thewiz33147

Hey guys. I'm new to this site so I hope I am posting this correctly and in the right place. My 94 Camaro Z28 recently started to sputter/lose power and then cut off on me in the middle of driving and will not start back up. I read somewhere on this site that if the engine is flooded you should pull the injector fuses and crank it for a while and then replace the fuses and see if it will start up after that. Well funny thing I discovered is that if I have the injector fuses in, the starter turns but the motor will not run at all. If I remove the injector fuses though, it will start and run until whatever gas is in the motor is exhausted (a few seconds). Any idea what is going on?

P.S. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars.

Injuneer

Sort of a standard response, but the best advice is to scan it for codes and test the fuel pressure. There's a link on the "Computer Diagnostics and Tuning" forum to a free OBD-I scan software download. You would just need a cable, and there are guidelines in the thread.

If the engine is flooded, the correct way to try and start it is to put the accel pedal on the floor before you turn the key, turn the key to start while holding the pedal on the floor until it starts. That puts the PCM in "clear flood" mode. By pulling the injector fuses, you will probably find DTC 18 stored in the PCM, and that will just confuse the analysis of any codes that you find.

thewiz33147

Thanks, Injuneer.

You know what, I forgot to mention some important details in my first post (sorry). When my car cut off on me, i discovered a water hose which had sprung a leak under my hood. It was a pinhole leak that basically sprayed fluid up and onto the top of my engine. (I know a wet/bad opti-spark is a common issue, but I don't think any water touched it.) It looks like most of the fluid was over the area of my alternator. Anyways, yesterday I lifted up my fuelrail to make sure that the injectors were spraying and everything looked good. when I tightened the fuel rail back down, the car miraculously started. I figured maybe something got wet when my hose was leaking and now that it is dry my car is fine again. Well I was wrong because a few hours later, my car won't start again and it hasn't started since that one time yesterday. I got my hands on a code scanner and I get this list of codes:

DTC:14 Coolant sensor or circuit fault
DTC:42 Electronic spark timing (EST) circuit
DTC:43 1. Electronic spark control (ESC)-circuit problems
2. Electronic Spark timing (EST circuit- low voltage detected
DTC:44 Lean exhaust indicated (Left side on dual oxygen models)
DTC:45 Rich exhaust indicated
DTC:51 Computer problem; faulty, wrong or incorrectly installed PROM circuit;
or ECM/PCM failure.
DTC:53 System voltage too high (over 17.7 volts to ECM) or EGR system fault
DTC:54 Fuel pump circuit fault or Mixture Control (M/C) solenoid fault or......
DTC:55 ECM fault or oxygen sensor circuit fault or......

I'm no genius, but it sounds like that water leak did some real damage. I don't understand why it started up yesterday though. Should I clear the codes? Any ideas or opinions about my issue?

Injuneer

What scanner are you using? This is the third time I've seen that list of codes posted, and they are contradictory, and for example, DTC 54 isn't even a valid code for the engine. In both previous cases, both individuals were using the same code scanner. As best anyone could tell, it was a scanner problem, not an engine problem.

As noted, the free scanning software is known to be reliable. If you don't want to use the free download mentioned above, look at TTS DataMaster. I've been helping people for more than 10 years by reviewing data logs run with DataMaster and FreeScan.

thewiz33147

Thanks for the info Injuneer. You really know what you're talking about. I'm using an Innova 3120b. I just did a little research and apparently it wont read correctly if you put in the proper vehicle settings for my car. Innova suggests using an alternate setting. After resetting the pcm by pulling the PCM Batt fuse, my car turns right on but bogs down and cuts off after a minute or so. Using the alternate scanner setting, I get this code.

DTC:16 (1.Battery or alternator problem. 2.Direct ignition system (DIS) fault. 3.Ignition
system fault - loss of 2x or low resolution pulse signal 4.Transmission speed
error.)

My alternator looked to be completely drenched when my hose sprung a leak. Do you think that maybe it's the cause of my problem?

shoebox

Innova scanners...every time I see a wild list of codes, I can almost bet it was from one of their scanners. Don't know why they are that way, but I see it over and over these days.

DTC 16 is for your opti. If you want a list of good codes, just click the link in my signature.

thewiz33147

I wish I would have known about the issues with this scanner before I bought the damn thing. I would've gone with another brand. Oh well, at least I know how to make it work properly now. Anyways, so should I take more steps to test my opti or is it reasonable to just replace it now? They're pretty expensive (MSD being roughly $500) and a pain in the *** to replace, so I wouldn't want to have to do it unnecessarily, but if you guys (the defacto "gods" of the f-bodies, from what I gather online) tell me that my opti needs to be replaced then that's good enough for me.