I replaced head gaskets on a friends '95 383 Z28, and after we bolted everything back up, let the intake gasket set, changed the oil, etc, etc. We went to start it and it won't start, it just cranks and cranks.

I can get it to start when I floor the gas and hold it after it starts, but if you let it come down to idle it will stall.

We had it towed to a local shop, he says there is no fuel pressure at the rails, we can hear the pump prime, so that should be ok, very new Walbro pump.

It will pour fuel out the passenger side muffler (true duals), when you try to start it.

We put a new fuel pressure regulator on, no dice. When we put the rockers back on we didn't adjust them, we planned to after the car was done and running. I took them off and never touched the little center set screw, just reinstalled them to the exact way they came off, hoping it would be close.

SO, can the out of wack rockers be causing a stuck valve or something letting fuel pour in the cylinders?

ANY help would be SOOOOOOOOOO appreciated, this has been a nightmare, one thing after another, we need to get it done NOW!

We are having the shop adjust the rockers tonight or tomorrow am, and if that doesn't work, we are replacing the injectors, and after that, we have no idea where to look.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the novel!!!

 

have you maybe drained the oil to see if some got in the oil? do you have a spark issue?

 

I believe there was some fuel in the oil, says the shop. What does that mean?

 

Is it possible you knocked the coolant temp sensor wire off (PCM sensor in the water pump)? If the PCM thinks the engine is cold, it will set a very rich cold start mixture and flood. Pushing the pedal all the way to the floor puts the PCM in "clear flood" mode, and it cuts fuel back to allow it to clear out the excess fuel. Sounds like once you let off the throttle, it goes back to running pig rich.

Sounds like you need to do a little more checking on your own, since the guy at the "local shop" seems to have it backwards. Why not check the fuel pressure... you can't just listen to the pump and assume its getting the correct pressure. Maybe the pressure is too high? Any chance you pinched the fuel return line?

If you have fuel in the oil, it might thin it out to the point where you damage the engine.

 

sounds like poor rocker adjustment to me, if 2 are out of adjustment, it'll be a muverbisch to crank, and then will run rough when it does, and will die when you throttle back. I hope the guy at the "local shop" knows how to adjust those properly, (assuming he has 1.6rr's since you were talking about the poly loc set screws) otherwise, he'll be as far if not farther off than you. hope this helps

click here for proper rocker arm adjustment procedure


Billy D.

 

The oil is getting changed today while it's there, no biggie there, it hasn't been run more than 1 min right now. We did have the fuel pressure checked, it was nothing, that's why we are looking at the injectors, or regulator. But those seem to be ok, I'm banking on the rockers being wacked out of adjustment, because when it does start it ran horrible, SOO bad.

As for the rockers, they are 1.6 Crane's, and he does know how to adjust them, I just didn't, I was planning to adjust them after we got it all done and started, but it never got that far. Thanks for the link to adjust them, I would be following some write up if I were to do it, I know LS1's more than LT1's

I'll let you all know if the car is running today, all I know is if it's not, it's bon fire time!!