Car will NOT start. Need help!!!

The car is an 02 WS6. Started about 2 weeks ago. The car stared spitting and sputtering while driving normal. Got on it a little and it felt as if it had a dead cylinder. No problem. I go home and start hosing down primaries. They all seem fine. Car is still running like crap.

This is where I shorten the story.

The car still barley runs at this point. I pull the valve covers off to make sure I didn't break a valve spring or something. I unplug the coil pack wiring harness, have the woman turn the motor for a few seconds and everything is good. I wait a few hours, put the covers back on, plug everything in and I go to start it. It won't start. I try a few things, won't start.

Here is a list of what I checked/changed:
Changed: MAF, TPS, coolant temp sensor, MAP, fuel filter, spark plugs, sp wires, coil packs and harness, crankshaft pos sensor, camshaft pos sensor, ecm

Checked: fuel pressure is at 60 pounds, oxygen sensors, fuel injectors, checked to make sure that all eight coil packs were getting fire and they are, checked all plugs to make sure that they are getting fuel and they are. The car is getting air into the cylinders. All of the fuses and relays.

Here is the funny part, when I go to turn the motor over, it tries to fire, but instead spits back through the intake with a nice cloud of white smoke and does not bust off. It is one the verge of starting just does not want too.

I hooked a tech 2 up to it and everything is fine. No codes. The ecm is getting its cam and crank signals, coolant temp, EVERYTHING!

Give me some ideas please!!!!!! We have taken the car to a couple of shops and no one knows why this damn thing will not start. Next on my list is to replace the wiring harness I guess.


Oh yeah, mods are full bolt ons and a big fat cam with the real good stuff, munis the rockers, they are stock.

Surely somebody has some ideas

I had a similar problem to yours. Get into the fuse box (the one under the hood) and switch one of your fan relays with the "IGN RELAY". The two are the exact same and I found out that the "IGN RELAY" was indeed faulty. Just something to try.

Change the oil and make sure it looks like it should...no traces of milky-colored coolant floating around, excessive metal shavings, etc. My guess is, if nothing is showing up on the diagnostic side, it's mechanical...unless a bunch of DTCs were disabled when the car was tuned for the cam. Then you might not see what the problems are with the Tech 2.

This is pretty basic, but perhaps water or some other foreign substance in the gas? Perhaps due to vandalism or something?

I forgot to add that I checked the relays. Checked all of my voltages too on the connector at the PCM and compared them with a GM service manual. All checked out. The gas thing I can not rule out yet. But it smells good, taste horrible, not grainy feeling or anything, and catched on fire easily.

What are the chances of it being the reluctor wheel? I pulled the crank sensor out and turned the motor over by hand and it didn't feel out of place of anything.

Also, we put an untuned PCM in and scanned it and everything checks out.

just to throw is out, but fuel filter? I know you said you had pressure, just something else to try. Also, head gasket leak?

Yes, changed the filter and did a compression check. All cylinders have good pressure.

I'm not sure how the timing set works on these cars but it sounds like it has jumped time.

Nope, the cam and crank gears line up as they should with the dots. There is the proper amount of slack in the chain as well.

So . . . Is it running yet??

Going on 4 weeks this thing has still not ran.

The car is an 02 WS6... I go home and start hosing down primaries. They all seem fine...

Do you mean hosing down as in you took a garden hose to your engine compartment? If so, how often do you do this?

Uuuuuhhhhhhhh...........no. A squirt bottle was used that was set to "stream". Not a water hose.

Have you tried taking the new plugs back out and seeing if they are fouled?

Does the motor sound normal when its turning over?
How long did this problem happen after your cam install?

