Took my just purchased 94 firebird formula today for its smog check which it passed with flying colors with a brand new catco cat. Took it to the huge carwash where I live, probably 200+ cars a day. Had them do a rad flush/oilchange and a full detail/motor cleaning.

Im assuming they do tons of this stuff. My car doesnt run. I picked it up and it barely started and lopped its way out of the parking lot. I took it right back and said WTF?

They claim its water and when it dries it will work fine. Meanwhile, in the 20 minutes the car was on it almost overheated. If I unscrew the rad cap should i feel coolant through the .. hole? The overflow bottle is full, but did they forget to full the car with coolant? It was smoking, but they said it was the cleaning solvent coming off. The smoke wasnt coming out of anything, but rather just off of everything. I left the car there for the night because they assured me it would be just fine when it dried. What is my first steps if it does not work tomorrow. It was barely cranking over and felt terrible weak and idled like I had a HUGE cam in it. From a standstill, and hit the pedal the car shook and jolted around and hardly got to speed...

I just got this car on the road after spending all day on a new CAT, Battery, Alternator, Starter and Belt...

Thanks for any possible advice to use when dealing with this.

-Matt
"wishes his new firebird ran"

edit:: there wasnt coolant in the rad when i took the cap off. thats why i asked if I should feel it. Thanks

 

Sounds to me like the opti got water in it.

 

Generally, its a bad idea to wash down an LT1 engine. The Optispark distributor gets water in it, and that's the end of it in many cases. You're looking at possibly a $300 part and several hours work to replace it. In some cases, they will dry out.

If its not the Opti, they may have forced water into the harness connectors, the spark plug wire terminals, the PCM... who knows. You will need to systematically clean out each electrical connection in the hope that's all it is, and not the Opti.

 

Since you have a 94 it's a non vented opti which is harmed by water alot easier that a vented opti, and, you should never really powerwash any motor, but a LT1 especially. Plus when you add coolant to a LT1 you're supposed to bleed it with the 2 bleeder screws, but i'm sure they didn't know enough to do that.

 

I will check tomorrow about the coolant situation and see if it had been done correctly. When i checked the radiator felt dry to me.

If the issue doesnt self correct I will do my best to get them to cover the part/labor. There was no disclaimer that any harm would be done, and they claimed they didnt use any high pressure water at all to clean it. It looks like the same cleaning process used at used car dealers where its clean and has a filmy feel to it?

So its ruled out that no coolant would cause erratic idle?

Thanks guys.

-Matt

 

The saying "All show and no go" comes to mind.

Its unfortunate that this has happened. I'd hold them liable for your car suddenly not working. I leave my engine bay nice and dirty and it seems to like it.

Contact the owner tomorrow if you can and explain what has happened, you might be asking him for money if it doesnt run right.

Before anything else ask the procedure used to wash engine bay's and jot down the whole thing in a notebook, then explain what happened. If he says well we power wash the whole thing, then your talking about it being their fault for busting it.

Good Luck

-Dustin-

 

I paid almost nothing for the car. I got it for 1500 with 100,000 miles and a brand new tranmission cause the guy spilled on his ducati after he bought it and never was able to fix it with a shattered leg bone. I put the cat in and finally got the sucker smogged and registered. I dont mind replacing the OPTI but I would have prefered to have broken the part, and from what i see, the car isnt "easy" to work on. I like a good challenge, but this is totally not my fault..

Thanks..

-Matt

 

Coolant and oil shouldnt cause the idle to be messed up, thats more like electrical and fuel. Both dont like water. They probably know about 2% of what they should to work on cars. Fluid should be in the radiator, the system needs bled. Is it even the right mix for winter weather? What grade and brand oil did they use? Right filter? Thats a damn shame, at the very least you learned a valueable lesson, do your own work.

PS Where are you located?

-Dustin-

 

Valencia, CA. Its a suburb in LA county. Its near the six flags themepark in California.

Im just weary of the job they did since idling for 10 minutes the needle was almost in the red I had them shut the car. I will see what happens in the morning.

Thanks

-Matt

 

you dont wash your own car?

 

No no. I do. But I just got it, and its been sitting outside for some time. I just wanted to get that initial wash taken care of to get her to really shine. Full time work/college doesnt permit me oodles of free time, and Ive taken plenty of cars there and never had a problem..

 

I only take a damp sponge and towel in my engine bay, Guess just one lesson learned bro. I'd put money on the Opti or as someone else said the wires themselves but if it's overheating that's like air in the lines or burnt out water pump

 

When i first got my 94 Z i also got my engine wet...on purpose...and by me. I didn't know about the opti either, and mine also overheated. So the overheating could be from the opti not working properly, from my experience. Luckily mine dried out in about an hour and hasn't had any problems since.


And on a side note, who ever says (cause i'm sure someone will say it) that the stock opti's are crap, then you haven't met my car. 182,000 miles on stock EVERYTHING, no rebuild, nothing. and still going strong. LONG LIVE THE OPTI!!

 

Stock Opti's are crap.

No seriously mine went out a 38,000. Its good yours have lasted so long. I am on my second one, and probably not my last...unless I am smart and get LTCC or something.

-Dustin-

 

And on a side note, who ever says (cause i'm sure someone will say it) that the stock opti's are crap, then you haven't met my car. 182,000 miles on stock EVERYTHING, no rebuild, nothing. and still going strong. LONG LIVE THE OPTI!! [/QUOTE]

i said that same thing at 127k miles opns tock everything and no crap the day after i posted it my opti blew out. go figure