Hello to all. My car has sat in the garage for the last 4 years. Do to having spine surgery. I am Moving so i wanted to get it running again. Engine is a 5.7 liter. New battery. Go to turn ignition switch to start for the first time you could hear the fuel pump come on. But the starter was not working. So had my son tap the starter with a hammer. Tried to start it again. This time the engine started to crank but only for a brief second then nothing. I unplugged the coil wire because i wanted to get some oil up in the top half of the engine before starting it up. Could it maybe be the starter relay or the starter itself? Hoping maybe someone with more knowledge can point me in the right direction to fix my car. I greatly appreciate the help. Thank you for your time.

 

Just to give a update. Since no one replied to my post. The new battery was not fully charged. Engine now cranks over. After reading a lot of post dealing with the two ways of getting motor oil pumped up thew the engine before starting it. I choose to remove the plug wire from the coil. Only because I had no help to remove the hood so the distributor could be removed. I then cranked the engine for 15 to 20 seconds at a time leaving the starter rest for a few minutes in between. In order to pump oil thew the engine. I watched the oil pressure rise from 0 to 30 My question is how mush oil pressure should i see on the gauge before i try and start the car? One other thing. I put the plug wire back on and tried to see if it would start. When i turned the ignition switch on i did not hear the fuel pump come on. I then went to the fuel rail and pushed down on the air release valve there was no air in the line. Tried to start it again would not start. I don't think it is getting any fuel. Could anyone tell me if what i have done so far is right? And were i should go from here to get my car running again? Please i can use all the help anyone can offer.

 

It could be the fuel pump relay or the fuel pump, which is in the gas tank. If these cars sit for any length of time, the pumps may fail, as I had found out a few years ago.

Dropping the tank is not that hard, just paintful.

I did not bother priming my car, I just gave it an oil change prior to getting it running again.

Just so you know, my car was driven in 2003 when I bought my house. It only went back on the road this past January. It has 92K on it and runs great. But I am having starting issues. Anyway, stay with it, you will figure it out.

This site is awesome and been VERY helpful to me!

 

Hi, Hawkeye, I did not think anyone was going to reply. If you got your car running after almost 11 years wow. Then there is hope for mine lol. I bought it with 5,000 and some org miles back in 2005. I parked it in the garage in 2010 because of spine surgery. with 7,330 miles. I am moving and needed to getting her running. I went to start it after priming the oil up in the engine. I always heard the fuel pump come on when going to start it. Not this time. I checked the fuses to the fuel pump all good. Took off the fuel line and tried to start it no fuel. So i got a new fuel pump relay going to try it tomorrow. Should i replace the oil pump relay next if it don't start? I had it towed to my new house on flat bed because it set so low. The guy that towed it ownes his own shop. I ask how much it would cost to replace the fuel pump he said 400.00 Think i will try and do it myself for that price. Hope i can fine the info on here to change it. Thank you for your help and time.

 

by "oil pump relay" do you mean the switch that is used to keep the fuel pump running after oil pressure is applied, if so, it should start for a few seconds even if it gets no oil pressure ... if you are asking about an actual "oil pump relay", there is not one, as the oil pump is mechanical and runs off of the distributor turned by the gear on the cam ... i would give her a quick shot of starting fluid, and see if she will fire, then check that the fuel pump is still getting power, then if it starts and dies from starting fluid, and there is power to the fuel pump but no fuel to the motor, my guess would be the tank will need to come down and a new pump put in

 

Maybe a corroded connector or bad ground from sitting, so long. Pull the connectors on the relay and clean them with electrical cleaner, comes in spraycans, find it at electronics stores Fry's for instance.

 

It was this site that helped me on getting my fuel pump replaced.

Again it not hard if you have the right tools. I highly suggest use drive up stands to bring up the rear. Remove the muffler and the rest is pretty straight forward.

Also check eBay for the service manual the dealer uses. I had an original but it messed up. On eBay I found a reprint of my year and model. Very helpful to have.

Keep us posted on your process!

 

Hey, Thank you all for your advice, mmadden I have a few can's of craig's electronic cleaner. I will give that a try. Sorry Barlow i meant switch. From what i have read the oil switch also turns on the fuel pump. I am praying and just trying to eliminate the simple things before facing the fact that it is the fuel pump. I am finding out now what i have heard for years. That the worst thing you can do to a car is leave it set lol. Hawkeye nice tip about using drive up stands to bring up the rear. If it dose come down to the fuel pump needing changed. I will try and make sure to find out all the info i can to make sure i do it right. If i get her running i mite see if i can trade her for a older z28 camaro or trans am. I will post again after i change the relay and clean the contacts. I will say it again thank all of you for your time and knowledge.

 

Dropping the tank is not a big deal just labor intensive.

You can Google replace fuel pump 3rd gen and find videos on youtube too. Research is key. With good socket set and hand tools you should be good to go.

I would never trade my baby. But I would love a 1971 formula 400!

 

I hear what your saying about the 71 formula 400. You sound like me i would love to have a 67 vette 427. Think we all have that dream car we will never have. Well today i only had a little time. I found three relays mounted on the driver side firewall. I undid the first to relay connectors starting with the one next to the fender. Having little time i sprayed the connections with craig's electronic cleaner. Looking at the pin out on the new fuel pump relay. It has 4 pins straight in a row. The third relay is the only one just like it. So i hope that's the one? Will let you know tomorrow.

 

Fuel pump relay is the middle one of the three you mention.

I have a couple dream cars. Such as a 1967 GTO and a 1970 Dodge Challenger manual pistol grip shift and 440 big block.

 

How did you make out? Get it started yet?

