car wont start
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Teching In
Joined: Jun 2012
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car wont start I have a 2002 trans am that has been in storage for around 4 years. I got it to my house around a year ago and it started rough but ran. I then went on a year long business trip and come back and it will not start. just took battery to the auto parts store to get recharged its 100% changed spark plugs on the easy side waiting for another day to do the hard side. what elts should I do to get the car to run. need help fast because im trying to sell it before winter comes
thanks for all replies Ryan
thanks for all replies Ryan
Your gas has gone bad and separated/broken down.
Find the Schrader valve on your fuel rail. use a valve core removal screwdriver and pull the core out. Get a piece of 1/2 inch heater hose or fuel hose that is about 6 feet or so long. Then get a bucket, preferably a 5 gallon one, and run the hose to the bucket where you can see it from the drivers seat. sit in the seat and power cycle the key to start getting the gas into the bucket. DO NOT START THE ENGINE!!!!!
It may take forever, but that is the easiest way to drain it without having to open up your fuel system. When you stop getting fuel, either your tank is low enough that you can now add premium to dilute the rest of the old crap and get it through the system, or your battery is dead again.
Also, check the wires and make sure you clean the battery connections REALLY GOOD for the best contact and most energy transfer.
Find the Schrader valve on your fuel rail. use a valve core removal screwdriver and pull the core out. Get a piece of 1/2 inch heater hose or fuel hose that is about 6 feet or so long. Then get a bucket, preferably a 5 gallon one, and run the hose to the bucket where you can see it from the drivers seat. sit in the seat and power cycle the key to start getting the gas into the bucket. DO NOT START THE ENGINE!!!!!
It may take forever, but that is the easiest way to drain it without having to open up your fuel system. When you stop getting fuel, either your tank is low enough that you can now add premium to dilute the rest of the old crap and get it through the system, or your battery is dead again.
Also, check the wires and make sure you clean the battery connections REALLY GOOD for the best contact and most energy transfer.
check to make sure you have pressure at the fuel rail. Ive had fuel pumps that are good, but the lines inside the tank have split from sitting so long.
It is trying to turn over?
It is trying to turn over?
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Don't forget to try the old "spray some carb cleaner in the intake" trick. Remove the intake hose, open the throttle plate, spray 3-5 seconds worth of carb cleaner in there, put the intake hose back on, see if it will fire. This will help you figure out if it's a fuel or spark issue.
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Your gas has gone bad and separated/broken down.
Find the Schrader valve on your fuel rail. use a valve core removal screwdriver and pull the core out. Get a piece of 1/2 inch heater hose or fuel hose that is about 6 feet or so long. Then get a bucket, preferably a 5 gallon one, and run the hose to the bucket where you can see it from the drivers seat. sit in the seat and power cycle the key to start getting the gas into the bucket. DO NOT START THE ENGINE!!!!!
It may take forever, but that is the easiest way to drain it without having to open up your fuel system. When you stop getting fuel, either your tank is low enough that you can now add premium to dilute the rest of the old crap and get it through the system, or your battery is dead again.
Also, check the wires and make sure you clean the battery connections REALLY GOOD for the best contact and most energy transfer.
Find the Schrader valve on your fuel rail. use a valve core removal screwdriver and pull the core out. Get a piece of 1/2 inch heater hose or fuel hose that is about 6 feet or so long. Then get a bucket, preferably a 5 gallon one, and run the hose to the bucket where you can see it from the drivers seat. sit in the seat and power cycle the key to start getting the gas into the bucket. DO NOT START THE ENGINE!!!!!
It may take forever, but that is the easiest way to drain it without having to open up your fuel system. When you stop getting fuel, either your tank is low enough that you can now add premium to dilute the rest of the old crap and get it through the system, or your battery is dead again.
Also, check the wires and make sure you clean the battery connections REALLY GOOD for the best contact and most energy transfer.
TECH Resident
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 856
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From: Elizabeth City NC
Don't forget to try the old "spray some carb cleaner in the intake" trick. Remove the intake hose, open the throttle plate, spray 3-5 seconds worth of carb cleaner in there, put the intake hose back on, see if it will fire. This will help you figure out if it's a fuel or spark issue.
Hence why throttle body cleaner is different from carb cleaner and a can of starting fluid says to NOT use on EFI for a reason.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2012
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thanks for the advice. waiting for a buddy to come over to help me do some of this work draining the old gas and hopefully that works. try and nock that out this week depending on how work is. cant I just siphon the gas outa the tank?
You will get almost all of it out, if the car is sitting level, and you use the pump.
That is what it was designed to do.
Get as much out as possible.
The siphoning wont get it all out, it will only get where the hose lands
and even then you risk getting it stuck or breaking small pieces
of the hose off in the tank.
That is what it was designed to do.
Get as much out as possible.
