I'm going insane with this damn car i have a 1984 camaro with the 305 auto trans. I sold my old carb since it was really bad and bought a new quadrajet carb car started up and was fine, I tuned the carb and the car was doing great I decide to take it for a test drive. Literally 20 seconds down the road the car dies and does not want to start, it cranks but don't start. It will start once a day and bog down within seconds and won't turn back on. I've replaced fuel lines, carb, fuel pump, ignition control module, battery, and nothing. What can be going on? I checked to see if there was spark when I cranked it using a screw driver and the chassis and seemed like there's no spark but not 100% any help is greatly appreciated

 

Are you sure the pickup is any good in the distributor? That could also cause an issue if it's not in good shape. I'd also check the coil. Checking the ground straps would be another good idea. Those are all things that I would start with, especially if it seems that you're getting intermittent/no spark.

 

When the car dies try spraying some carb cleaner the try to restart. If it runs then you should have a fuel problem. If not fuel ,Check the pin in the cap. sometimes they break and cause no start. If not, try replacing the ignition module inside the distributor. You have the coil on top of the cap? good luck, don't give up.

 

spray engine start when it dies and let us know if its spark or fuel then we can help more

 

Tried starting fluid and nothing changes I can check the cap tomorrow really good to make sure everything is OK and i already changed the ignition module today still nothing

 

Ok, if its not firing on staring fluid then it is ignition related...

Coil, pickup, module, rotor button, cap, wiring to the said parts

 

The pickup coil is located under the rotor. It has big teeth on it. It has a wire that connects to the module. Test that. There are videos on youtube explaining how.

 

Checked all wiring and the cap and both were good so that checks out module, cap, and wiring so I will check the pickup and see if that is the problem tomorrow.

 

Alright so I got spark now. Now the car turns over but still a no go. What else can it be? I started it today after 5 days and it started but idles at around 150-200 blowing smoke out the exhaust then died within seconds

 

Spark, fuel, air.
Just throwing around ideas (so maybe someone else can chime in):
1. Check the plugs (you never know ha). I know I've accidentally put the spark plugs in the wrong order that caused it start and "run" at that idle and die.

2. Since you never seem to get it to run at cold start, I'd check the fast idle circuit and make sure it engages. It's not a Quad but, I have a Holley, and when my fast idle wasn't set correctly it would idle and die.

3. Throttle position sensor (if equipped). Likely not as it's not dying when it's warmed up, but it never warms up. Never know though!

4. Timing. I know if I really mess with my timing it idles and dies, but instead of smoke out the exhaust I get carb spitup. Perhaps the timing chain slipped a bit (this also happened to me), it idled and ran and then died. Typically you hear a terrible grind, so it may not be that.

5. Non feedback carb with a computer controlled Distributor? I had this happen, but it would always start and run (fast) but it would stay on.

6. Perhaps the Quad is set incorrectly? The float level could be improperly set, or stuck causing low fuel levels. Which mean not enough fuel delivered.

7. Excessively rich/lean. Lean usually has backfire from carb, rich typically has afterlife (backfire from exhaust).

That's all I can think of right now. Anyone has any ideas? Let's get another third gen back on the road!