1998Z28LOADED

Alright guys, this may be long-winded but I'll try to keep things organized. Thank you in advance for reading my thread, I am open to any help large or small.

Backstory: In 2008 (yes, 2008), I did a cam (ms3) and valvetrain swap in my 1998 Z28. I also added LT Pacesetters, a custom exhaust, LS2 timing chain, and Frost m/o tune. I was itching to mod the car and that's what was in the budget at the time.

Long story short I had plans to do heads, intake, etc, but you know how life goes. At the time I was borrowing garage space and needed to keep the car to where I could move it if I needed to. I bought it in 2001. I had finally got a beater DD in '07 and was cool with building the Camaro slowly as long as I could keep it together enough that it was driveable.

After Mods:
It drove and ran fine for having the big cam and m/o tune with no torque converter. I put 400-500 miles on it around town and ran into tranny problems. I believe I lost the 3/4 clutch pack.

Later in 2008 I went away to college and left the Camaro in storage. About once a month for 3 years I or my dad would go start it, drive around the block, add fresh gas, and park it. It fired every single time no problems.

Now:
Finally in 2012 I was back in town and bought a house with my own garage so it was time to bring my baby home. I went to grab it and it cranked but wouldn't start. I checked the fuel pressure and had almost none. A couple sprays of starting fluid and it would fire right up then die. Easy fix, just throw a new pump in, right?

I put a pump in and had 55lbs at the rail and it cranked but wouldn't start. Checked spark and it was good. Thought maybe my budget fuel pump was **** so I hit it with a spray of starting fluid and got nothing. I had a friend put a Snap-On live data scanner on it and he said everything seemed good besides my TPS voltage was low.

Throwing Parts at it:
Well like a good dumbass I just figured it had been sitting so long maybe it just needed freshened up.
I added the following items:
-Battery
-Starter
-Fuel Filter
-TPS
-CPS
-Spark Plugs

Finally:
After all that it still wont even start on starting fluid. It did however, backfire so hard it shot the soft plug (EGR!/AIR!) out of the throttle body. This worries me. I also changed the oil and filter in fear of washing down the cyliners with fuel/fluid. It seems like it now cranks slow. I'm frustrated and clueless. I'm hoping someone can shoot me some ideas, or just shoot me.

TXsilverado

iTrader: (18)

air, fuel and spark. if it's all there, maybe bad gas? slow cranking with a new battery may be ground related.

1998Z28LOADED

Hot wired the pump and drained all the gas out and replaced with new. Sorry, I forgot that part. My friend checked the injectors with noid lights and found they have no pulse. The voltage there was correct. I guess my problem is why don't the injectors pulse?

Sorry all my troubleshooting I did last year is slowly coming back to me. I haven't even taken the car cover off since Spring of '13.

1998Z28LOADED

So I guess in a nutshell, I have air, fuel, & spark, but no injector pulse.

What in the world could it be?
Would the cam sensor be to blame, even with still having spark?
PCM bad?
VATS issue?

I'm lost and can't afford to take it to the dealership and dump money into getting it to start when I'm still needing a tranny rebuild/upgrade. For now I'd just like to be able to pull it in and out of the garage so I can work on other stuff.

MTN_Z

iTrader: (7)

My guess is the injectors are locked up from sitting. Might want to pull them and have them cleaned.

1998Z28LOADED

That was my first thought, I kinda steered away from that because I didn't think it would be possibe for all 8 to clog at the same time.

MTN_Z

iTrader: (7)

Oh it definitely is. Trust me, I know first hand. The crap they put in gas these days gums everything up.

white2001formula

iTrader: (5)

Injector fuses?

dreww

iTrader: (1)

I had this same problem on a different GM vehicle.

It was a wiring issue somewhere from ignition switch on steering column and the pcm. Never found it, just made a jumper wire cause I didn't want to tear apart the dash and she started right up. Had spark, fuel pressure, etc. but noid lights never showed anything from injectors.

ignition switch...look into that. im thinking critters got into your wiring while they made a home in your car somewhere

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

I agree, I think it's doubtful since you mentioned that the car was started up, driven some and had fresh gas added on a semi-regular basis over the period prior to the problem first beginning.

Mine sits for at least 6 months every winter, I don't start it at all, and it always fires after about 3 cranks on the first start of the year. I do keep Stabil in the gas at all times though (car is rarely used).

I think something like the below post is more probable:

eseibel67

iTrader: (10)

Does the tach move when cranking? Yes means you are getting a crank signal.

1998Z28LOADED

You may be on to something here. I did put a push button start in it about 10 years ago. I wonder if I should start there?

Yes the tach wiggles a bit while cranking.

hypno92

Umm if all eles fails pull your PcM and take it apart on a flat surface and pull the microchip, I was just having no start issues along with my fuel system going on the frits almost everytime I turned my acc on. I put my pcm back together and reinstalled it and that fixed my problems@_@
throwing parts at the car is not always going to solve an issue just grab a beer and start wiggling wires and **** for a couple hours, hey in my case it worked for me!

dreww

iTrader: (1)

always a good idea to start with aftermarket stuff. stock harnesses always hold up better than aftermarket and there is more room for error on aftermarket IMHO. keep us updated on what you find.

Mizzouri

iTrader: (6)

A few years back my TA started getting harder and harder to start. Long story short it turned out to be a bad ignition relay. Might swap it out with one of the fan relays just to check.

soloman369

iTrader: (13)

Did you check your grounds on the back of the driver side head should be three attached to the head two together and one thick one close to the oil pressure sensor on the back of the manifold

1998Z28LOADED

Thanks guys. I will look into this on Sunday.

1998Z28LOADED

Well guys, I finally had time to drink a few beers and tinker with the Camaro today. I found a bunch of mice **** and shredded napkins in the glove box. I started looking for chewed wires. Found two headed toward the PCM under the hood. Fixed it and didn't get any results. I found some wire covering on a group of wires along the DS of the block were melted by the headers. Peeled it, taped it up and moved it, no start. Checked all the fuses and relays, no start. Cleaned the grounds on the body and core support, no start. I guess I'm gonna look under the column next. Any other ideas? I'm having a hard time getting eyes and fingers behind the DS head. Got the front end 3' in the air, can't see from top or bottom.

NightwalkerLS1

iTrader: (2)

I would check the wiring to the engine coolant temperature sensor on side of the drivers side head just in front of your headers. I think on the 98,s if that thing is screwed up the car won't fire with your symptoms (someone correct me if I am wrong plz) I could be dead wrong just throwing it out there. Dealt with similar issues recently but a little different on my 2000 ls1 vs the 98.

1998Z28LOADED

You're right. I actually recently replaced that unit. I had broken it off when putting headers on. I wonder if I have it spun around and clipped on wrong. Thank you, I need to check this. Completely slipped my mind.