I have a 1991 Camaro. It starts and runs fine with starting fluid. Stop spraying and it stops running.


History of car as far as I know

Car sat in Field for 10 years on wood. Not a spot of rust on or under car.
was covered the entire time.

Before car was parked I was told it ran well other then would not
go over 30 MPH.

What have I done to the car to this point.

After 10 years of no gas in tank it Pump and tank were shot.
so replaced Both. and Filter seeing I was under there.

before trying to even start car I put in new plugs, Wires, Cap Roter in.

when plugs were out I sprayed a little penatrating oil in for safty seeing it had not been turned over in 10 years.

Car starts right up with Starting fluid and runs fine. But wont run on it's own. I have 2 keys for this car It has that VATS system in it. Both keys are the original kays and do the same thing.

Ok I think that is everything in my Long story. Just wanted to give the most Information as possable.

John Miller

 

drop the tank and clean the sludge out. replace the fuel filter and fuel pump while youre at it and veryfy the line isnt clogged shut from varnish. also clean or replace injectors (you didnt specify what engine). but before you do that, verify there is fuel and spark. an engine will diesel on eather without spark

 

If yours is an RS, then rebuild the TBI unit. Sitting that long, chances are good for there to be corrosion inside plugging a passage.

 

As far as sluge in tank. I just replaced the tank pump sending unit and screen. and filter. also the Breather Valve. All is new under there. It runs fine on starting fluid. so I have spark and timming is right. did a Tune up. after doing some resarch on what some spiced wires were I found and dug under the dash a little. I did find a Remote starter under there. I removed it and Made sure all wires were run proper. and I found some other contraption that I could not figure out. Was home made. also after doing some digging it was someones attempt to bipass the Vats system.
and seeing it was 2am I figured this out I have not gone out and checked if they used the proper resistors or not. But seeing It turns over I am going to assume they did it right Just ugley. It is a z28 "ZR1" did not get into the TBI as of yet. That may have to be a in the morning sort of thing I think

 

OK UPATE. i replace the ECM today and same thing. But I did fnd a few new things I am not sure if it matters.

somone cut an spliced some wires Near the Battery. If I unplug them and the Fuel Pump is a no go. I do not have a proper tester for the Fuel injectors. But I did take a volt meter and tested the 2 wires going to one of the injectors. I know I should have done more then one But I didnt have a lot of time. Pink wire was 12V with the key on. and the Blue wire was 12v with key on an Pulsed down to about 7 or so as the car was turned over. I could be wrong But I was under the understanding that the Blue or green wire depening on the side of the engion was Off untill the injector was firing. I only get to work on the car ever month or so seeing it is 4 hours away at my In Laws house. I also noted today that the interor lights and the head lights do not work. Not sure if there is any possable related thing going on here. I find that not likley at all but figured I would throw that out there. Turn signals do work. Lighter and Horn do not. All fuses are good. On my long drive home I also was thinking Ground wire. I do get Ground to the lighter But no power. Fuses are all good. I pulled every fuse I could find in the car Under the hood and in the fse Block in the car. I know I am throwing a lot of crap out there. But Figured to much info is better then having to ask a question. Hummmm was there anything else I did today that may or may not help? I do have Fule at the Injector rail I do not have a pressure tester so I do not know how much pressure I have. I will prob get a pressure tester and the Fuel injector tester for next time I go up and work on it.

 

so it only runs on starting fluid? that DOES NOT mean spark/timing are correct. my hyundai project has an ecm issue, so no fuel, spark, nothing, but it "runs" on starting fluid.

and from the sound of it, im guessing someone got happy with wire cutter. try to repair every wire you can and try from there. it could be something with the vats, im not familiar with how to bypass it

 

Well If I keep spraying it with starting fluid it will just keep running. be a hard way to drive down the road though. ECM is new last weekend. to bypass the vats you have to find the Keys Resistance and put a resistor of the same amount in one of the plugs leading to the VATS computer. if it is the wrong resistor to high or to low car wont crank or anything. So it is the right resistors. I get no other codes saying anything else is wrong with it. next trip I make it up there to look over the car. "If snow dosnt start flying" "i live in Buffalo NY ya never know when it is going to start" I plan on going threw all the wires Mice are overs of shewing threw them as well as Clip happy old owners. They say it ran when they parked it. But that is just what they say lord knows if it is true. This may be why they parked it.

 

At least you can eliminate a couple of things; you have spark, and your VATS works.
I have to contradict one thing microkid said...your engine will not run without a spark, NOT EVEN WITH STARTING FLUID. Impossible, no way, no how!
I will warn you not to run the engine solely on starting fluid though, you could do some serious damage to it. Since you know it does run, leave it at that and try to find the problem. Spark + Fuel = Fire. You have a fuel supply problem, either a direct flow restriction, or an electric/electronic fuel control issue. You need to check the pressure at the rail to know what you have going on. You have fuel there, but maybe not enough pressure.

 

Ya this week I picked up a Fuel pressure guage, and a Noid light. I onley tested a few wires going into the Injectors and one wire was Hot all the time "with Key on" and the other was Hot unless cranking then it was a paulse. But never dropped all the way off just went from like 12v to 7v or so. I would figure that the Pink would be Hot and the Blue or Green depeonding on the side of the engion would be Off unless firing. If this is true then it would be possable I have a shorted out Injector screwing with them all. But it is possable I am wrong. wont be up there to work on it for a few weeks or so.