kevin 2.8

check starter solonoid? i cant remeber if the car has one...

also check for unplugged / cut wires like grounds and harnesses. they could cause no start and catch fire...
check for slashed vacume hoses


oh and dont do anything to his car unless he does somthing again. keep your car doors locked, maybe even setup a webcam to cover the motions around the car. if you catch the ****er on camera then you can sue him for damages.

and once you get it running do a few oil changes and run some quick flush through to flush out the metal shavings and burnt oil

aklim

I believe the starter solenoid is with the starter. I think that is fine as the car is turning over but not starting.

vertig0

Still at a loss... compression isnt completely equal but very close to one another. Spark plugs are less than 5 days old, and the car hasnt ran in that period of time... but there is signs that the car is running very rich... and there is noticable blackness on the plugs. There is sufficent spark. I still dont think the injectors are firing. Is there a relay or control module for them? Yes, the starter/flywheel are fine.. the car does turn over and sounds completely normal while doing so. It just simply wont fire.

Thanks for all the help guys... any more ideas?
Vertigo

aklim

What are the numbers you are getting? It can be close to each other but still way too low. What is the fuel pressure like? Is it getting a blue or orange spark?

90rocz

Recheck your "Firing Order", maybe he switched a couple of wires, if so it won't run after loading up the plugs..
If it sparks blue or white I'd say the module and pickup coil are fine, Orange is BAD, it's the pickup coil that triggers the injectors..and coil.
Sugar in the gas??

vertig0

My roomate is more of a gear head that I am... I know quite a bit about electronics and circuits etc... I had him test the compression for me, he said it was fine... I tested the spark plugs myself... Bright blue spark. I have no idea about the fuel pressure... the line that runs right under the air filter etc has quite a bit of pressure... My estimate is at around 5-10 psi, maybe more haha thats just guessing. I and my roomate are both pretty sure that something isnt fireing right... Do you have the order sequence for the plugs in a 350V8? Maybe that guys changed those, and one fouled out now that was allowing it to start before. Still I cant see the fuel spraying when I hold the throttle down. I think when the engine hit 0 oil pressure it went into system lock down... When the car died on me, all of the gauges went nutz, flipping around to every setting at ****, and my radio shut off. The electrical system is fine now... Maybe my ECM went bad... christ there are so many possibilities... The basics are there though... Car has power, turns over, fuel pump is pumping a sufficient ammount of fuel to the front, spark plugs are working, and the vac lines seem fine.

It does sputter from time to time like it wants to fully start. Especially when using starter fluid, and or by pouring gas in the throttle bodies or whatever. It fully turned over twice I think, but for no more than 1 seccond. I immediately tried to hit the gas once it fired and it just died again. Something is amiss here, and I cant for the life of me figure it out.

I greatly appreciate your help though, please keep the ideas coming.

Vertigo

kevin 2.8

get a haynes manual, they are 20$ canadain and check the firing order of the plugs. its easy to mix them up especially if you were going to mess up someones car on purpose

vertig0

Can a car even start though if any of the plugs are out of order. Remember the car did start perfectly, and run around fine for about 45 minutes before it dropped rpms and then just died. So whatever he did, didnt cause immediate damage, hell infact I could have been driving around for a week or two after he did it I dont know... I just know that it was intentionally messed with, and that he would be the only person I could think of.

Vertigo

90rocz

1, 8, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7, 2

#1 spark plug is drverside front cylinder.

#1 on the distributor is also drivers front, or closes to the front, most distributors will set just slightly turned counterclockwise, or "Advanced", since rotation is clockwise..
If the gages went nuts etc, there's an electrical short or intermittent connection, that's why your oil gage would say "0"pressure, but your engine isn't knocking like the sound of a hammer hitting the block..
Plugs still carboned black??
Anything still disconnected??

vertig0

No buddy... It had zero oil pressure... there were signs of oil on the dipstick, but that was it. It must have been driving for quite a while after he took the oil cap off and messed with it... all of the gauges work now with the exception of the oil pressure gauge, nice isnt it? haha... But no there were no knocking or funny noises or otherwise before or after it died. It sounds completely normal now when you try to start it, even when it has spirts like it sounds like one or two cylinders fire. Odd isnt it? There has to be something that turns the fuel system on and off. Before I reset my computer I couldnt even get the fuel pump to turn on. Now it primes and pumps fine, and all I had to do was reset the computer. wow... I really appreciate all this help, if makes me feel like my baby is one day going to run again.

Vertigo

aklim

I believe if you try crank it for a bit you should at least get a few psi of oil pressure. That or the sensor is fried. Didn't someone say that if the oil pressure is 0 the engine will not run or something to the effect of the pump relay will be open?

vertig0

Yes I previously mentioned I had heard that a module or sensor/pressure switch, can and will shut the fuel system off as a "fail safe" to keep the engine from going to crap. However, I have no idea what these switches look like, or where they would reside... I have heard numerous people tell me to just lay on the ignition for 30 secconds to minutes to build up pressure in order to release the switch... but Im scared that would kill my starter...

Vertigo

aklim

I wouldn't do it for more than 30 seconds and not for a while after that. Remember to keep the battery charged.

aklim

See if you can locate your oil filter and see if there is a 1 in wide tube about 3 in long pointing towards the driver side tire. There should be 2 wires coming out from it.

gatf4

I'm not 100% positive but I don't think that your car has any kind of low oil pressure shut-off on it but I'd have to see a wiring diagram to be sure.

Do you have access to a noid light injector tester or a 12 volt test light? You could unplug one injector and jump either the test light or noid light across the injector wiring harness with it disconnected and have someone crank her over while you watch the light. It should flash. This light simulates the injector and lets you know if the computer is actually signaling the injector to fire.

I can get you a GM flow chart for the cranks and No Start symptom on Monday if you cant figure it out. Let me know.

By the way, if it has a fuel problem, be it pump or injector, You should still be able to get the car to run on carb cleaner spray.

I wouldn't use stating fluid if I were you.