96 Caprice won't start (kinda long, but please help!!)
09-07-2006, 10:33 AM
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96 LT1 won't start (kinda long, but please help!!) My 1996 LT1 Caprice, will not start.
I have a complete, totaled, 94 cadillac as a parts donor.
The caprice wil not start. The car was on it's way to storage, when it up and died, and it was towed te rest of the way. that was around May, and it hasn't started since. I need to get it running so I can bring it home and work on it. I'm 4 hours away from it. so keep that inmind. I can't just walk out to it and check something. SO
the fuel pump was just replaced with a walbro/racetronix harness. It has the correct fuel PSI at the test port. (by FSM standards).
The guy(i'm buying it from) say he's 98% sure it's not getting spark, but he was alone, so he could not check it. The car just cranks, and cranks, and never even so much as "coughs", like it's tryin'. The car does have an GMPP 845 cam, so who knows if he had it at redline when it quit. it has no 3rd gear, so I would think it wasn't being driven THAT hard. It went 5 miles, to the storage place(buddy's house), before he moved. It has a PcmforLess 1995 computer conversion(OBD I), so the 94 computer will work.
What is the difference between a 94/95, and a 96/97 coil? I just looked at the 94 coil,and it has a plug for a harness, a coil -> opti wire, and what looks like 4 slots for a 4 prong fuse. I had never even looked at the coil closely before I pulled it outta the car, so please bear with me.
Could one of these parts just up and *bang*, car died, and will not start now?:
coil: not enough voltage?
Opti: water got in, or the cap and rotor shattered?
PCM: Craped out?
MAF: Craped out?
some other sensor? giving a false reading?
One time when I was at home depot with my intake tract in hand, I didn't think and tried to start it. nothing, cranked and cranked, looked over, and realized the MAF was getting NO signal. Sealed it all up, started. Anouther time I removed the silencer while it was running and it died, and wouldn't start. I didn't know how important the MAF was till those times. anouther time, it rained hard, and my car wouldn't start after work. I came back the next day, cleaned the MAF(I had just oiled my K&N), and tract, and it started right up. Soo.... uh huh...
Heres what I think:
1: the MAF blew, and caused it to die from the injectors not pulsing.
2: the opti cap and rotor shattered
3: The coil got very weak, very fast.
thats all I could think of that would do this. Please help me!! I need to know what I am looking forward to changing, so I know what to take with. Anything, everything it MIGHT be. Feel free to stick it to me harsh.
I have a complete, totaled, 94 cadillac as a parts donor.
The caprice wil not start. The car was on it's way to storage, when it up and died, and it was towed te rest of the way. that was around May, and it hasn't started since. I need to get it running so I can bring it home and work on it. I'm 4 hours away from it. so keep that inmind. I can't just walk out to it and check something. SO
the fuel pump was just replaced with a walbro/racetronix harness. It has the correct fuel PSI at the test port. (by FSM standards).
The guy(i'm buying it from) say he's 98% sure it's not getting spark, but he was alone, so he could not check it. The car just cranks, and cranks, and never even so much as "coughs", like it's tryin'. The car does have an GMPP 845 cam, so who knows if he had it at redline when it quit. it has no 3rd gear, so I would think it wasn't being driven THAT hard. It went 5 miles, to the storage place(buddy's house), before he moved. It has a PcmforLess 1995 computer conversion(OBD I), so the 94 computer will work.
What is the difference between a 94/95, and a 96/97 coil? I just looked at the 94 coil,and it has a plug for a harness, a coil -> opti wire, and what looks like 4 slots for a 4 prong fuse. I had never even looked at the coil closely before I pulled it outta the car, so please bear with me.
Could one of these parts just up and *bang*, car died, and will not start now?:
coil: not enough voltage?
Opti: water got in, or the cap and rotor shattered?
PCM: Craped out?
MAF: Craped out?
some other sensor? giving a false reading?
One time when I was at home depot with my intake tract in hand, I didn't think and tried to start it. nothing, cranked and cranked, looked over, and realized the MAF was getting NO signal. Sealed it all up, started. Anouther time I removed the silencer while it was running and it died, and wouldn't start. I didn't know how important the MAF was till those times. anouther time, it rained hard, and my car wouldn't start after work. I came back the next day, cleaned the MAF(I had just oiled my K&N), and tract, and it started right up. Soo.... uh huh...
Heres what I think:
1: the MAF blew, and caused it to die from the injectors not pulsing.
2: the opti cap and rotor shattered
3: The coil got very weak, very fast.
thats all I could think of that would do this. Please help me!! I need to know what I am looking forward to changing, so I know what to take with. Anything, everything it MIGHT be. Feel free to stick it to me harsh.
Last edited by MrCadillac; 09-11-2006 at 03:33 AM.
