bringing it back to life
 

hello everyone this is my first post here, i have an 88 z28 camaro 5spd that has been sitting for the past 9-10 years, 8 of these years its been garaged, the inspection sticker on it is from 1997 (lol) but this car has been part of my life since i was younger, i'm going on 20 now and remember the car since i was around 5. so me and the car have a 15 year bond as you could say. although up untill about a month ago i hadn't seen the car in about 6 years so when the oppertunity came along to get the car,. of course i did. (long story)

its sitting in my garage now, still turns over, all wires seem good. but i cannot get it to stay running, i cleaned out the breather (had a birds nest in there and bunch of other 10 year old trash) cleaned off all the dust and gunk off the motor, but still wont stay running.

a friend of mine fed a few drops of gas straight to the motor and it started and ran for about 5 seconds then sputtered out. it turns over no problem but its just not starting.

just wondering if anyone has any tips to get this beauty back to purring again. 74k original miles and the whole car was re painted before it was put in storage almost 10 years ago. so it's ready for a second chance at life [sm=smiley4.gif]


thanks,
mike

RE: bringing it back to life
 

Try changing the fuel pump and the fuel filter, most vehicles fuel pumps go bad after not being started for long periods of time
if the pump is still good, then check the fuel lines, there could be a block. It more than likely has to do with the fuel because your engine started for 5 seconds then quit 'cause it already burned up the fuel your friend put in, so it seems that somthing ( like the pump) isn't sending the fuel your engine needs to run.

RE: bringing it back to life
 

thanks for the reply!

i was thinking fuel filter/pump or even injectors- is it possible that the gas is dead? theres almost a full tank in there that i'd really not like to just waste (cause we all know how much gas is these days) i siphoned about 5 gallons of the old gas out and put about 5 gallons of fresh high grade gas, would this be enough to mix in with the old gas or do i need to completely drain my gas tank and start with fresh new gas? there any way to save the old gas? thanks

RE: bringing it back to life
 

Drain it and start over. Mixing 5 gal. of good with 10 gal. of old is still like trying to burn water. Is it EFI or carb?

RE: bringing it back to life
 

it's fuel injected. i have a bottle of lucas fuel injector cleaner i was about to pour in and see if it cleaned anything out, is this stuff any good?

yea i was kind of hopeing i could get away with it but i guess ill have to drain that gas, any uses i could put it to- is there a gas revitalizer they sell cause like i said a full tank now adays is a big thing, especially with a v8 lol

RE: bringing it back to life
 

Save the cleaner for when the engine will run on its own. No point in wasting that. As far as the revitalizer, I'm not sure. I have seen stuff that will prevent it from going stale as quickly, but don't know if it will bring it back. Personally, I would take it out of the car and use it in a lawn mower.

RE: bringing it back to life
 

thanks bro, going to drain the old gas and throw a few gallons of high grade in there and see what happens, will update later- thanks for your advice so far.. mike

RE: bringing it back to life
 

No prob. Let me know how goes.

RE: bringing it back to life
 

good luck man i did the same damn thing with my dads camaro and it was going to be mine when i got older but he died and my mom sold the thing....im 19 now and i got a 85 camaro like my pops........

RE: bringing it back to life
 

I'm having the same problem with my '91 Z28. Been in storage for 6 years + and it refuses to start. It will turn over but that's it. Some of the posters have been telling me that gas can turn to gel after long periods of time. Needless to say, my only option now is to pull the tank off and clean it and replace the fuel pump. How did you make out on yours?