hey guys ive been looking at this website for answers and finally signed up for help. this is my second camaro z28. i had a 93 6 speed z28. i now have a 94 z28 and when i bought it i was told it only needed a new radiator and a new optispark. i bought a brand new radiator and took the msd opti and timing from the seized up motor that the car came with and put it on the car. made sure i was getting spark and from the look on my friends face when he touched the screwdriver on accident id say im getting some good spark. after i replaced those my fuel pump took a crap. replaced it with an oem holley. it ran for about 3 hours then started bogging. come to find out i was tearing all my crank bearings up. bought a crank-kit and put that in. made sure everything was torqued to specs and cleaned out and put it back it the car. we pulled the motor from the top because we were told it was unheard of so us being young we had to. car runs fine for about 15 minutes or it seems like untill my 180 degree thermostat opens. then its like its running way too rich. car just has no motivation to go unless i play with my gas pedal for a bit then itll get all its power back but for only a second. my service engine light came on and it ran great. if my service engine light would stay on id be fine but it doesnt come on untill after its running like crap for a few minutes and i put it in drive and sit still for a minute. not overdrive just drive. after the light comes on its fine to put it in any gear. but once you shut it off you have to do it all over again.i thought it was fuel so i replaced my fuel pressure regulator and that did nothing for me. also my oil pressure gauge does not work and neither does my engine temp gauge. i know the sensor in the head goes to the gauge and i replaced that with a mechanical one so i knew what the car was doing. if anyone knows or has any ideas what my problem could be any help, tips, or advice would be greatly appretiated.

 

I also forgot to add. I have a lot of black carbon build up on the passenger side spark plugs. Which is now forming a rim on the tips of my exhaust

 

This belongs in "LT1 Based Engine Tech", not in Advanced Tech.

Moving..........

Obvious questions....

1. Have you checked the fuel pressure with a gauge?

2. Have you scanned it to determine why the SES light comes on?

 

I'm doing this from a blackberry and its very confusing trying to find all the different pages and forums. No I have not put a fuel presure tester on the car because I was told if I pushed the pin in on fuel valve and gas shot out I'm getting good fuel pressure. It goes through about 3 times the normal amount of gas when its running bad. When the ses light is on I get pretty good gas mileage. And I had a guy I know hook his scanner up to it and it was unable to connect.I'm supposed to be taking it to a shop with a guy who says his friend can figure out my problem. I just don't see how when the ses light comes on the car runs great then when the light goes off its back to crap? Could my alternator have anything to do with it? I know a bearing in it is sqeeling and my battery level fluctuates while the cars idling from 12 to 16

 

In many cases when a sensor fails, the PCM sets the code and ignores the sensor, defaulting to a programmed backup. The code is the key. And I guess the answer to my question about the fuel pressure check using a gauge is "no".