OK I am looking to buy this car the first time i went to look at it the battery was dead so today I talked to him and ge said he had charged it and the car would turn over but not start.
I know for a fact the car ran befoe winter its an 88 Camaro 2.8L MPFI V6 5 speed manual with about 90k on it everything is stock except for a Borla exhaust.

any ideas what it could be?

 

fuel or spark

does the fuel pump hum, are the plugs wet, and is there a bright white strong spark?

 

Let the car NOT START
BUY CHEAPER!
Then ask us later on!
Yes, spark air fuel is needed for starting.
Probably spark, tho.
Again, don't help him start car, but buy it cheaper then fix it.

 

OK its not the fuel pump because I can hear that when you try to start it.

As for buying it cheaper i am not trying to fix it for him I just want to make sure its something simple and Im not going to have to dump a ton of money into it just to make it run.

 

IF you are close by Whiscasset maine, then you can take it to my Cousin repair shop.
Anyway
EVEN THO you "hear pump" that NOT mean it's ok.
You need to put a pressure gauge on it to read the pressure. 45PSI
That is the ONLY 100% ACCURATE way to do so.
Pump swaps sucks but upon proper repair, they last for like 15-twenty years, ya got more power & better gas milage.
Other thing is to simply pull a plug wire, stick in paperclip, ground out the plug wire onto frame as ya turn over engine.
IF ya see spark, it's NOT the ICM
BUT SPARK MUST BE LIGHTENING BOLT BRIGHT WHITE for car to run. IF not that bright, it's coil & that's like $30-ish.
NOW IF a late model car, ya got that VATS stuff & that's beyond my calls.
Does the car have any type of alarm on it? meaning same story a antitheft set up gone wrong! BUT all these calls only "go so far" in repair ideas. Once started ya get to deal with POS (Previous Owner Syndrome!). And that's a very long list of what ifs!
PS while trying to start it, do a compression check for idea of health of motor.

 

thats a good idea.

do a compression test just o make sure its ok

then buy it not running, soon as you get the title in your hands, then fix the car

 

There is no security system in place and like I said I know for a fact it ran before winter what ever is wrong with it happened while it was sitting. My first thought was condensation in the gas tank because it spent the winter outside.

The car is in Wiscasset right off RT1 if you could PM me your cousins contact info I would appreciate it.

 

I do not believe I can PM ya.
Send me an Email.
I'll try to help ya.

 

Actually, I'll do ya one better- I bet the gas in that tank is worthless. Did he park it with a full tank or an almost empty tank?

If it's almost empty, that's great; you can just add a bunch of new gas. But if the tank was full, you'll have to drain the tank or siphon the old crap out and put new stuff in.

Who knows, maybe some mice holed up in the engine bay over the winter and chewed the hell outta the wiring harness. Make sure there's no animals or nests in the air filter box or any of the air filter tubes.

 

I just got back from looking at it again this time with my mechanic and I think we know what it is.
After checking the fuel pump and plugs and finding nothing wrong with either. We siphoned the old gas out (about half a tank) and replacing it we tried to start it again and it almost started. Then we popped off the distributor cap and found out it was wicked carotid after sanding off the corrosion and cleaning it out we again almost had it started really close now but still nothing.
My new question is this is it possible all it needs is a good tune up with new distributor, rotor, coil, etc.?

 

the fuel flter is probably plugged with old fuel as well.

 

Ya could just swap out the plugs to see what happens.
IF your spark is bright white you're in good shape.
Keep at it.
Can always try a spare coil, tho.

 

Spark is bright white. I'm going to buy it this weekend if he has it fixed or not I just need to decide how much to offer.

 

show him 6 100$ bills, dont say anything before he sees them. sometimes you just gotta show it and youll get a deal.

 

He is a High School senior I think I can get it for less then that was thinking I would start at like $300 and see what he comes back with

 

oh wow thats a good deal

ya bring a bunch of 50's then

 

I'm a high school senior and i know all about my car. People try to scam me all the time but to their suprise. I know their s***!