I decided not to drive my 96 Camaro during the winter like I normally do and store it in my driveway this year.

Before I took it off the road, I filled the gas tank up and put fuel stabilzer in, changed the oil and of course cleaned everything up nicely.

The car was parked for 3 months and at some points covered in a couple feet of snow. 2 Days ago I put the insurance and plates back on and checked it out. Everything appeared to be fine and it fired up right away.

However, today I was getting on the highway and definately don't have as much power in the gas pedal as usual. The car stutters and boggs down when accelerating hard.

The symtons seem IDENTICAL to the time I had a bad spark plug/wire but I can't see it being that, as I just changed them and everything was fine before winter. I also have a new CAT and fuel filter.

I'm assuming my first place to check is the plugs and wires because maybe something is corroded or rusted from the storage, but I won't be able to for a couple days because the weathers not co-operating so I'm just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions of things I can check out in the meantime.

Thanks alot,

-Mike

 

thats probably it.. plugs / wires

when u store a car like that for 3 months you should start it up once every 1 / 2 weeks to make sure everything is working alright.

 

Three month storage shouldn't be a problem. I would have recommended putting it somewhere covered and out of the weather but I guess that wasn't an option.

Unless you plan on driving it a bit and letting the oil get up to operating temp, I wouldn't even bother starting it up and letting it idle. You would be doing more harm than good.

You did all the right things before letting her sleep...just sounds like a plug change.

 

ImportKiller:
What you just said is exactly what I was told and agree with.

And yeah, unfortunately that was my only option. I wouldn't have been able to drive it or get the temperatures up, so I disagree with brink and think that would be harmful to the car.

I'm going to check out the plugs and wires and have been browsing thru the search function and all signs point to the that. But like I said I was worried it was something to do with the storage.

I'll check it out hopefully tommorow when it's a bit nicer out and keep you posted,

thanks for the replies and let me know if you have any other ideas.

-Mike

 

I store my Z28 every winter. Only difference is I put it in the garage. But, all I do is fill the tank, chnage the oil, put a battery tender on it, and put the car up on stands and cover it. I don't think starting it every couple of weeks is necessary and might even do more harm than good in loading up plugs and contributing to the buildup of gunk in the oil.
But, since you stored it outside, it might be a long shot but a possiblilty that a critter might have gotten under the hood looking for shelter and possibly chewed thru a plug wire. Like I said, a long shot, but not impossible. Other than that, I dont know how much of that fuel stabilizer you used but it can make the car run poorly until you've burned it thru if you put a lot in the tank.