Decap92RS

Hello all,

My sister owns a 1992 camaro with a 305 tbi engine. A few weeks ago, she was driving and it just died on her. She couldn't get it to start so she had it towed home.

I have been out in the garage tinkering with it for a few hours to no avail. I have replaced a few cheap items like the distributed cap and rotor, and the ignition coil but still nothing. I plugged a spark plug wire with a plug in it on the distributed cap and I saw no spark when turning the engine over. I also tried using starting fluid and got nothing.

I've got a code 33 dtc coming up which I figured was because of trying to start it with the air cleaner assembly off.

Im growing frustrated and don't know where exactly to go from here, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any help.

quickchicken

sounds like the module under the rotor, not uncommon for our cars. i was talking to a friend before i left his house and my FORMULA was behind me running, next thing ya know it just stopped. i hit the key with no luck. forgot how i figured out it was the module but after that it was fixed.

BigBadLou

Chicken is right, the ICM (Ignition Control Module) in the distributor is a common culprit in this case (not saying that this is your problem for sure). Another common problem is the pickup coil on the distributor. When they quit, they quit. No restart. No spark.

Why don't you switch the ICM (or the whole distributor) between your cars and see if the problem jump to the other vehicle? If you were any closer, I'd let you borrow my spare distributor. If you would rather just replace the parts with new ones, a new ICM is usually $35, distributor can be had for around $100 (with the ICM and pickup coil).

Let us know what you find.
Lou

Decap92RS

Unfortunately my 92 is dead and long gone, but the distributor seems worth a shot. I'll just replace the whole unit To be safe. I'll let ya know how that turns out.

Thanks a lot for all of the help, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Decap92RS

I swapped the distributor out this afternoon and after some slight tweaking of it's position the car is running well. Thank you for the help guys. Problem solved.

quickchicken

before you go much further, use the old gear that was on the old dizzy, its mated to the gear on the cam, it works under the same rules as rear end gears. otherwise your going to wear out the dizzy gear.

Decap92RS

Unfortunately I turned the core in, so we'll have to see what happens. I do appreciate the tip though. Makes sense, good for future knowledge.