going to jump the car, make sure you have good jumper cables with a good clean connections to both cars.

Are the spark plug wires hooked up correctly? Double check the firing order if they were recently removed. You might have 2 cables switched.

Good Luck.

 

I tried to jump my car but the same thing happens turns very slow if its turning at all .. so im thinking it is the starter or like oamhmad said about gas being flooded in the cylinders.. and yes i bought the car somewhere about 2 hours from where i live and it started fine and drove all the way home no problems and then i changed the fuel filter and thats how the leak came and thats when it stopped cranking

 

I just got a hold of the previous owner and he said he put in a new starter about 2 years ago

 

I would try these things...

1) Clean battery terminals and as many major cable connections with a wire brush and some solvent if you have it.
2) Take battery to Auto parts store and have it tested. Replace if necessary.
3) Remove starter and take it in and have it tested. Look out for worn or jagged teeth on the gear. Replace if necessary.
4) check oil level. Change oil.
5) Pull your spark plugs off and take a look at them. Leave them off for a while and either get new ones, or put your old ones back on.

If you get to this point, and it isn't fixed, you're going to have to look at your engine. It could still be high resistance in the electrical system due to corrosion. Before you pull the motor, try adding a heavy gauge wire from one of the starter bolts, to the negative battery terminal.

Good luck

 

Check your battery voltage with a voltmeter. Should be just a little over 12 volts. Like the previous poster suggested, make sure those battery terminal are clean, corrosion free and tight.

If the battery checks out then it's time to pull the plugs out. You'll need a 5/8 spark plug socket, a swivel joint, and an assortment of extensions.

When my starter went, its nose cracked and I had the exact same symptoms you do. The engine would crank over real slow. Do the easy stuff first before suspecting the starter. Did you check the oil? Does it look milky?

I'm also wondering if you have a seized water pump, AC compressor, power steering pump or alternator. Can you remove the belts and crank it up again to see if it cranks any faster?

 

That's a good point, though, I had a seized smog pump on my 3.9 V6 dakota and it didn't effect the crank speed at all. Gee whiz, that was fun. Easy fix, though.

You could pull the belts off and try to spin the pulleys manually.

 

change the starter, sometimes even "new" ones are crap.

 

Thanks im getting my car towed up to my school tommorow and having my teacher helping me with the things you guys suggested and ill let yall know how it goes

 

im starting to think my engine is seized... and this might be a dumb question but if a engine is locked up it wont budge at all right ? because i tried to turn the crank shaft and nothing happened

 

it wouldnt budge

 

That actually kinda depends. There isn't just one way an engine can 'seize.'

If you can't turn the crank shaft it's probably because the tranny is engaged. You could put it in neutral, remove the belt and turn the front of the crank shaft, or lift the back wheels off the ground, put it in D and spin them.

What you've been describing doesnt exactly sound like a seized motor, though. Usually when an engine seizes it doesnt slowly get worse over time but rather, you'll hear a loud bang and then it will stop turning.

 

Have you removed the plugs yet. It will be hard to turn the crank with the plugs still in it? Have you removed the V-belts?

 

I took the plugs out turned the key n it started spinning fast and gas was coming out of where the spark plugs were .. Tommorow I'm putting new spark plugs back in and tryna start it up so I'm thinkn. The cylinders were flooded with fuel thanks everybody for your help and ill tell you how it goes tommowrow

 

Told ya so. Be careful you don't pump the gas too much when it won't start, that's what causes it to get flooded. You are lucky the motor didn't hydro lock and break parts from all the fluid in the pistons.

 

i know but yesterday i changed the oil and it started right up.. it had gas all in the oil pan...thanks for your help everybody ...and im thinking about putting a new carburetor on does anybody have any suggestions for what type i should get?

 

You can't go wrong with a Holley 4160, 600 CFM 4 Barrel. Brand new they are like 275 at autozone. They're pretty much just bolt on and go as long as you have the correct Holley throttle bracket and kickdown bracket for automatic trans.

 

Yeah i found out it was my carburetor flooding my cylinders while it was just sitting there. so my uncle is looking for me for a carburetor right now and i have some questions about putting it on on the electri choke where do i plug it into? and he said he is getting me a elderbrock willl i need a adapter or something to put it on my car? and do you guys have any tips on putting on a carb

 

Electric Choke will need a 12V source that gets power only when your ignition key is in the 'run' position. Do not use the car's stock choke connection.

Your factory manifold is a spread bore pattern. If your carb is also spread bore no adapter is required. Most probably the carb will be square bore. Use this adapter then, http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WND-9006/

If you have auto transmission the detent cable will need the proper geometry to hook up to the throttle lever on the carb, and then the cable will need to be adjusted. If you ignore this step, the transmission will blow up in no time. Do a search for adjusting 700R4 detent cables. Also whatever carb you end up getting make sure you call up the manufacturer and ask them what brackets you need to hook up the dentent cable. Don't skip this step!

 

If your engine is stock, no aftermarket carb will work unless you also replace the distributor and decommision the Computer Command Control. Does your carb have several electrical connectors? If so it's CCC and the engine wont run correctly with a non CCC carb unless you completely remove the system, including the EST distributor.

Most likely, the phelolic resin float in the carb has swelled from being in fuel for 27 years and the float is stuck, causing the float bowl to overflow. A good carb shop will rebuild your carb for much less than the cost of a replacment.

 

This guy knows what he's talking about.

 

About half the time.