Hey there. I bought my first car a few days ago. Ive been riding motorcycles for years. Its a 1994 Firebird Formula 5.7. The car ran great. I flushed out the radiator and put new fluids in. I also took off the air ram system. I put everything back together and tried to start the car. When i tried to start the car kept backfiring loudly over and over while i was turning the engine over.

I checked the air ram system to make sure everything was hooked up properly. I also sprayed a little starting fluid into the air hose and when i turned the car over i heard a backfire and seen flames. I dont like using starter fluid..... The car didnt start at all. I'm not sure what is going on. Please help me.

Thank you

 

when you flush radiator did you spill coolant on the opti spark?

if car has not started since you re-filled the coolant...when it does you need to bleed air from the cooling system.

basic checks for no start are to check fuel pressure and spark. You need a gauge to check fuel pressure.

if ignition likely ICM or opti. If you got water in opti while changing coolant it can be cleaned out but you carefully need to disassemble it which means removing it from motor. Not a small job

 

Thank you for your reply.

When I flushed the radiator i unhooked all the coolant hoses. There was a hose i unhooked that i did not realize opti was located underneath it. I did go outside with a heat gun and tried to dry the opti as best as i could. I noticed when i start the car after drying it i dont hear anymore back firing. The car didnt start up but everytime i turn the key it sounds like it wants to start. I think the starter is going bad or may have gotten wet. I hear a grinding noise from the starter sometimes.

 

I did not know the distributor was right behind the water pump. I can now see why the car is not starting because coolant had leaked all down the distributor and is wet. I cant believe they put the distributor that close to the water pump and radiator hoses eh. I am going to pull the water pump tomorrow and clean everything good. I hope thats my problem. I was going to get the car tagged this week but im going to put it off until i get the car running.

Thank you for the help. Next time i know what not to do lol

 

Welcome to the Opti Spark world. Get ready to swap in a new one,lol.

 

Thank you lol

 

IDK if you electronically "killed" the Opti because of the coolant bath or it just has coolant in the optical sensor you could carefully clean with a tissue.

You can try cleaning it but the Opti swap is a tedious job so replacing the Opti may prove to be the shorter path

The LT1 is unlike earlier Gen SBC with distributor placement not being the only difference. Cooling system needs to be bleed once it is open due to WP or hose swap because it is a reverse cooling flow system.

This site has invaluable 411. I encourage you to read about WP & Opti swap

Courtesy of shbox.com

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech1.html

 

Backfiring usually means some sort of timing issue. Not a wet optispark.