Since I bought my car about a month and a half ago, it's condition has been continually worsening. For about 2 weeks now, it has been sitting outside my house, inoperational. I got the opinion of a mechanic that the problem was the fuel system, so I had the fuel pump and fuel filter replaced. I also bought a new battery. Still no dice. I had my ignition coil remounted and the guy who did it said it had spark. I also just put some gas into it so I know it isn't empty. Why won't my car start? it started once when I put the new battery in but died as soon as I put it into drive. but 90/100 tries, it still won't start at all. It also sometimes backfires when trying to start it. Getting really frustrated here, I'm 17 and just got off for summer break and it sucks not being able to get out. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be very appreciated. Thanks!

 

You haven't given all the pertinent details on your car year etc. but if it is a fuel problem it is likely that your problem is bad injectors. The stock injectors are notorious for going bad and giving symptoms as you describe. You can get new injects from South Bay, a board sponsor and you get a discount for being a member here. There is a link to the side ---->
When my 92 Firebird has a similar problem I finally came to the conclusion that it was injectors, also a board search in this sub-forum told me that was likely the problem. I bought from South Bay and the car started right up after replacement.

Also the title of your post

 

Thanks for the reply! Its an ‘87 Camaro with the 2.8L V6. ill definitely check out the link you showed me. Are there any other details that I should provide?

 

Grab a digital voltmeter, set it to the Ohm scale, and test the resistance between the two pins of each injector. Scribble down notes if you need to, test all six and compare them. What you're looking for is that the readings are all very close. When you've got one or two that are off by quite a bit from the others, you can be pretty sure those injectors are bad. It doesn't mean the rest of them are GOOD, only that they are bad. Honestly, if you find one or two bad injectors, don't do what a lot of people do, don't replace those one or two injectors. If one or two are bad, than you can usually bet the others will fail before much longer. Get a set of injectors and change them.

Learn to troubleshoot and isolate problems. It's a life skill that is generally underappreciated, but by eliminating potential causes for a problem, you reduce the 'shotgun' effect where you're throwing parts and money at a car trying to get lucky and nail a bullseye. Mechanics and car forum people like to do this -blind-folded, over the shoulder, shooting a cigarette out of my girlfriends mouth at 500 paces- diagnostic and sharp shooting a bullseye, because it's quick and easy to dismiss a problem. Injectors sounds good. It's as logical as anything else, because 4 out of 5 thirdgen enthusiasts agrees stock injectors were flaky to begin with, and haven't gotten any less troublesome with age, but for all we know, a previous owner already put in new injectors a year ago. Don't fall into the trap.

Good luck!

 

Fuel injector resistance spec (measured between terminals w/ harness connector removed) is 11-14 Ohms. More or less replace. I agree, replace all if they appear to be the same age and one or more are bad.

 

If the injectors turn out to be bad the discount code is tg11

https://www.southbayfuelinjectors.co...2-8-3-1-tpi-v6

 

Did you ever get the vacuum line issues resolved on the car as well?

 

+1 on that note I nearly spit my coffee!

 

I did, got new lines for canister system as it was capped off and replaced some of the pre-existing ones as well. I need to replace or delete the CCV pipe, its very loose but I've heard you can patch the hole on the intake tube and just let it take in air from the engine bay, im not in a smog state so not worried about emissions.

I should be able to grab a voltmeter and check out the injectors tonight, here's hoping whatever it is can be resolved quick and easy.

 

Check the timing. If it's backfiring in the intake pretty sure it's gonna be timing related. These engines are really simple and reliable. When you set timing make sure you disconnect timing wire by the ac box. One bad injector or even two wont keep it from not starting.

 

That sounds a bit above my level of knowledge, is it something that I can learn to do without having much more than some wrenches? If it's something I can do on my own ill head out there right now and try to mess with it !

 

You mean the breather from the valve cover to the intake bellows? You can stick a breather filter on the valve cover, that's no big deal, but if you have any blow-by you'll have oil all over the valve cover.

Bigger issue is if the tube is loose in the bellows, or you've got holes/cracks between the MAF sensor and the engine, you'll have all kinds of issues. With MAF you've gotta have it sealed up so that any air entering the intake has to pass thru the sensor, or you're getting unmetered air, the ECM won't be able to control the air/fuel ratio, and just generally the Lite-Brite that controls the show is going to freak out and if the engine runs at all, it'll run poorly.

 

You would need a timing light. But if you haven't messed with it, and the engine ran fine before, it won't be something resetting the timing would fix. MPFI will blow flames our the intake and backfire if the engine is flooded bad enough. Doesn't mean theres a timing problem necessarily.

 

One, maybe two on a v6. I have a TPI (similar ECM) at my shop right now that was sitting for almost a decade. After getting the tank/pump replaced/working, a noid light showed the injectors "should" have been firing. Well, they were completely stuck shut. Took 20v at 10amps reversing the polarity many times before they freed enough to even burp a drop of fuel. Went around one by one and tried firing in between each injector, the v8 wouldn't fire until I had 6 of them working - even then it coughed and barley wanted to "kinda run", then sputter and stall.

Recently had an inline 6 banger in my shop, very well versed/talented young man who has been road racing since he was 16 (8yr ago). Well, the car was dead rich via a WB, but would start if I popped out the fuel relay and let it clear, then push the relay back in during cranking - it would fire and run, but die with any throttle input. Turned out he had swapped 2 spark plug wires (aka 2 cylinders down).

So IMO, one bad inj on a 6 banger, sure, two most likely not (or very hard start, no run/idle).

 

If the just right injector or combo of injectors is out, you can get a 3.1 to run VERY poorly on just three injectors. You can almost id the cylinder with a bad injector doing the running plug wire test... Pull one wire off the cap at a time until you find the cylinder(s) that it doesn't really effect, that's your dead cylinder. Works for injectors and plugs. Could accomplish the same pulling the injector connectors, but they're not exactly easy to get at with the engine fully assembled on the MPFI 6's

 

I would check or replace your ICM (ignition control module) underneath the distributor cap. they are pretty notorious for failing, I had to replace mine twice in my 5.7L

 

Hey guys, tested for spark and it still isn't getting it, so my neighborhood mechanic was wrong I guess :P I'm pretty sure it's the ignition coil, it was mounted in a very ghetto location by a strip of iron bolted to the frame when I got the car I mounted it in the correct location but, still pretty sure it's the problem. Anyone have recommendations for good places to order one? I suppose good ole AutoZone would work lol

 

As stated before, test things. Don't just blindly throw parts at your car.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...tion-coil.html to test the coil, 2nd post