Hey everyone, Ive got an 86 camaro with the 2.8 v6 MPFI. The mileage really sucks, and it doesnt seem to have as much power as other 2.8 vehicles. And the service engine light comes on once in a while. It wont even rev past 4500 rpms unless i leave it in low. It will lose power at about 4400 and shift at 45. Is there something common that causes this power loss/poor economy? And Im guessing both problems are related, maybe an air leak or a bad sensor of some kind. I dont really know about the 2.8 fuel injectionbut if anyone could help me out, thatd be great. Thanks!! Oh it also has 160k miles and i replaced the air filter and plugs and checked everything out visually, doesnt seem to be anything out of place. Thanks again

 

with that many miles i wouldnt be surprised if the pistons are a loose fit, have it checked for compresion and for spark, spark you can do pretty easily at home, just check the color make sure its the right shade of blue(look online if you not sure what color it should be so u can see first hand) to check it just undo a spark plug and hold it close to either a large peice of metal or the block itself if u can find a good spot and have someone turn the key and watch the color, even with new wires the dist or coil could be worn out and just not getting a good spark, if i rember right the 2.8 that used to be in mine was external coil. thats the first two things i would check, my money is on it needs a rebuild pretty badly, but a bad coil or dist could give you all the same effects you stated. 2.8 isnt a power house, but fora v6 mine never felt like it had a shortage of power and it was on its last leg.

 

Well the thing that gave away it has a lack of power was both driving a 2.8 powered s-10, and it wasnt even fuel injected and pulled better than the maro. The other is that its 135 peak power is rated at 4900 rpms, and mine doesnt even get to 4500. But ill check the spark tommorow. If the engine needs a rebuild, its getting swapped to a small block. My friend just happens to have a v8 camaro in his yard with rod knock and i have 2 spare 350s. One will end up in the camaro eventually. Thanks for any more help! but untill then, i really need this thing to run a little better. Its my only DD atm.

 

check the spark first, then compression, if its internal like im thinking, theres some additives out there that you can throw in, there not going to help a whole lot or do a whole lot for your but they may help her out for a little bit shortterm , until you can get the peices for a swap or a different dd. another option is just toss in another 2.8, you can rip yours out and throw the new one in, in less than a day if you know what your doing, and you can alot of times pick up 2.8's for free, i actually paid to get rid of mine and it still ran good just needed about $30 worth of gaskets replaced.

 

You mentioned that the service engine light comes on from time to time, you might want to scan for codes to see what that's about. You might want to check with your local auto suppliers because they may have a code reader and do it for your for pretty cheap.

 

Yes I thought about that, but im broke at the moment. the gas is sucking up all my money, plus i got a flat tire yesterday!! I run my own painting buisness and ive been driving all over NJ doing estimates. But yeah once i get some work ill see what i can do with the car. I definatley want to put a v8 in it, the car is old and beat up but i think it would make a nice sleeper. But thanks for any more input! also, is there any chance something being broken or worn could just make the car go into an over-rich mode? I know my supra did that...when it got bad readings from the sensors it went into a rich limp mode untill you cleared the codes...could the camaro perhaps work this way being a similar fuel injection system?

 

yes with a fuel injected motor thats very possible, and if thats the case that will show up in your codes, but you should also notice the signs of it running to rich.