LT1 Based Engine Tech 1993-1997 LT1/LT4 Engine Related

Another "starts but immediately dies" thread

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Old 11-16-2011, 10:57 AM
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Another "starts but immediately dies" thread

I picked up a 1996 z28 a couple months ago, and it's been running excellent until recently. There's a lot of mods on it, and, to be honest, I have no idea exactly what has been done to it. I know there's a cool air intake, headers and exhaust added. It has a wideband a/f gauge, and some kind of plug coming out of the compartment under the radio (assuming its a laptop type plug, but not sure, it's not USB). It was running just fine August and september, but it started getting colder and rainy out, and it started having a few minor issues (slightly noticeable drop in power, took a little longer to start, idle was a little rougher.) Then I noticed that it would start stalling while it was warming up. I thought maybe the remote starter would shut off after awhile, but it started happening sooner. Anyway, after work one day, it was warming up while I was standing there talking to a co-worker, when it stalled. It wasn't raining, but it was the coldest day so far. I tried to jump in to start it back up, and it fired like normal, but immediately stalled. I tried a few more times, and the same result. When I opened the hood, it smelled like unburnt fuel, so I waited a bit, and starting checking things. Pulled the boot, and it had a strong blue spark, battery was normal, etc. After a couple hours of just being confused, I tried priming the fuel pump a few times, and after the seventh turn, attempted to start it and fired right up. Started to go home, and at about 3500rpm in 3rd, it hit a wall, like rev limiter. It broke through and I got it to sixty, before the engine stalled again. Everything was still on, but the engine. Got it start again by downshifting and pumping the throttle, and it started driving like normal for about five minutes, I took an exit, and boom, stalled again. This time it never came back, and I had to get it towed. So far, I've figured out:

It has spark
The fuel pressure is at 35/37 when primed, but it jumps to 45/47 when attempting to start, and maintains all the way through the initial crank, fire and stall.
-I can't get any codes at all. Not sure if the battery dying t some point erased the memory or not, but I can't get any information.
-The car will start if I throttle it, and stay started for a few seconds if I keep pumping the throttle. It's backfiring like no other, and I recall it backfiring before, if I had it at wot.
-fuel filter has been changed

It SEEMS like everything is there for ignition (spark, fuel, air), but the engine almost appears to be flooding immediately post-ignition. I've noticed an MSD ignition coil, so I don't know if the optispark is also MSD or stock, but it also looks to be in decent condition. When I purchased the car, the dealer ran tests and said that at some point the ignition would need to be changed, as it apparently wasn't testing well, but I was never told what part specifically, and never had an issue. It doesn't even take long to fire once you start cranking. I've read through quite a few of these types of posts on here, and no one ever comes back to the thread once they figure out what it was. Does this sound familiar to any problems you guys have been able to diagnose?
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Old 11-17-2011, 06:30 PM
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Re: Another "starts but immediately dies" thread

Ok, it's also not the MAF, as I took it off, and still no change. Anything you guys can See that I should check to get this thing back on the road? Its my daily driver, and I'm stuck using one of my in laws cars...
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