09-07-2006, 05:55 PM
#2
The MAF will only kill the car if it is hookedup and functional but stops seeing airflow(heavily coated by oil or disconnected intake after it), the car will run with no MAF as long as it sees it as failed or unplugged.
The module and coil are differnt PNs from 94-5 to 96. I might be tempted to pull the opti and the harness off the 'wood and put them on the Caprice, fair amount of work on a guess though especially given the distance. The one time my car died and would not even sputter it turned out one of the female pins in the opti harness had pushed back too far into it's socket and the pcm lost the signal from it.
The module and coil are differnt PNs from 94-5 to 96. I might be tempted to pull the opti and the harness off the 'wood and put them on the Caprice, fair amount of work on a guess though especially given the distance. The one time my car died and would not even sputter it turned out one of the female pins in the opti harness had pushed back too far into it's socket and the pcm lost the signal from it.
09-07-2006, 06:13 PM
#3
If the Cadillac LT1 followed the same design sequence as those in the F-body, it may not be possible to swap the Opti from the '94 with one from a '95. I own an F-body of each year and they are not the same.
It sounds pretty much like an Opti failure.
Good luck
It sounds pretty much like an Opti failure.
Good luck
09-07-2006, 06:19 PM
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all year B-body and D-body LT1s had vented optisparks. includes 94-96. Im betting it's opti related if he's got fuel. If it's got no spark you know it's ignition related.
09-08-2006, 02:59 AM
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I just looked at the MSD opti cap and rotor kit, and it apears to be for a 93/94 non vented unit. It has an extra vacum outlet on the backing plate. Anybody run into this problem before? can I just cap it and be good to go? Also, whats the Ignition modual, and could that be the problem aswell?
Dwayne, I'm a bit confused. if I use the harness off the 94, I can use the 94 coil? Also, I seam to remember it fused into the main harness, and would be quite a bit of work swaping them. I'm thinking about just replacing the coil and modual, since I will be upgrading pretty much the rest of the ignition system. so why not?
Dwayne, I'm a bit confused. if I use the harness off the 94, I can use the 94 coil? Also, I seam to remember it fused into the main harness, and would be quite a bit of work swaping them. I'm thinking about just replacing the coil and modual, since I will be upgrading pretty much the rest of the ignition system. so why not?
09-08-2006, 02:26 PM
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Cory you treat a 94 B-body as a 95 car in terms of getting stuff. They have a vented optispark just like the 95-97s do. You're going to want that cap for the 95+ newer cars.
the 94-95 cars have the exact same coil harness. the 96 switched to a different coil and use a different coil wire and harness. if you need some parts to test cory send me a Pm and I can mail you a couple parts.
the 94-95 cars have the exact same coil harness. the 96 switched to a different coil and use a different coil wire and harness. if you need some parts to test cory send me a Pm and I can mail you a couple parts.
09-09-2006, 04:08 AM
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yea, I figured out that the opti was "II" after I bought the kit. I bought the kit the day I got the car, as a cap and rotor is just one of those things I like to do. Well, not LIKE. what kinda parts you talking about? I'm thinking of just buying an acdelco coil for the car, taking the spare opti with, and taking the spare pcm. I really don't wanna push the car on the trailer.
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09-09-2006, 08:00 AM
#8
By harness I meant the short harness that goes from the opti up to about the middle of the passenger side of the intake and plugs into the main harness. This bugger is known to cause problems sometimes, and is very expensive from GM. If you endup needing one I know of a couple places making them.
09-09-2006, 01:35 PM
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Originally Posted by MrCadillac
yea, I figured out that the opti was "II" after I bought the kit. I bought the kit the day I got the car, as a cap and rotor is just one of those things I like to do. Well, not LIKE. what kinda parts you talking about? I'm thinking of just buying an acdelco coil for the car, taking the spare opti with, and taking the spare pcm. I really don't wanna push the car on the trailer.
09-10-2006, 12:11 AM
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oh, you mean the fresh air, vacum tubes harness, don't you? and thanks for the offer Buffman, but I'm pretty sure all the stuff worked on the caddy. I will pull them and put them in "the bin".
I jus donno what to do without ISSF...
I jus donno what to do without ISSF...
09-10-2006, 09:49 AM
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Have you tried the crankshaft position sensor?? It being a 96 i think it's the only model that has it. I had quite a few jeeps and they all had CPS and after a while they'll just go bad. Had one where the bolts came out of the bellhousing and when it would torque over the flywheel would go up and knock the hell out of the sensor and it would cut off.
02-22-2008, 02:26 AM
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turned out it was the ICM. put one on from the caddy, and it started right up. but this was after I pushed it on a trailer, and towed it 200 mile home. then after I got it started, and took it for a drive, I lost the pinion nut, and blew the rear end up. YAY!