The siphoning wont get it all out, it will only get where the hose lands
and even then you risk getting it stuck or breaking small pieces
of the hose off in the tank.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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I did what BIGED said to drain the gas. drained it to empty on the gauge then put 5 gallons of premium in it. cranks over strong and still doesn't start. I feel as if there is plenty of power from the battery because its cranking strong. but it still doesn't fire. I also put the new gas in and then drained some more out the way BIGED said. any more ideas? is there a way to clean the injectors so I don't have to buy new ones as I am trying to get this car ready to sell
Did you check to see if the coils are hitting? pull a plug wire off and lay it within half an inch of metal, BUT NOT CONTACTING IT. Crank the car over. If you hear the pop from the coil to the ground it is firing, but not fueling. You might be able to score a set of injectors from a u-pull it place near you for WAY cheaper than new. Usually those vehicles were running within the last 6 months or so and the injectors are fine.
One other thing I just thought of....
One of the oil change places in South Carolina had a deal they would hook to the intake manifold on fuel injected vehicles. It was a REALLY STOUT cleaner/solvent mix that would replace the gas running the car. They had to locate the fuel pump fuse and pull it out and start the vehicle with this can of stuff going into the fuel rail... It would send some of the nastiest and ugliest clouds of gunk out the tailpipe of cars you ever saw!! But EVERY customer who came back for their next oil change would BRAG on how much better the car ran, and smoother. It was supposed to scour the inside of the injector and just scrub it spotless for the best fuel flow through the injector. What it was or if it is still available or not, I have no clue. This was a long time ago also.
One other thing I just thought of....
One of the oil change places in South Carolina had a deal they would hook to the intake manifold on fuel injected vehicles. It was a REALLY STOUT cleaner/solvent mix that would replace the gas running the car. They had to locate the fuel pump fuse and pull it out and start the vehicle with this can of stuff going into the fuel rail... It would send some of the nastiest and ugliest clouds of gunk out the tailpipe of cars you ever saw!! But EVERY customer who came back for their next oil change would BRAG on how much better the car ran, and smoother. It was supposed to scour the inside of the injector and just scrub it spotless for the best fuel flow through the injector. What it was or if it is still available or not, I have no clue. This was a long time ago also.
Last edited by BigEd_72455; Sep 11, 2013 at 11:38 PM.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2012
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Did you check to see if the coils are hitting? pull a plug wire off and lay it within half an inch of metal, BUT NOT CONTACTING IT. Crank the car over. If you hear the pop from the coil to the ground it is firing, but not fueling. You might be able to score a set of injectors from a u-pull it place near you for WAY cheaper than new. Usually those vehicles were running within the last 6 months or so and the injectors are fine.
One other thing I just thought of....
One of the oil change places in South Carolina had a deal they would hook to the intake manifold on fuel injected vehicles. It was a REALLY STOUT cleaner/solvent mix that would replace the gas running the car. They had to locate the fuel pump fuse and pull it out and start the vehicle with this can of stuff going into the fuel rail... It would send some of the nastiest and ugliest clouds of gunk out the tailpipe of cars you ever saw!! But EVERY customer who came back for their next oil change would BRAG on how much better the car ran, and smoother. It was supposed to scour the inside of the injector and just scrub it spotless for the best fuel flow through the injector. What it was or if it is still available or not, I have no clue. This was a long time ago also.
One other thing I just thought of....
One of the oil change places in South Carolina had a deal they would hook to the intake manifold on fuel injected vehicles. It was a REALLY STOUT cleaner/solvent mix that would replace the gas running the car. They had to locate the fuel pump fuse and pull it out and start the vehicle with this can of stuff going into the fuel rail... It would send some of the nastiest and ugliest clouds of gunk out the tailpipe of cars you ever saw!! But EVERY customer who came back for their next oil change would BRAG on how much better the car ran, and smoother. It was supposed to scour the inside of the injector and just scrub it spotless for the best fuel flow through the injector. What it was or if it is still available or not, I have no clue. This was a long time ago also.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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well I took the fuel rails off and sprayed them out with injector cleaner and cleaned each injector till it sprayed with all 4 strong streams. and it took a second but it started idled a lil loopy for a few mins but then ran great took for a lil ride heard a squealing seemed like it was the power steering being low on fluid took back to my house shut the car off and tried to start it back up and wont start again. I do not know what could be wrong. new spark plugs cleaned the fuel out put new fuel in cleaned each injector indivulaly until they each sprayed nice clean and powerful but still does not start.
well I took the fuel rails off and sprayed them out with injector cleaner and cleaned each injector till it sprayed with all 4 strong streams. and it took a second but it started idled a lil loopy for a few mins but then ran great took for a lil ride heard a squealing seemed like it was the power steering being low on fluid took back to my house shut the car off and tried to start it back up and wont start again. I do not know what could be wrong. new spark plugs cleaned the fuel out put new fuel in cleaned each injector indivulaly until they each sprayed nice clean and powerful but still does not start.
Have you put a fuel pressure gauge on it to see if the fuel pump is working?
Have you checked for spark at the wires/spark plugs?
Those are 2 very simple tests which will at least tell you what you are missing.