This is my first post and ya I'm a new F-body owner (2000 TA). Anyways, I'm still learning these LS1's, but I've worked with many caveman engines. With that being said, if one of my old engines was doing this and I already tried most of the things mentioned here then I'd suspect either the mixture is too rich (or bad gas), a plug wire arching or mis-routed to the wrong cylinder, or perhaps the timing is off or too advanced. How long did it run after you made all those changes? If something was installed improperly that'd definately account for the current issue. If it ran ok for several months after the changes then it's a fair assumption that this is a new issue and could be unrelated. Was anything changed just before it started running rough? Even something minor?

Rich or bad gas:
I've seen this exact symptom when the issue was bad gas. White smoke, runs rough, and may not start... yup sounds familiar. Your gas may catch on fire, but that doesn't mean it's suitable for a 10.5:1 cylinder. Try pouring some STP gas treatment in the tank - that cleared me up once. The tank is particuarly vulnerable to this condition when it is low on gas and the tank walls develop moisture from the outside air and it drips down into the gas.

Ignition:
To check the wires, you can set a multi-tester to ohms and check the resistance in each plug wire. A consistent reading from all wires is what you're looking for, but typically stock wires report approx 2000 ohms resistance per foot and a good aftermarket wire can be as low as 50-200 ohms per foot. This test won't always find an arch though. You could try starting it in complete darkness to actually look for this if ya wanted :) Also, I know you said that you checked the plugs for spark but I've seen a weird issue more then once that is worth mentioning. On an FI Honda CBR bike and an FI Nissan my brother owns all the plugs fouled at once following a cold start and an "on-purpose" instant shutoff. Try to start them the next day and all the plugs were fouled.

Timing:
This thing doesn't have a distributor so that kinda screws me up. I know it has opti-spark and is timed both mechanically (proper install of components) and then dynamically using the computer. So as a guess - if it is a timing issue, would disconnecting your battery for a few minutes and then trying to start it again reset the obd and maybe allow you to atleast get it running and pull some data-logging off it?

Good Luck! :D

Cams has been in for around 8 months.

The motor sounds fairly normal when trying to crank. Don't know for sure because it used to fire off within 1 second.

The plugs are definately black however they still spark when you pull them out.


Reluctor ring? Yes, no, maybe so?

Not to be a friggin nag, but you ought to drain the gas tank, and put in some new gas . . . You've tried everything else, just about. Purge the lines where you can. Best of luck.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the security system. Check to see if the security light is on disabling the fuel injectors. If this is the case... try a new key because if i remember correctly, if there is no signal to the computer from the pass key, it diables the fuel after 3 starting attempts. Just a thought. Good luck.

My security light was on the other day (2000 TA) and the starter would not turn at all. It wasn't until I armed and disarmed again that it would turn over and start. Do some years only cut the fuel? Seems like this was just a fluke cause it hasn't happened again.

If the fuel injectors are not spraying (or the alarm has disabled the gas flow) how would you account for what he describes as white smoke and wet plugs?

I'm still thinking bad gas man... atleast try the STP gas treatment and let us know how it goes. It's only like $2.99

My security light was on the other day (2000 TA) and the starter would not turn at all. It wasn't until I armed and disarmed again that it would turn over and start. Do some years only cut the fuel? Seems like this was just a fluke cause it hasn't happened again.

If the fuel injectors are not spraying (or the alarm has disabled the gas flow) how would you account for what he describes as white smoke and wet plugs?

I'm still thinking bad gas man... atleast try the STP gas treatment and let us know how it goes. It's only like $2.99

When my security light came on, it would not crank at all. So, there's more than just a fuel cut happening. Once the ingnition cylinder was replaced and a new key made with the right resistor for that cylinder, the problem was solved. Started right up.

The car has spark air and fuel for all 8 cylinders. Verified three times by me and twice by a speed shop

Well, the car starts now. Haven't touched it and it starts. Go figure. However according to the tech 2, everything is as it should be except the car runs like ass. Found a broken valve spring however.

I know one broken valve spring would not cause a no start condition.

As far as I am concerned, the problem is still not fixed. I still can not determine what made this car not start.