Hello everyone,
A little backstory. i have a 99 3.8l auto camaro (140k miles, about 30k miles since the engine was pulled and rebuilt), wasnt running as well as it should have been considering i have pretty much every bolt on part and upgraded 80% of the internals (only internals not replaced are rockers, injectors, and crank). It ran well enough that when i took it to a few mechanics they drove it and told me there is nothing wrong, and when i say its not running as well as it should be i mean that it is only about as fast as a stock camaro.
Also, it had been turning over for about a second before it would start, this has been happening for about a year now, never thought too much of it.
I had someone run the hp tuners software on it and found that there was random misfires in 4 of the cylinders (although it did not throw a code, and it wasn't really noticeable, i have had bad wires or coil packs before where the car sputters and it was doing nothing like that), 3 of the cylinders were pretty bad and one was not so bad, as far as frequency of misfires. so we replaced the plugs and wires and the one cylinder that was not too bad was fixed completely and the other 3 misfired less, but still misfired (at idle). After the plugs were first replaced the car would start right up, instantly, so that was an improvement, but after about 4-5 starts it went right back to hesitating to start for about 1-1.5 seconds before it would fire up. Next i replaced all of the coil packs, this didn't seem to do much, and on top of that the car in the last 2-3 days has been taking more like 2-3 seconds of turning over before it fires up, noticeably worse.
Finally this morning before going to work i start it up, it takes about 3 seconds to fire up, then about 4-5 seconds after it starts the whole car just dies, no power, no lights, gauges frozen where they were. So i turn the car off take the key out and attempt to restart... nothing. wait about 30 seconds and try again.... car starts but then cuts right out again, no power no lights no nothing. after taking the key out again the gauges eventually all go back to zero after about a minute. i checked under the hood, wires were all connected, battery connection looked fine. (battery is optima yellow top only about a year old btw).
So i have searched the forum, and i found a few comparable issues, but my car has a significant variable than each of them that makes me unsure of what the issue is. here are my best guesses:
1. Ignition module? i have no experience with this part, but think it might be the culprit??
2. Alternator? i have replaced it once (about 5 years ago). but i wouldn't have though alternator because my volts have been steady, no fluttering in the gauge under throttle or anything, volt gauge has been consistent. Last time my volts were acting all funny for a few days before the alternator had to be replaced.
3. Injectors? i could see this maybe being part of my misfire issue, or the startup issue, but for the car completely shutting down??
4. Fuel pump? Same thoughts as injectors. (fuel filter is only about a year/and or 3000 miles old so i dont think its the filter)
5. Vacuum leak? Read about it on that random misfire site, but again, reason for the car to shut down?
Maybe there is 2 different problems here, but the fact that the car started right up after i initially replaced the plugs and wires makes me thing that it is one problem.
Please help me out if anyone has any advice, i have tried to search and be as thorough as possible.
A little backstory. i have a 99 3.8l auto camaro (140k miles, about 30k miles since the engine was pulled and rebuilt), wasnt running as well as it should have been considering i have pretty much every bolt on part and upgraded 80% of the internals (only internals not replaced are rockers, injectors, and crank). It ran well enough that when i took it to a few mechanics they drove it and told me there is nothing wrong, and when i say its not running as well as it should be i mean that it is only about as fast as a stock camaro.
Also, it had been turning over for about a second before it would start, this has been happening for about a year now, never thought too much of it.
I had someone run the hp tuners software on it and found that there was random misfires in 4 of the cylinders (although it did not throw a code, and it wasn't really noticeable, i have had bad wires or coil packs before where the car sputters and it was doing nothing like that), 3 of the cylinders were pretty bad and one was not so bad, as far as frequency of misfires. so we replaced the plugs and wires and the one cylinder that was not too bad was fixed completely and the other 3 misfired less, but still misfired (at idle). After the plugs were first replaced the car would start right up, instantly, so that was an improvement, but after about 4-5 starts it went right back to hesitating to start for about 1-1.5 seconds before it would fire up. Next i replaced all of the coil packs, this didn't seem to do much, and on top of that the car in the last 2-3 days has been taking more like 2-3 seconds of turning over before it fires up, noticeably worse.
Finally this morning before going to work i start it up, it takes about 3 seconds to fire up, then about 4-5 seconds after it starts the whole car just dies, no power, no lights, gauges frozen where they were. So i turn the car off take the key out and attempt to restart... nothing. wait about 30 seconds and try again.... car starts but then cuts right out again, no power no lights no nothing. after taking the key out again the gauges eventually all go back to zero after about a minute. i checked under the hood, wires were all connected, battery connection looked fine. (battery is optima yellow top only about a year old btw).
So i have searched the forum, and i found a few comparable issues, but my car has a significant variable than each of them that makes me unsure of what the issue is. here are my best guesses:
1. Ignition module? i have no experience with this part, but think it might be the culprit??
2. Alternator? i have replaced it once (about 5 years ago). but i wouldn't have though alternator because my volts have been steady, no fluttering in the gauge under throttle or anything, volt gauge has been consistent. Last time my volts were acting all funny for a few days before the alternator had to be replaced.
3. Injectors? i could see this maybe being part of my misfire issue, or the startup issue, but for the car completely shutting down??
4. Fuel pump? Same thoughts as injectors. (fuel filter is only about a year/and or 3000 miles old so i dont think its the filter)
5. Vacuum leak? Read about it on that random misfire site, but again, reason for the car to shut down?
Maybe there is 2 different problems here, but the fact that the car started right up after i initially replaced the plugs and wires makes me thing that it is one problem.
Please help me out if anyone has any advice, i have tried to search and be as thorough as possible.
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