I recently bought this 98 v6 3.8 camaro. It has been fine until today. I started it and within a second the rpms dropped to almost dying then caught itself then died. It would not restart. It turns. There is fuel. I believe there is no spark. After checking fuses and everything i tried again. after 3 attempts it started! then i shut it off. tried to restart and it basically did the same thing it did the first time. started and died within a second or 2.

Recent work. -NO START ISSUE
0300 0404 0442 1361 1362 1404
crank sensor
ignition module

this was done in dec 09.

any ideas?

 

Update. confirmed no spark

the wiring harness that plugs into the back of the ignition module group. one of the wires was not completely in the harness causing intermittent loss of connection making no spark making no start.

now just need to figure out how to get that wire all the way in the harness and stay there. it is very difficult working all the way back there, theres no slack on the wires.

 

there is usually a small tab on the end connector that engauges into the plug. raise this tab up carefully so that it will re-engauge the retainer inside the plug and be happy and merry. If this tab is gone well then you will need to find a new method to secure it like super glue or epoxy.

Massey

 

go to the junkyard and get a new plug then just splice it into your wires

 

My car is doing the exact same thing. I'll start it, and it dies. Sometimes it will catch itself before dying and kick back up to 1000rpm. It doesn't do all of this too often. Sometimes it'll die sitting at a stop light (annoying as hell!) However last time it died, My security light came on I was told it could be the chip in my key but I took it to Pinegar Chevrolet and they tested my key. It's fine... Ideas?

 

ok... well i continued to have this problem no matter what i did with the harness. it is deff a bad connection cause with the key on you can jiggle the wires behind the coils and hear the ignition stuff get power and it starts...

i pulled a good looking harness out of a upullit, cut the old on off and reconnected the wires...

PROBLEM. after cutting the old one off i realized there are 3 sets of duplicate wires. white/red-black stripe/black

i did my best to "guess"... the red/black - one seemed to have a fatter black stripe. The blacks - i had cut one about an inch shorter so i used length to identify. the whites - no difference/guessed. put it all back together and it fired up but no tach. swapped white wires, tach works. worked fine for a couple days. drove about 20 miles in 90 degree heat. stopped for 20 minutes or so, then it wouldnt start. sounded the same as before however jiggling didnt do anything. after 20 seconds or so of on/off cranking it starting but sounded really bad for about 5 seconds of running then turned normal. drove home. started 5 more times fine. just starting and turning off. waited 30 minutes tried again same issue. about 20 seconds of cranking then the bad noises for 5 seconds then runs fine.

can anyone identify the 14 wires? long shot i know... any way of testing which is which? would this cause the problem??

ive just put about 3000 into this car and STILL cant rely on it worth crap...hoping someone can help, no more money for shops.

its a 98 3.8L 75k original miles.

 

Ouch... before and after pictures are always a big help. EspeciAlly when it comes to electronics.