so my 1988 fire bird was running "fine", when starting it would turn for about 2-3 seconds with out firing before a "service engine soon" light would pop up and then it would fire right up and once running the light would go away

well i went out for lunch one day and after getting my subway sandwich from a gas station i went to go back to work and the light didn't show up. After alot of swearing, yelling, and a few more tries of starting it i went inside bout some engine starter fluid and eventually got it going again

after work it started fine in the parking lot(with light as usual) at work so i figured it was fine went to the same gas station and same thing happened (the light would just not show up) this time i couldn't get it to start on fluid my coworker happened to pull in and he was spraying ether for me and still no start (it would go off ether but would not start) after a little while of head scratching i said "**** it maybe it just needed to cool down" (temp gauge read about 100) and what do you know that light decided to show up and she started as she usually does (with that light and all)

so my coworker seems to think its a sensor my cousin thinks its either a fuel pump or a distributor. what i have gathered is i have spark(ether fires) i have compression (runs once started) i rented a fuel pressure gauge and i have 45 psi at the rails, what didn't happen is pressure fluctuation when turning over, it held at 45, completely still so something (idk what and that's what i need help with) is telling the injectors not to fire idk if its a sensor, the distributor, or the du-hicki in between the injectors and the distributor.

hopefully this made sense, im 17 and dont have a lot of experience so im looking for a bit of guidance any information is helpful and much appreciated

 

Fuel pressure seems fine. Do you have spark and injector pulse ?
Injector pulse can be seen using a noid light. Some 88’s had vats.
This could be the possiable problem or a bad ignition control module located in the distributor.

 

thank you tuned performance i tried checking a couple of these things but all seemed ok. And for anyone else that had this problem i didn't change anything besides the oil pressure switch which was leaking oil out of the electrical side, I had just been pouring oil into the motor when it got low to fix it but that was the only thing i had done and then once i changed the sensor i tried turning it over for fun and it worked it still took about 2-3 seconds but it did work also i have flat key prints so its not that

 

Can anyone help me? My 88 Trans Am wont start own it's own I have to use starter fluid . but once I give it a shot is stays running. I changed the fuel pump last year. When I turn the key I no longer hear the pump working but when I give it a shot of starter fluid it stays running and runs well. Thanks all.

 

The fuel pump should prime for a couple of seconds when the key is switched to the on position,the fuel pump relay could be the problem.If I am not mistaking the oil pressure switch will complete the fuel pump circuit once the engine is making oil pressure,the engine should start on it's own if the engine spins over long enough to build oil pressure.
I also ran into a similar problem like this on a 5.0 Ford and it turned out to be the TPS,but I have never ran into this on a GM that I recall.