Hello there I am new to this forum. I just purchased a 85 camaro
with the 2.8 in it. I was on the market for a fox body or camaro but camaro came up first! I love it! One reason I wanted one so bad was cuase when i was little my grampa taught me how to drive in one and fell in love with it ever since!

Any who it does not run as it try's to start up and backfires. I have plenty of knowledge on mustangs and bmw's but when it comes to chevy Im screwed!!

So would anyone car to help on this dilema i have? I want to get it running asap as im sick of driving my other car!!

 

Well first off...

You made the right choice buying Chevy! haha anyways..

Theres a number of reasons it could back fire:
180 degrees out of wack
timing screwed up in general
firing order wrong
carb issues
ect ect..

Can you give a little more detail on what it does, and what you have checked?

 

okaa well today i was messing with the spark plug wires and finally got it started

it takes awhile for it to start like it gets no gas or no spark but after
it is on if i take my foot of the pedal it dies

 

Did this car sit for a while? Try spraying some TB/carb cleaner thru it, see if that helps. Im also a big fan of seafoam, the first time I used that on my trans am my neighbors came outside because all they could see thru their windows was the white smoke coming from my exhaust as the seafoam cleaned the crud from the inside of my engine lol. I would try this, see how it helps.

If it starts up, its getting spark. Have you checked ALL cylinders for spark? Is the spark bright blue?


Does the engine shake more than usual while running? (vac leak)

(My TA had a very similar problem, after I used the seafoam and carb cleaner it ran great)

 

certainly sounds like a rich condition.... the backfiring, but that can also come on from timing way out of wack.... make sure the base timing is close. If the car has been sitting for a while before you bought it, god only know the kind of gunk the fuel had become.

to check for an overly rich condition, prop open the throttle plate a little to give it more air when you start it, if it starts easier, its getting too much fuel.

also, are you talking backfire through the exhaust (rich) or backfire through the intake (lean)?

 

it was back firing through the exhaust and i gave up on it so i decided
to take of my interior in the rear and the previous owner had cut out a square
so that they wouldnt have to drop the tank to get to the fuel pump.
so i took it of and boy that tank has alot of rust in it and everything was clogged.
so i did some cleaning up and the car starts and stays on finally!!!

but know i gotta firgure out why it don't rev as high and not enough power.

a guy at a local shop said the firing order is 123456 clockwise, so does that meen if i divide the distributor into two sections and start of at the bottom left on the driver side and more counter clockwise qwith 23456 until i meet one again is that correct??

 

Sweet! Glad you figured it out. Im a little confused about what you said about timing, someone correct me if im wrong but...

Isnt chevys firing order 18436572, going clockwise?

I know pontiacs have the same firing order, just counter-clockwise.

I believe whoever told you that works on fords, Im almost positive fords firing order is 12345678 clockwise.

 

Making sure your timing is right is very important. After you get that fixed I would def do a Seafoam treatment. Here's a really good thread with all the instuctions, questions and answers a guy could ask for. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/afte...oduct-but.html

 

a mrchanic at a mchine shop told me like
ive tried all the timimng orders ive seen on the forums and what the mechanic said and none of em really seemed to work the car would just not start
i spent more then an hour today rearranging and lableing the wires and cylinders and the order i have them in know seem to work the car starts up quickly and stays on. it just don't rev that high or have much power.
And im def going to try the seafoam!

If worst comes to worst il have to find someone with a timing gun or have someone do it for me

 

Hey bud,

I just remembered this site. Its called Box-wrench, they have a load of great info on all sorts of engines. This site was a HUGE help in the rebuild of my 81 TA's engine. This will be a huge help for you too im sure. Take the dizzy completely out and start all over, plug wires too, and do it just like this site shows. THIS IS ALL CORRECT INFO. If you do this as shown and the car starts up, great! Now you know what your problem was. If not, we'll go from there. But either way, once this is done this will help save us all a bit of confusion, and im sure it'll save you alot of frustration.

http://www.boxwrench.net/specs/chevy_sb.htm

Heres another great site that tells you step by step how to do this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5523425_set-...ock-chevy.html

Heres a few helpful videos too. Watch them all a few times until you've got it down, then you should be good to go!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a2X9mSSlQY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHX1yXVyIMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYGU7mTwsZc

Timing guns are actually quite simple to use. I recommend, as do many people, using a white/silver marker, or chalk, on the balancer where the mark is, as it makes it 100x easier to see when the gun is flashing on it. I would at least TRY it on your own before paying sombody to do it,its really not all that difficult. I can usually get an engine completly timed in abt 5min. Read up on how to use a timing gun, and go at it!

Good luck!