ZMANISFIREPROOF

Can somebody help me? I have no freakin' clue as to what's wrong with my '98 Camaro.

It all started about two months ago. My battery died, so I had it replaced and all was well. Then, I replaced the brakes and painted the calipers about a month ago. While they were up on the blocks, I had the car in neutral, which required my keys to stay in the ignition over night. I forgot about them, and the next day when I finished the job and lowered the car, it wouldn't start. I used my wife's car to jump start it and viola, it was back to life. A couple of weeks later, I get in my car to go to work and again, the battery was dead. I took my wife's car to work and later that day jump started my car again and viola, it was back to normal again. Then I got in my car this morning for work and this is where things get hairy.

So I go to start the car and it hesitates but eventually starts. I'm thinking that maybe I should get a new battery again, but then my car does something strange. After I start it up, it begins revving up all by itself. I'm not touching anything, and I even checked the gas pedal to make sure it wasn't stuck. But it's not just revving up and staying there; it revs up, then back down again. I thought that maybe if I back it out of the drive way and put it in drive, the car would go back to normal, but it didn't. I had to ride the brakes all the way to work (which isn't far at all from my house) because my car was practically driving itself. It wasn't in idle, but acted as if I was using the gas pedal - I have an automatic, and it was shifting gears because it was 'idling' so high. Got to work safely, but disturbed. After work, went out to the car and sure enough, it wouldn't start. Had my wife come out and jump start it, and the car works fine again. No more weird 'idling high' problems. Drove it back home normally and now I'm just going to leave it there until I can fix whatever the heck is wrong with it.

Anyone have a clue to what's wrong with the car? Why would it suddenly idle so high, as if the gas pedal was being revved up? It's a little scary to ride in a car that you can't really control...

4thgencamarofan

Cop: Sir is there a reason you were going so fast.
You: No officer, the car was driving itself.
Cop: Sir, you do realize i'm not stupid.(In an annoyed voice)

But in all seriousness I have no idea. Has it thrown any codes.
Is there any other symptoms.
EDIT: More info on the car would help....i.e. Motor, mods etc etc

ZMANISFIREPROOF

It's a mostly stock camaro z28 - 5.7L 305hp V8. I have about 87k miles on it. The only thing not stock are the exterior mods I've made on the car - nothing that would affect it's performance the way it did this morning.

Where could I find if it 'threw any codes'? As for other symptoms, my RPM gauge has been maxed out for a couple of months now. No matter what speed I'm traveling at, or even if the car is at idle, I'm at roughly 6-7k RPMs! But I've had that checked out and all I need to do is replace the instrument gauge cluster.

Like I said, my car has never done this before, and after I jump started the battery, it seems to be back to normal. It was just a weird incident this morning. I can't figure it out. Could it be a clogged fuel filter or something in the fuel lines? I have no clue...

4thgencamarofan

I'm not sure where the port is to get it scanned on a 97-02. (I've never checked on my RS since it isn't driveable yet). On 93-96 cars it's just to the right of your legs so I'd check there......take it to advanced auto and they'll scan it fir free!! That might tell you what's up with the tach too....good luck!!

4thgencamarofan

Did it happen to be cold the day it did this??

Injuneer

When the car decides it has a mind of its own, what is happening to the volt meter on the dash?

Scanning for codes can be done for free at many auto parts stores, or you can get an OBD-II code scanner for as little as $40. ALDL connector is under the dash by your right knee.

ws6transam

Before doing anything radical, try physically disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. Better yet, physically disconnect the battery and take it in for a load test at your dealership or the Autozone/NAPA. If it shows that the battery is still good, reinstall it. Sometimes a low power condition (like insufficient battery voltage due to deep discharge) can leave your ECM in an unstable state. Same thing happens sometimes to radios. I've had it happen twice to myself to the radio in our Venture Minivan. Disconnecting the battery always fixed it. It's sort of like rebooting your computer, I guess.

karpetcm

Your batter not functioning properly will upset your ECM. Basically ive seen cars not idling properly, missing and so on. Even in my LS1 its not what you go through but in my case its a bit different when the car sits for a while or when i disconnect the battery and re-connect it, the car will not idle properly at all and takes several miles to finally get into sink. Sometimes i have to drive 50 miles to finally get it to idle normal and drive better. So check your batter as stated above if not see if they can re-charge if needed. If you dont have a SES light on check the most obvious stuff.

ZMANISFIREPROOF

Sweet. Thanks for the tips guys. FYI, it wasn't cold when I started it yesterday morning - it was actually quite warm here in Del Rio, TX. I'll take my battery to Autozone this weekend and see what happens...

ZMANISFIREPROOF

What are the symptoms of a bad alternator?