2000 Tran Zam

iTrader: (2)

Ok so problems seemed to have stemmed from about a month ago. I would drive the car, and out of nowhere it would just shut off while driving. So Id restart the car with the clutch pushed in and it would crank back on, but it would backfire... So I didnt feel comfy driving the car till I figured out what was wrong with it. Fast foward 2 weeks or so, I have the car started and idling in my garage. About a minute into it the car shuts off again, I restart it and it backfires again.

So a few days ago my friend came over and I described the symptoms to him (hes a bmw technician so hes not 100% familiar with ls1's). He suggested it could possibly be the actuator in the throttle body was not working properly due to built up gunk. So we pull the actuator out, and also disconnected the cuppling that connects my air intake tube coming from my intercooler. We see the O ring in the actuator was a little bent so we pushed it back into place and sprayed some brake cleaner on the actuator and wiped it down with a rag. Put it back in and closed everything back up... car wouldnt crank. Battery was dying too so I charged it for a bit, tried to crank it after it being disconnected for a while, it started but had tremendous trouble trying to stay idling, and wouldnt unless I was at like 50% throttle. Eventually after a few mins of trying to keep it alive I just let it die out. Try to recrank it and it doesnt turn over. Battery dies, so next day I go to get it charged at o reilys. come back, try to do it, cranks for a split second and then dies even with gas. continue to keep retrying but it wont crank over.

WTF is going on here? Is it something completely unrelated? I unscrewed part of my fuel pressure regulator and connected an analog/mechanical pressure guage thinking maybe I don t have fuel pressure but it showed like 70psi or something (even though it was pegged at 100psi on my fuel pressure gauge in my car).

Anyone have any ideas where I can start lookin?

Sales2@Texas-speed

iTrader: (5)

You need three things, basically, for an engine to run. Fuel, air, and spark are them in a nutshell. Granted, there are varying quantities/qualities of each required to run correctly.

Start with seeing if you are getting fuel to the plugs. Try starting fluid and have someone spray a bit into the TB/intake plenum while you crank the vehicle. If it fired up, and then dies a few moments later, that means you likely have a fueling problem and it just started with the fluid you sprayed in. If it still does not start, you likely are not getting the spark you need.

You can diagnose spark issues to a point with the inexpensive spark tester they sell at Autozone and other stores. It goes in line between the plug wire and spark plug and has a little light that will shine if/when you get fire from the coil.

Air, you should be good on with the lid and MAF out of the way and when you are looking down the TB/plenum.

Hopefully that makes a little sense as to how to break-down what is needed for combustion and you can go from there to diagnose your issue further.