so im about 2 miles from work, coming off the freeway about 3/4 throttle, on the 2nd/3rd shift(a4) car backfires hard and shoots black/grey smoke out of the tailpipe. The car dies, im able to coast to a stop on a side street, but couldnt get it started back up. it cranks, sounds like it wants to turn over but just wont. any ideas on what I can look for? I didnt notice if the CEL was on. Im on limited resources since its parked on a side street and Im w/o AAA


thanks for the help, i can check the car at lunch

 

Dead opti.

 

Sounds like something broke? Don't mean to sound like Captain Obvious. Not many things can happen to a car to make it instaneously die like that. Most things fail gracefully. If its not mechanical, I'd say its probably spark related. Black smoke could indicate fuel isn't being burnt.

Or you lost something inside.... Does it turn over smoothly? How many miles on the timing chain?

 

the car has 101k on the odo. Timing chain setup is original if im not mistaken. theres no smoke or leaks anywhere. when i get back ill check the oil for signs of coolant(blown head gasket).

i wouldnt be surprised if the opti is dead. this cars had 3 so far

 

How long / how many miles since the last opti? Sounds like the exact symptoms that I had both times my opti died.

 

this current opti was replaced i believe at about 96-98k miles.

 

Did you use locktight on the rotor screws? That would suck if it came off and destroyed your new opti. If it was your head gasket it would have smoked something fierce long before it popped. Plus it would have smoked white.

 

i dont even remember. its been so long since it was done(had my shop do it)

 

Doesn't matter... i recieved a bad accel opti then replaced that with a oem opti that lasted ~300 miles... They are a pretty delicate piece...

Definantly sounds like what happen to me when my opti went... pull an injector and check for fuel when you crank... if you have fuel pressure but don't have fuel or spark then i would def. go with an opti... (thats what mine was like)
took me days to determine it was my "new" opti...

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

pull a fuel injector? like, pull out the whole injector or just the electrical part to 'kill' that injector. if I pull the whole injector am i looking for a lot of fuel form one?

i hope i figure it out. its sitting 2 miles from work, but 20 miles from home

 

first get a fuel pressure guage and check your fuel pressure...
if you have pressure than
take the four screw out of the intake that hold down the fuel rails. (8mm socket)
lift the injector out of the intake make sure the injector does not come out of the fuel rail. leave the electrical connector in tact (that is what tells the injector to fire)have someone turn it over and see if fuel sprays out...
if there is no fuel then put it back together and pull a spark plug and see if you have spark...
or you can check for spark first! (use 5/8" spark plug socket and 3/4" wrench... i found it is easier to use a wrench then a ratchet when pulling the plugs on an lt1...)
But don't check for both at the same time

 

havent had a chance to check the spark or fuel, i just saw that there is a SES light on though. Now i just need an OBD1 scanner

 

SES light? Thats good. Hopefully it was an opti code. OBD1 readers are CHEAP. I got this one from Moates

http://www.moates.net/product_info.p...roducts_id=127

The software can be used for free. For $80 its cheap for what you can do with it. OBDI for the win!

 

If this is your Trans Am, then it is OBDII.

 

no. i converted over to OBDI