 

Hey, Not yet. Spending all weekend moving. Monday is work on car day. From what i was able to find on the internet. Not all fuel pump relays were in the same place all depends on year of the camaro. Of the three on the driver side fire wall i think mine is the first one on the left side could be wrong? When you suggested to use drive up stands to bring up the rear to remove the fuel tank. Did you mean jack stands to support the body weight? I just wanted to make sure you didn't mean car ramps? So i am going to need to support the body weight with stands. Take off plastic cover from tank neck.Then unbolt both shocks from bottom.Take off trace bar. Use floor jack to then lower the rear end. Take off fuel lines. Remove fuel tank straps. Then remove fuel tank? Please tell me i got most of what i need to do right? lol. Next is to get money to buy the right shop manual.

 

Well you may know better than me on the relay location. I just know mine is in the middle on my car.

I originally used ramps to support my car. But you are correct in jack stand supporting the frame. You do have to remove part of the exaust, (which I was replacing on my car anyway) and drop the axle.
You are correct in the overall process. I used this site mainly to get the info I needed to replace the fuel pump. I would also replace the pulsator once you get to the sending unit. I only replaced the fuel pump, strainer and pulsator. I did not replace any wiring on the sending unit, the original was sound and it works fine.

I let the tank sit in a dry place and then air blasted out any dust, etc. It was really clean inside and no rust on the outside. Taking it out is a bit tricky, the fuel neck is the issue. the higher the car is the easier to twist the tank and drop it. I did not have enough height so I had to slighly bend the neck, but its ok.

 

I do appreciate your thoughts and help. The more knowledge i get from someone like you will sure help me in doing what needs to be done. Here is a few pictures of my stock camaro. That has not seen sun light or been washed in over 4 years. The car has set more then it's been driven in it's 26 years of life.

 

When I got my IROC, it had sat for 10 years. The owner, at the time, had added Stabil to the gas tank. I replaced the injectors with a set from Southbay. It started on the 2nd try. After a tuneup and oil change, I have been driving it for the last 3 months with no problems.

Skeeeter

 

Depends a lot on the gas too, 15% ethanol they have in most big cities now does not stabilize well and likes to corrode stuff.

 

Thank's for the tips. Well i finally pulled the old fuel pump relay and stuck in the new one. On my 88 iroc if your looking at the engine. It will be the first relay on the left out of the three. As luck would have it still no sound of the fuel pump working. Any ideas were i should check next before taking apart half the rear end to replace the fuel pump? Guess i should look on youtube to find out were i need to place the jack stands on the frame. And what tools and parts i will need to do the job right. All the help you guys give me is really appreciated. Me having a bad back i want to make sure i am doing everything the easiest way possible.

 

Aside from checking the wire harness it looks like a fuel pump issue.

As I recall I put the jack stands in front of the rear tires

 

Hey, Sorry it took so long to post. I got under the car and was looking around. Trying to find a place for the jack stands. The only place i seen was the two skinny rails right in front of the rear tires like you said. I wonder if the car ramps would work there? I was looking around on the forum. And read about running a wire from the battery to the g terminal on the ALDL port. In order to check to see if the fuel pump is working? I am just looking at all the options to make sure that's it. I am sure you did the same thing. I am going to go take a few pic's of under the car. Maybe you can look at them and tell me were to place the jackstands? Will be right back.

 

There is a way to check with a wire I am rusty on how to do it, sorry. But the info is on this site.

I did put the jack stands on the rails in front of the rear tires. Used the drive up stands on the front tires.

 

Here are a few pic's under the rear end. Would you believe i had this walker exhaust put on in 2005. I only put 2,000 miles of driving time on the exhaust before storing the car. I only drove the car on nice days. Can you say rust lol. Don't look like there is a good place to put the stands?

 

Here is the last one. Before i stored the car there was no rust. Do you think that's normal?

 

Put them right in front of the rear tires. If you look you will see where the factory jack is used. Thats where I put my jack stands. I put the lift jack under the diff on each side to lift the rear then slide the jack stands on place.

As for rust where are you again? When a car sits rust can be an issue depending on the environment you live. The NE is NOT very friendly to cars.

 

The car was in a humid environment. Not as bad as being outside of course, but this might be related to your fuel pump issue. Humidity will eventually get into the electrical connectors. Mant of the connectors on these cars are not weather sealed, including the fuel pump relay.

Check for power on the tan wire at the 3-wire connector that comes out under the car from the rear seat area. If no, work backwards till you find the open. If yes, the pump is bad. Personally, I would drop the tank anyway because the fuel has gone bad after 4 years.

 

nice looking car by the way!

 

Actually I would like to retract a portion of my response in post # 25 above. The fuel pump relay connector does have a pretty good weather seal.

 

Hey, Hawkeye. I live real close to the mason dixon line in PA, I only know what the owner told me about the car. Take it for what it's worth. He said it belonged to his dad he had just passed away and left it to him. The son had just got a new truck and needed money to buy a home. The car was bought new and they had built a garage right before buying the car just for it. The 5,500 miles the car had were original. Was also told it was never driven but in good weather. It needed new tires they were cracked. I called around to see what the tires would cost and was told those tires had not been made in years. Can tell you that i looked under the car before i bought it and there was no rust then. The car has no engine trans rear end leaks at all. I parked it inside my garage witch was a gravel floor. Eseibe nice to meet you. Not sure what you mean about If no, work backwards till you find the open. Would i find the three wire connector on the drivers side? The relay connector was dirty inside even though it was sealed. So i cleaned it up with electric cleaner. Do i take the rear tires off to give me more clearance? And will it make a difference if i don't jack up the front end of the car? It needs new head liner it's falling down dash board is cracked. Needs tires. I have been thinking about selling her after getting it running. Not even sure what a good asking price would be if i do sell it. Thank you all again for your expertise.

 

Sorry my mistake