V6 Discussion and questions about the base carbureted or MPFI V6's and the rare SFI Turbo V6.

prone to vapor lock?

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Old Mar 20, 2012 | 09:24 PM
  #1  
evilemokid94's Avatar
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
prone to vapor lock?

in the 4 years iv owned my car iv never had a problem with my car vapor locking, but the other day trying to get to a town 30 minutes away to get to the hospital my car vapor locked on me, its only done this after i fixed my fuel leak and replaced my injectors. are these 2.8s prone to vapor lock? what are my options to stop it from doing it ever again? i took my car to a carshow last june that was an hour and a half away and i never had this problem and it was hotter than it was yesterday so im lost. help? suggestions?
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 06:40 AM
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Re: prone to vapor lock?

Generally fuel injected engines dont vapor lock, the return line pushes any bubbles out of the system, back to the tank.
Whats your problem? Stalling? Check spark, f. pressure, inj. pulse, ect.
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 07:57 AM
  #3  
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Only time I did it was the other day, after I ran my car for 30 minute. Spark plugs are new, fuel injectors are new, wires are new so I'm at a lose
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 11:19 AM
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From: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Re: prone to vapor lock?

What's actually happening to make you say it's "vapor lock"?
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 03:01 PM
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evilemokid94's Avatar
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Lose of power, stalling, during, fuel pump whining, surging, hard to restart after it dies. After I got it to the hospital and let it cool down for a few minutes it starts and ran fine.
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 03:03 PM
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Might add that I had to replace all my fuel lines from the tank to the car with rubber at the back. Had one summer where my car was puking gas from my charcoal canister so I pulled it and capped the line, haven't had the problem since.
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 03:14 PM
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From: Mercedes Norte, Heredia, Costa Rica
Car: 1984 Z28 Hardtop
Engine: 383 Carb
Transmission: 4L60
Axle/Gears: 3.54 Dana 44
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Sounds more like a fuel pump problem. Have you checked the pressure while it's happening?
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Old Mar 21, 2012 | 03:49 PM
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

It's only happend thst once, I haven't taken my car out that much since then but still it's never done that before and my pumps only 2 years old with only maybe 6 months of everyday driving
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 04:56 PM
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From: Austin, Texas
Car: 91 Camaro R/S
Engine: Tbi 350
Transmission: auto4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

I'm having the same exact problem to the t, I'm actually sitting on the side of the road right not because if it, and my fuel pump and injectors are only about a year old, mines a 1988 2.8 camaro
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 05:05 PM
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Re: prone to vapor lock?

Yep, its vapor lock. Couldn't be a bad coil, ignition module, fuel pump, maf sensor,ecm,ect.
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 05:11 PM
  #11  
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From: Austin, Texas
Car: 91 Camaro R/S
Engine: Tbi 350
Transmission: auto4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Do you know of a way to fix it, or any ideas on how to
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 05:31 PM
  #12  
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Re: prone to vapor lock?

I was being sarcastic, check those things I listed. Efi cars dont have vapor lock problems unless the fuel line is resting on an exhaust manifold or something.
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 05:44 PM
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From: Austin, Texas
Car: 91 Camaro R/S
Engine: Tbi 350
Transmission: auto4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Could it be that I have less that a quarter of a tank of gas. And the pump is getting hot?
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Old Mar 31, 2012 | 05:45 PM
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From: NWOhioToledoArea
Car: 86-FireBird
Engine: -MPFI
Transmission: T5
Axle/Gears: 3:42
Re: prone to vapor lock?

vapor locked happend to big GM car's because the steel fuel line hugged the block, those days are gone, if anything its a venting problem in the gas tank. leave the gas cap lose and see if it never happens again.

should also note GM fixed it on the big cars with AC [they run hotter] by putting a return line on the block fuel pump, The circulated fuel ran cooler and wouldn't burst into vapor in the line before it got in the carb.

[usless knowledge, that Fiero that gets 100MPG super heats the fuel before being injected to "crack" the fuel before burning.]

Last edited by Gumby; Apr 1, 2012 at 02:20 PM.
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Old Apr 1, 2012 | 05:31 AM
  #15  
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From: Davidson co, NC
Car: 85 camaro RS RIP\ 86 IROC-Z :)
Engine: 2.8 MPI V6\ carbed LO5 5.7 v8
Transmission: 700r4 auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42\ posi 3.73
Re: prone to vapor lock?

same thing happened to me in the dead of summer (temps 100+) with a good fuel pump it shutdown as soon as i left the interstate had to vent the tank and let the fuel pump cool down, and the bad part is i had over a 1\2 tank of gas.
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Old Apr 2, 2012 | 01:33 PM
  #16  
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From: Central NJ, USA
Car: 1986 Firebird
Engine: 2.8 V6
Transmission: 700R4
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Originally Posted by ex-x-fire
Yep, its vapor lock. Couldn't be a bad coil, ignition module, fuel pump, maf sensor,ecm,ect.
(laughs) Hey you guys are pretty much describing a bad ignition module. The module heats up, fails (no spark), and won't work again until the motor cools down.

I was stranded on the side of the road once coming home from an out-of-state vacation with that same problem. I had a bottle of Gatorade and a car polishing towel I used with Meguiar's Quik Detailer spray. I poured Gatorade on the rag, held it to the bottom of the hot distributor until my hand burned, then poured more Gatorade on the rag and repeated until the distributor wasn't burning my hand anymore. The car started right up and I drove straight thru to get home, replaced the module right away. Hey that's the same module in the car now I think, and that "adventure" was in 2000.
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Old Apr 2, 2012 | 03:06 PM
  #17  
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From: Austin, Texas
Car: 91 Camaro R/S
Engine: Tbi 350
Transmission: auto4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Would the ignition moduel cause the fuel pump to wine right before it dies
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Old Apr 2, 2012 | 04:05 PM
  #18  
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From: Chasing Electrons
Car: check
Engine: check
Transmission: check
Re: prone to vapor lock?

May be interested in reading this current thread on the TPI board:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tpi/...regarding.html

RBob.
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Old Apr 2, 2012 | 04:35 PM
  #19  
evilemokid94's Avatar
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From: Elwood, IN
Car: 1986 camaro Sports Coupe
Engine: L31 350
Transmission: 89 700R4
Axle/Gears: 3.42 gov lock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Originally Posted by curtalert89
Would the ignition moduel cause the fuel pump to wine right before it dies
you read my mind, if it had to do with spark the pump wouldn't whine would it? I wouldn't think so
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Old Apr 2, 2012 | 04:42 PM
  #20  
curtalert89's Avatar
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From: Austin, Texas
Car: 91 Camaro R/S
Engine: Tbi 350
Transmission: auto4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Re: prone to vapor lock?

Because my cap, rotor, and module are all brand new
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