Recently car started a problem. When it sat in the rain it would roll over and not fire for about 5min of rolling and then it would go.

Now, after a good rain we recently got, the car will not fire at all. Its got 42lbs at the rail, white spark, and its getting air. I've cleaned the dis cap and rotor, tried starting fluid, and cleaned and gapped the plugs. There is no arcing under the hood at night from the wires. I'm at wits end. help?

 

wow u checked everything id suggest my next step would be to shoot the car! actually check the crank sensor the comp may be doing every thing correctly but if it doesnt know where the crank position is it wont know when to fire.

 

I would say a fuel problem, I used to have that problem on my old car, what I found ended up being that I had a leak that dripped onto the ECU wiring, caused it to fault out and not fire the injectors. Might want to look into the injector wiring.

 

Looks like she may have jumped time. I'm hoping its not too far. I'm going to go out this evening and try setting it dead on and spinning the dizzy.

Wish me luck...

 

My '88 2.8 wont start. Its the same thing it cranks but wont fire. I replaced the fuel pump cus it was bad and I shecked that there was fuel going to the engin. I checked the spark, and finaly I checked that the injectors were getting power. They were not.

So 2 questions. Any Ideas?

And sagemoonlade where was your ECU wiring fryed?

 

Ok I decided to start from square one again. This is assuming the car is in time.

This is my new install list as of 12/09/08:
AC Delco Rotor Button
AC Delco Cap
Autolite Plug Wires
AC Delco R43LTS Plugs
BWD Ignition Module


Tried to turn her over, and all she does is crank. She doesn't even try to fire. I shoot a little starting fluid in her, still nothing. I Check the fuel pressure. It's reading almost 49lbs primed, it bounces from 45-49lbs when cranking. I tried a shot of ether in her just to see what would happen, I didn't get any change. I pulled a plug, and it appeared wet and smelled of gas//ether.

My next guess and check is going to be with the coil, and then the pickup in the distributor. I'm also going to look into a Fuel Pressure Regulator, I believe it may be dumping too much fuel. Am I heading in the right direction? Has anyone experienced this before?

I also read in a Haynes manual that there is a wire running to the starter, and that if there is a problem there that the car would be difficult to start. Should I check into that possibility?

Also could someone verify the firing order for me?

This is my setup:

Distributor
....3...4....
..2...C...5..
....1...6....

Engine
..5..E..6..
..3..N..4..
..1..G..2..

And of course the order is 1-2-3-4-5-6


Thanks guys...

 

Were was the ECU shorted out?

 

Firing order is correct. Check the wiring running between your dizzy and the coil... Loose connector or broken wire will disable your ignition. That wire the Haynes is referring to would disable your starter if you had a problem with the GM anti-theft (VATS) system... You wouldn't be able to turn the engine... It has nothing do do with your ignition problem.
Your plugs aren't firing... That's why they are soaked. Don't crank the engine over too much more or you are going to get gas in the oil, or worse, hydro lock it. Don't worry about the fuel pressure issue until you get her running... The ECM will compensate for the added fuel. You could be getting flooded out... Try flooring the pedal while cranking sometime.
Do you get even a hiccup out of the engine while cranking?
Oh, and to check the pickup coil, use a voltmeter set on the AC volts scale. You should see around .2VAC between the coil terminals.

 

I got her running. It was something so simple. It turns out it was the mounting "Rivets" for the coil. I guess factory they were riveted on, and the rivets corroded, reducing the ground to the motor. I put on some clean ground bolts and straps and she fired right up.


Thanks for the advice fellas!


Next job is going to be the EGR Valve

 

For the valve... go out and get a can of PB Blaster... it's MUCH better than anything else I have EVER used in about 15 years...

 

Is it even possible to R&R a digital EGR valve? I also noticed there is no gasket on the pedestal, should there be?

 

Go here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/4...2-3-1-egr.html

You should take the EGR off, and take it apart. Clean all the carbon deposits off.

Then, take the hose that goes from the EGR to the Pass. side of the Throttle Body, off and clean all deposits from it. (Be careful not to bend it. Because of the many heat cycles it goes through, it is prone to cracking.)

Clean the pedestal that the EGR sits on, then reassemble.

You should be good after that. Also, you should have a metal gasket right under the EGR. If you don't, go to the parts store and make sure they dont give you the FWD one.

After that you should be good.

 

compression check ?
jumped timing ?
you had spark to start with ?

 

i dont have the tools for a compression check, The timing was dead on. I had spark to start with, just not enough.