I just bought an 84 camaro. The car is missing from something but i can't figure out where. I put new spark plugs in, the wire look ok and so does the distributer cap. What else could it be?

 

I'll make it simple for ya.
Start engine and open your hood.
AT NIGHT TIME, no lights, you'll see the source of the miss.
Follow the electric lightening storm you'll see.
VERY GOOD chance this'll work for ya.
IF car STARTS your plug wires are on right.
I'll bet it's plug wires.

 

How can plug wires "look" OK?

Try a full secondary tune and then see how it runs. And by secondary I mean cap, rotor and wires.

 

ok , I replaced the rotor,cap,wires,and plugs, but it is still missing. Could it be something wrong inside the engine wear the spark plugs plug into?

 

Well, You could have low compression on one or more cylinders. How many miles are on the engine?

 

well here is the thing. The engine has 160k but has sat not running since 99. I bought the car last week for $200 not running. I then bought a fuel pump and she started right up. it just misses. My neighbor is going to check the compression because he thinks there is a bad valve


Oh well, I think I'm just going to rebuild the thing anyway. Just trying to save the car from death.

Has anyone out there rebuilt there 2.8 2 bbl with some performance parts. I was thinking about putting in a better cam and an eldebrock performance 2 bbl.

 

actually i'm pretty sure that edelbrok makes a performance 4bbl for the 2.8L not 100% but pretty dang sure...like 99.99%. Cam would be good also, and being that i don't believe that's a computer controled car, you could go radical on that cam...hehe, make it lope.

 

Dan,
I meant, by "quick" glance, one can miss the "burnt thru sign" on a plug wire.
BUT upon real looking, twisting wires around for better look, you can see more problems.

I think, a plug wire is not fully seated on a plug.
Check your simple things.
ESPECIALLY AROUND THE COIL AREA at night time visual checking.

I'm slipping in a used running 3.4 under my 1985 S-10 Blazer carb, right now.
Read my thread 2.8->3.4 Long Black Swap Boogie 82-84 Carb Version.
Start shopping and expect to put alot of effort into the ride.
I did this swap to my 85 Firebird, also.
Major decision for the effort put out, but superb reward of longevity and performance for the effort.
Reliable and cost effective.
Go get the GM Performance Parts book from ANY GM DEALER for $6 to see the stuff for a 60* block.
Including the specs for the 3.4 long block I use in my swaps.

You do have along road, but, it can be tackled one project at a time.
Just don't count on reliability quickly.
That comes from part by part!

 

I worked on an '88 mustang for a friend (she has since gotten rid of the car!), but it was running like crap. I told her to leave it at my house, which she did. As she left for work, she told me that so many people had looked at it, and hadn't found anything wrong with it, and hoped I would. I froze; some of her friends know a few things about cars. I thought I'd wind up looking like a jackass. Well, I pulled a plug wire- rust fell out. I pulled another plug wire- the terminal was severed from the wire (and yes I pulled by the boot). One spark plug's ceramic was cracked. The distributor cap terminal were chewed away and half the rotor was gone.

So many people "looked at it", but I guess nobody pulled a plug wire. You can test the wires with a multimeter; stock and stock replacement (autolite and etc) wires have a resistance of 15,000 ohms (15 k ohms) per foot. Aftermarket wires vary; some Accel wires are 3000 (3k) ohms per foot, my MSD's are 50 ohms (0.050 k ohms) per foot. If you find a wire that's way out of spec, it's probably bad. For instance, say 5 of your wires work out to be 16,000 ohms per foot... but wire #6 is 29,000 ohms/foot. Swap #6 out with a known "good" wire. (Always save at least one of your old wire sets as a backup. I keep one spare plug wire in my car; it could be used as either a plug wire or coil wire.)

Qytum, did you ever change the fuel? Fuel from '99 is certainly dead... try to drain the tank somehow... maybe a siphon? My car sat for a month with 1/8th tank of gas after I totalled it; after I put it back together, it wouldn't start. I panicked; I thought I reinstalled the wiring harness wrong. My dad suggested I get a few gallons of gas... after 5 or 6 trips to the station, the car started right up. So if 1/8th tank could go to crap in a month, imagine what 1/2 tank after 2 years would be like!

Also, check the timing, and (as was mentioned) check the order of the plug wires on the distributor cap. The #1 cylinder on our 2.8's is the front PASSENGER SIDE cylinder. It's not like the V8's, which use the front driver's side, so don't let anyone tell you to use the driver's side! It's the PASSENGER Side for #1!! Follow that #1 wire back to the cap; firing order is 1-2-3-4-5-6.

 

a VACUUM LEAK can cause an engine to idel like crap.

Definitely do a compression check - everyone should have a compression tester in their tool box.

Also - there maybe TRASH in the CARBURATOR -
and if the Ox sensor isnot working etc. - the ECM may be setting the Fuel Mix to rich.

 

im just curious but how much does a decent compression tester cost?

 

you want the one that screws into plug fitting
About $30?

 

its gotta be your plugs, if your wires are bad or not you should replace them, my wires i paid a little more for becuase they have a lifetime warrenty. just replace them, your cap and rotor, get ac delco plugs they work nice, replace your fuel filter because in my experience these cars need a little TLC and a full tuenup is probably what it needs. Also run a fuel injector cleaner through it if its injected. every six mos i give my car a tuneup or it gives me problems.

 

Did you check under your bed? Haha J/k Look around ur distributor and rotor and what have you.

 

I didn't rebuild mine with any performance parts but I did rebuild one. After checking the ignition parts and compression and adding some better fuel (basically everything mentioned above), I would suspect the carb is out of adjustment. Many of the gasket and rubber parts (accelerator pump) could have dry rotted. Carb rebuild kits for our car run about 25 bucks. After douing that mine ran like a champ

 

Allright for all those that are curious, the problem was that there is a bad valve on the #1 cylinder. I gave her a compression test. If anyone is selling heads email me at Qytum@softhome.net

 

WHY AREN'T YOU SHOPPING FOR A REBUILT SET OF YOUR HEADS IN YOUR AREA?
NO ONE THERE SELLS REBUILT HEADS????
Should be about $120 for the pair

 

How far are you from Elkton MD? I have an early model 2.8 that I'll sell you the heads off of. I was going to put later model heads on when I rebuild it (or you could do that too).