2kflhr

My son and I just bought it yesterday. When we picked it up it was extermely low on fuel and I think it took nearly 14 gals. of gas so I assume it was near out and and killed the fuel pump. Last night while tooling around town it shut off on him once but cranked right back up. Today while on lunch break it shut down again but would not crank. It turns over and seems it wants to hit but refuses. Any suggestions?

GreasyB

Check fuel pressure. Check for spark. After you check those things tell us your findings.

white97T/A

Congratualtions on the purchase. '97's are the best - IMHO. Sorry to hear about the bad luck. Like the previous poster said, check for fuel and spark and report back.. On most 4th gen's that I have been around, you can hear the fuel pump come on when you turn the key on (but not cranking) It should sound like a whine from the fuel tank area for about 2 seconds, so let us know if you hear that. Also if you have a fuel pressure guage test the fuel pressure, the schrader valve is on the back of fuel rail on the back of the intake manifold.

Do you have any recourse with the seller. That would be my first choice is to call them up and let them know whats up, and have it taken to a shop and let the seller foot the bill.

Anyway, good luck, and if you need more help just post up there are plenty of people here that can offer help.

ss.slp.ls1

First of all, are there any codes???

Running it low on fuel won't necessarily kill the fuel pump, doing it on a regular basis can wear it out though. Like everyone is saying, get the pressure tested.
Sounds like an ignition problem to me. You can have the coil and the icm tested at AZ. Sounds like it could be the opti, if its the orginal, than it wouldn't hurt to change it sometime anyway.
Good luck. Nice Car...

hektyk

If the spark and fuel are good check the ignition Switch towards the bottom of the colum. They also go bad on our LT1's after some years of wear and tear.

2kflhr

Thanks for the replies. I plan to investigate it and will get back with my findings. My son spotted it last week at a repo lot and inquired about it. He found out who the lein holder was so I called them. Come to find out the poor soul voluntarily gave it up and 2 other cars. It has high mileage (180k) but is clean and ion real good shape. The foot pedals even show minimal wear, so most likely a lot of highway miles as I average about 20-25k a year myself.

Soooo being I bought it off of a repo lot before it went to auction, "let the buyer beware", and "this vehicle is being sold as is", I picked it up for 4k, so even if I have to put a little money in it I think I'll still come out good. I just hate it broke down on him on his first day.

2000GTP

Not bad for 4K,plus it is an SS which makes it very unique. Any car with that kind of mileage is going to have problems, report back your findings and we can help you out. There is plenty of info and knowledgable members on here.

'94 Bad A Z28

To me it sounds more like a failing ignition switch.

beeker82

or a bad coil

2kflhr

My son just acquired a voluntary repo '97 SS. When buying a car out of a repo lot before it goes to the auction block you only have the opportunity to listen to it run and cannot take it for a test drive. It had a slight misfire so we figured it was in need of a tune up and thorough look over. At the price (4k)you can't be too picky. Anyway, It was low on fuel when we picked it up so we filled it up and drove it home. Later that evening he went for a ride and the vehicle shut down about the time it was shifting into 2nd. It started right back up and and ran decent the rest of the night. Next morning he heads off to work about 3 miles away with no problems. He leaves for lunch and gets about 1.5 miles form work and it dies again. It will not crank. We have it hauled to a friend that works at a repair shop. He looks at it first thing Monday morning and it cranks right up. The fuel pressure is at 42 psig and steady. It had an oil leak from the oil pressure sensor and also a pin was found bent on the sensor. Change the sensor and fix the leak. Checked the codes and there were multiple codes of which I'm not sure of what is current or not. When the car was first cranked up after sitting at the repo lot it smoked black for 30-45 seconds and cleared up so we're thinking this itself could have created some of the multiple codes. One code showed a misfire on cyl. 1, we check the wire (good), change the plug (OK) and checked the compression (good). Still slight miss, change the injector with a spare we had and it helps but does not correct entirely. We cleared the codes and decided to drive it some and see what happens and if any further codes are displayed. We considered and issue with the Opti-Spark but I had a '94 Z that had a Opti issue and the codes specifically pointed it to the Opti.

Today it shut down again about the time it was shifting into 2nd. Since the fuel pump appears to be OK due to the steady pressure we decided to replace the fuel pump relay just in case the relay was going south.

Any suggestions for what to check next?

Sorry so long, just wanted to include the details to better diagnose.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Javier97Z28

Check fuel pressure when the problem occurs. Check the pigtail where the fuel pump connects to in the driver's side wheelwell area. Make sure none of the pins are loose.

mrmint69

Like stated above run the fuel pressure gauge up to the windshield and use the wipers to hold it. Then watch it to see if it does anything the next time.

ulakovic22

Ignition switch would be my guess.

ss.slp.ls1

If cylinder #1 misfires continue, you should change the wire, regardless of how it looks. Good luck with the hunt.

BUBBA

My guess would be that the guy who "gave it up" wasn't the original owner. With multiple owners and that many miles, I'd start from scratch before I drove it. Sounds like a good deal, but I think it's time for a rebuild, or at the very least a thorough shake down.

Might be fine after a good rehab, but if you push it before that happens, you might wind up getting a short block soon. JMHO