Hello. Im seeking any knowledge possible about these engines. I purchased a 95 Camaro last week. Drove fine for a few days. Previous owners have a push button enabled to start it. Something about a security bypass. Worked with he key the 1st 2 days. After that it only work with the button. Took it to wash and clean it out. Decided to wash the engine bay too. Not much but just enough to get some trash out. Drove back home. Next morning no start. Turn key forward. All electrics come on normally. Turns over and starts for about 1 second then die. A friend came over and looked at it he touched the throttle body while I crank it. It crank straight up, and about 3 other different times that day by itself. 2 days later, it's right back to dying after it cranks. He said he didn't do anything but open the throttle a little. But it opens with the gas pedal like normal. Does the throttle body have anything to do with my problem or was that just a lucky touch? I'm stumped. Any help at all is very appreciated.

 

need to pull all connectors in the engine bay that got wet and dry them out, if you have air compressor blow them dry along with any sensor you can find. maybe use some electronic cleaner. look for wetness around any sensors that liquid may have gotten into.

 

I do think its funny how all these internet shows pressure wash their engine bays and never have an issue. I mean ya if the car was newish or if you soaked everything in wire dry before hand but on a 20+ year old car? That is just begging for a no start.

 

Well, I've taken a lot of electrical components apart. Nothing seems burnt or wet. Fuel pump still putting out decent pressure. Other people have no crank issues after washing their engine too but it doesn't sound like their car is doing the same as mine. Didn't think it would be a big deal with this Camaro. I've washed the engine several times in my 93 Honda Accord, and my 83 Grand Prix. Never had a problem from them at all. Either these Camaros not worth a damn or something is loose and I jus haven't seen it yet. I'll figure it out tomorrow. Has to be something simple. Like I say, it'll turn over smooth, but will die after about 2 seconds.

 

What is decent fuel pressure?

Of course it could just be coincident, I have seen many cases where people assume A cause B. Heck I have been guilty of it myself. When ever you have a crank and no start step one is "what is missing" You need Fuel, Spark and compression. If you have all three then something should happen. It may only be a backfire. If nothing happens and you have all three then you are looking at flooded plugs or a pugged exhaust.

Back when i was a tech for GM we would get cars on flat beds every once in a while from customers who washed their engine bay. In even more cases we get calls about a car not running right after. For those I normally tell people just let it side and idle for 20-30 minutes. Then open the hood. Hopefully the water will just cook off the water. At this age, once the cars is running right, a can of wire dry will not hurt. That the stuff 4 wheel drive guys soak everything down with. It is just a silicone coating. Just don't put it on when there is water already in parts. That will just trap it.

I am not a huge fan of the Camaro 3.4 but its no better or worse then most of the cars that where made at that time. You have to keep in mind the engineers only design these cars to last 10 years and now its 27 years old. Anytime you are talking about a car that is more then 5 years old it becomes less about how well the car was designed and more about how it was maintained. A car that has been maintained or repaired per factory specification every time as soon as an issues shows up is going to be more dependable then a car that has need just kept running on a shoe string by a armature.

 

Hey thanks for that. Sorry for the confusion, but I'm only 20yrs old, but I love working on things. I found the car in GA. The guy's son kept getting arrested so the guy sold me the ride for $300... Picked it up and drove 2 and a half hrs home no problem. Till now. I should've left that engine dirty.lol. The car is very clean and it's a t top. It was inside a garage when I picked it up. I know this car is not fast. I'm not worried about that. I just want clean and reliable cars to pick the women up lol. They don't always have to be fast. I have my 83 Grand Prix for that. Now that thing is fast. I barely drive it. Its in a storage unit. But anyway, the Camaro's fuel pump is putting out 35 to 40lbs of pressure. I only took out one plug the other day it started raining. That plug was ok. Wasn't wet. Just now I took out the rest of the plugs. Most of them are wet and smells just like gas. Am I just looking at a flooded engine? Should I let the plug ports dry out before putting new ones in? This my 1st "flooded engine" situation.

 

check for spark at the wet plugs. a no fire plug or spark at wrong time will also cause build up of fuel in that cylinder.

 

You can crank the motor over without the plugs in to blow the gas out but be careful, Spark plug wires laying around and fuel spraying out of the cylinder can cause a really bad day.. I always disable the spark at the plug going to the ICM, The thing under the coils. Check your oil just and make sure it does not smell like gas. I doubt it does but better safe,,,, You don't need to blow you valve covers into your hood.

Sure sounds like you have fuel (AKA Flooded) and compression (based on how it sounds cranking?) So spark is all that is left. Yes it could just be flooded but you should not be able to flood a modern fuel injected motor unless something else is going on. It could have been a temporary issue and now you just need to get the plugs clean. But even if that works at some point you are going to have to figure out why you temporarily lost spark.

These things are great and I think every DIY should have at least one. I have 8 of them so I can hook up all the wires on a V8 and I can watch to see which cylinder drops out. It is really easy to see at night.
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