91TransAmGTA

Okay my friend has a 1995 Trans Am.. it is a A4. Anyways, he has been having problems with his car not starting, so right away we thought it was the starter. So we took the starter out, and took it in to get it rebuilt, well the guy calls him and says that there is nothing wrong with the starter. One day we were at his house and we went to leave we get in the car and try to start it and it wont start, so we keep trying.. then all the sudden we see smoke coming from the engine compartment, so we pop the hood and smoke comes out, we had no idea what was going on. So then we wait until the smoke clears, the we try to start the car... and it starts right up. It then started right up for awhile but then it went back down hill again and it took a few tries to start up and now it is just dead, won't start at all. Anyone have any idea of whats wrong with it? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

RedPhenx

you could look at the starter wire, it might be grounding someplace.. though if it doesnt die sometimes then that probably isnt it. Where was the smoke coming from? How does it sound when it doesnt start? like it tries to turn over, or turn over very slowly, or doesnt do anything?

93formula

its your opti, and dont worry about the smoke, once you get your opti replaced the smoke will go away. mine did the same thing i cant remember what the exact explaination for the smoke was though. but my manifolds are cracked as well, so that could be it too.

HardcoreRM125

Need some more info, does the engine crank ? Crank Slow , or what ? Also it could very well be a Opti , but dont go pointing fingers untill you tell us everything else about the cars condition... I by all means am not the guy to talk to when trying to diagnose problems ( Inless its fuel related, in which case im a LT1 Genious at this point, ive read more about it then i need to and all because i had a bad relay and clogged injectors ) ... If you cant get any good awnsers, PM some of the LT1 Guru's theyll help ya out ...

91TransAmGTA

Okay well I am not sure where the smoke was actually coming from by the time we popped the hood, it was all over. It has only smoked once like that. When you try to start it, it tries to turn over slowly. The car never just dies.. it has 92,000 miles and runs excellent except for this one problem. Any other information you would need?

How much is a new opti and is it hard to replace???

91TransAmGTA

Any help?

91TransAmGTA

Alright well I looked up what the opti actually does because I wasn't sure... and it said it will cause the engine to miss fire. Well his car isn't doing that, so could it still be the opti?

HardcoreRM125

Opti is GM's fancy word for the Distributor on LT1's ... Which suck btw ...

At anyrate, Its not the Opti, I dont see how it could in any way cause that ...

Im thinking something along the electrical circuit for the starter... Example being that it isnt getting enough juice to crank it at normal speed, yet when the loose wire/groud whatever is getting full connection it turns over fine ...

93formula

well how old is the battery? and when was the last tune up? i still say its the opti. mine did the exact same thing, turned out to be the opti.

91TransAmGTA

Well I know it isn't the battery. How about something with the ignition module? Maybe that is bad?

93formula

maybe you can get a old of someone in your area who can scan the car. i know there are a lot of ohio members, check the regional section. better to scan it for codes then to start ripping parts on and off at random.