Hey guys I’m new here, I just bought a 5.0 V8 Carb 1989 Camaro RS, the state of the car right now is somewhat good; it starts and cranks and runs but the previous owner had some dumb set up with an electric fuel pump in the front so I’m still figuring out if it’s the relay or the actual Pump but the wiring on this is weird, there’s soo many sensors disconnected so I am trying to figure out what they go to. I’ve seen some forums where it shows the hose diagram but it is not enough for what I’m doing. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Carburetor has ports that are open and the sensors are not connected; don’t mind the fuel line lol. I know one of them goes to the evap canister but I don’t know the rest






Burnt fuel pump relay connector

 

Welcome Aboard!

I'm fairly confident those photos are not an '89 engine, or at least not a stock '89 engine.

Is this a Canadian car? That might explain the E4ME, but not the rocker covers. What is the VIN engine code for the vehicle (fifth character)? That may tell us where to start correcting all the previous "modifications" and possibly get it back to running properly.

At a minimum, the timed port on the carb is a vacuum leak. The vent line is open which might not affect how it is running as much as it can be a fire hazard. The enrichment solenoid, temperature sensor, and TPS are not even connected, which is another sign of a poorly executed swap to an older engine.

 

the VIN is 1G1FP21E9KL******, so you’re potentially saying that this engine might not be the original on it and that wiring harness might be different?

 

Wrong distributor, looks like it use to be TBI
perimeter valve covers , definitely not a 89 engine

 

There Were No Carbed Engines In The 1989 RS The Only V8 Engine Available Was The LO3 5.0 Liter With EFI

 

That's why I asked if it might be a Canadian model. I don't recall when they last had a carb, but it was later than U.S. models.

 

A VIN E engine is TBI (8th digit of VIN). Somebody swapped out the EFI engine with a carb'd engine. The 4-pin square connector up top passenger side is for the IAC. Which no longer exists. You do have your hands full.

In that same area the white & green 2 pin connectors are likely for an AIR system.

The small bracket down low on the driver side appears to be for a Holley FPR. One of the 14 psi electric pumps used for carb'd cars (as an add-on, aftermarket part).

RBob.

 

what would you recommend, run the engine I have on now or get the engine designated for my car?

 

I was looking at the intake manifold and the part number came up for some 1978-1985 corvette/camaro 305&350; that explains why there were some unconnected sensors, so I had a tbi before but they swapped it with an older engine? Could this still work with an older engine or what do y’all think?

 

You have a serious disaster on your hands there.

It has 86-back engine parts swapped into it. I say "parts" because the likelihood that someone got an "engine", as in, went to the junkyard, removed an "engine" from a vehicle, brought it home and dropped it in as-is, is about as likely as getting bitten by a shark in Grand Island Nebraska. More likely, somebody put in a "rebuilt" engine. or just pieced something random together, which is the usual deal with a small block Chevy engine. Such a thing almost NEVER matches ANY original "factory" configuration. It's impossible to tell from the pics whether it's a 305 or a 350. They look absolutely identical in every way from the outside, the only way to tell is to look at the block casting number, which is on the bell housing flange behind the driver's side head, kinda down below the wiper motor. Might look something like 14010201. Right next to it, 5.0 or 5.7 is probably cast into it as well, which might be easier to read. Since the oil dipstick is on the pass side, the block is from around 1980 or newer. Head casting numbers will tell you what the heads are: they're on the top of the heads down in amongst the rocker arms; might look something like 14014416 or 333882. Since those have perimeter-bolt valve covers they're from 86 or before.

They left the heater disconnected (those 2 tubes coming through the firewall behind the pass side head), and the AC housing is completely missing from around the evaporator core, which is that thing that looks like a small radiator next to the heater core lines. You can see the giant hole in the firewall there; that's why the interior of the car smells like engine all the time, and people get out of the car smelling like exhaust. It has some kind of aftermarket electric fan which while the fan itself could be adequate, there's no telling what the control system for it is like. Looks to me like the original 89 TBI wiring harness is still in it butt has been the victim of much butchery.

Then, in the time since it was put in, it's been TOTALLY neglected; no oil changes, intake gasket leaking coolant everywhere (that's what the rust on the head up at the front driver's side is from), lots of leaves and crap all sitting round in it which makes it look like it's been sitting around not running for awhile, and lots of other signs of poor/no maintenance.

The carb that's on it is probably not a Canadian one from anywhere near the same time frame as these cars. It's a computer-controlled one, which AFAIK, wasn't used in export models. Butt, since all the connectors are disconnected, and the car's control system isn't the right one to be able to control a carb anyway, it's stuck in basically a limp-home and inoperative condition. The distributor is also computer-controlled, butt since the whole computer-control system is hacked up, it probably also isn't responding the way it should to external operating conditions (load, throttle pos, temp, etc.) There are vacuum leaks everywhere, like the plastic line coming off of that little fitting on top of the intake behind the carb. It has a cheeeeeep generic weenie low-pressure fuel pump that is probably not capable of delivering enough fuel to allow the engine to make anywhere near the full power it's capable of. The original in-tank pump has probably been removed from the tank, and the POS that's there now won't work w/ TBI (that thing will put out about 4 - 5 psi, appropriate for a carb, or so butt TBI needs around 12 - 15).

"Get the engine" isn't necessarily the right answer, although it would be a potential partial way out of that part of the mess; you'd need a 305 or 350 TBI engine, complete, either from one of these cars, or a Caprice, or a truck. Most likely, if you got a whole TBI setup (including the fuel pump) and installed it properly onto the "engine" you've got, you could get it to work somewhat OK. Not necessarily "perfect" or whatever, maybe, butt at least "OK". Butt there's SO MUCH else destroyed or missing, just fixing "the engine" won't produce anything close to a complete car. If you get another "engine", you'll probably need to keep the accessories on the front of this motor (pulleys, alt, PS pump, etc.) and transfer them over to the "new" "engine", because those things are somewhat chassis-specific.

IMO though, that whole thing is really too far gone to ever be put back right again. I would advise STRONGLY against trying that. It's simply trashed beyond economical recovery. It might be "possible" butt would take an entire working parts car to strip down for all the stuff that's needed. Probably economic suicide at best and a total money pit and fool's errand in any case. I'd suggest parting it out and starting over. It's simply too far gone to be worth trying to fix back up as anything close to resembling a daily driver which seems to be the direction you're wanting to go with it. Looks to me like buying it was a big mistake.