I just got my GTA back on the road after 2 years of not being inspected , in those two years it was started and moved on a regular basis.

This past Sunday I took it out for a drive for the first time , stopped and put some gas in it and drove to a local park with a friend to sit and talk. The car sat for maybe 40 min and when we went to leave , I tried to start it and it ran like crap for 10 seconds before I shut it off too try it again , this time it wouldn't start at all , just cranking , tried muiltiable times and opened the hood for a few min to let the heat out thinking that might be it. Didn't work , so i called to have it towed home. On the second day of sitting after all of this , it started with no problems ??
I haven't taken it out yet to see if it happens again.

Any ideas ? ....... fuel pump ? bad gas ? Over heated ? ..... before this any hint of something wrong was it was running rough when heading to our destination.

thanks

 

Sounds like an ignition module failing. Next time it won't start, check spark. Also, check fuel pressure to be sure the pump and control circuit are okay. If spark is okay and the engine won't start, try unplugging the MAF sensor. If the engine starts in this state, you have a MAF sensor or circuit problem.

 

thanks for the info. , I'll check into it , I hope to find the problem , nothing worse than not knowing if it will start

 

so far the car is running and starting fine , I'm just wondering if the gas started to seperate after sitting in the car for almost 2 years , I've driven the car twice since then and has performed fine ? I also put a bottle of injector cleaner in.

 

I agree with ASE doc. if it does it again check for spark. Those ignition modules are cheap and very prone to intermittent failure modes, especially during the summertime. If you want go buy a parts store replacement one and keep it with you.

 

good idea, thanks

 

This is an interesting situation. I'm used to seeing heat related failures and even intermittents in the ignition modules, but that your's has been running fine for a little bit is weird. Still could be the module though. However, you might want to throw a fuel filter in it just for drill and check the filter that comes out for heavy contamination. It may have enough crud in it to cause random clogging. Fuel separating isn't something I really see happening. You might also try wiggling the engine harness around the distributor and the MAF sensor just to be sure you don't have a poor connection.