I have a 1996 camar0 z28 with a LT1 and a six speed with about 120,000 that i just bought a few months ago. Today i was leaving my house and i got into the throttle a little bit, about 4900 rpms when all of a sudden my car backfired, lost power and then cut off. After it cut off it would not start again but it would turn over. Also when i popped the hood, it kinda smelled like cigarette butts, but it was a very strong smell. I did check the fuel pump and at least that is working. Im not sure exactly whats wrong and i havent checked to see if i do have fire. Since this car has quite a few miles on it and i dont know what has been replaced, im starting to think that my opt-spark went out on me, but im not exactly sure if these are the normal symptons for a fried optispark. Any help on where to start would be awesome! thanks

 

I had this happen to me and it was my damned ignition module. Theres no way to test that (that i know of) unfortunately. Checking to see if you get any fire from your coil or to your plugs is a good start.

 

Thanks so much for the reply! Okay, so i just checked to see if it was firing and there was no spark at the plugs but the coil has plenty of spark. Would this be typical if the ignition module was out? and where exactly is the ignition module located?

 

Probably your Opti; how old is the distributor on the car?

 

As far as i know its all original, i just bought the car a little over a month ago

 

Check the ICM like Showstoppers said. You can take the ICM to Advance and have it tested. That's how I confirmed mine was dead. The Zone may be able to test it, dunno.

 

So i finally figured out for sure it was the optispark!! i finally got it off the other day and the damn thing rattled worse than a ricer's trunk! hahaha, plus the shaft on the back would only spin half way before it would jam in place. I just ordered a AC Delco opti from advance today, a lil more than what i wanted to pay, but like they say you get what you pay for and i dont want to go thru this crap again. Thanks for all yalls help!