i just bought a 96 camaro convertible a few months ago. i had the engine rebuilt. i got it home and she was great, except for the paint. after 3 weeks i was driving her to work and the engine light came on and was blinking and raw gas was coming out of the exhaust . i have been trying to diagnose the problem and so far i have replaced the fuel injectors, fuel pressure regulator, and one of the coil packs. i pulled the codes and i got a p1200 and a p0300. which would have been fuel delivery system and a misfire. i did notice one of my new plug wires were not seated properly on my #4 plug, so i pulled it and it was corroded. i switched it out with #2 to see if it would give me a reading. nothing. i was planning to pull the #4 plug tomorrow to see if it was too corroded to fire. but still how else would i get raw fuel coming out of my exhaust. I have the 3800 series II with 5 speed man. any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I suggest posting in the 4th gen section, you'll get a lot more answers.

 

If one of your cylinders isn't firing well, or isn't firing at all, the gas won't burn and will get spit out the exhaust. But, your engine would definitely be running rough if that was the case. Is it?

 

thread moved. and ^^^ whatever he says. lol stuck or sticky injector/s stuck fuel pressure regulator. they would also make it run like crab

 

it idles a little rough,as far as a vibration, but it holds at 900 RPMS steady. it still has alot of power, for a v6. i am still able to burn the tires and it has good take off. however i have been driving saturns for 12 years. i will do a plug and wire replacement today and see what i come up with. its going to be 70 tomorrow and damn-it i want to drive with the top down.

 

you would be surprised how well a car can run with a cylinder not firing. after I did my headers I forgot to plug in the coil for the cylinder over the dip stick, with the inherent change in exhaust tone it took me until i got a flashing SEL before I realized my mistake.... and in the process gained several hp lol.

that said, the OP may not realize what the car SHOULD sound like if this has been a problem since purchase. fuel in the exhaust can only happen when it isnt burning in the cylinder, but you wount burn all fuel anyways. The #4 cylinder sounds like a good place to start, but I would pull all of yoru plugs if possible.
does your engine code give you which bank or anything to look at?

 

i should mention i have a flow-master, sounds great. this makes it impossible to hear anything else. especially with my sound system. my four teenagers think im going through a midlife crisis. better a car then a girl.

anyway, im on my way to spend time cussing and kicking to get to those plugs. wish me luck. i do miss replacing plugs on my front wheel drive 4 cyl.

 

True, it helps to know what to look and listen for. A rough running/misfiring engine could be spotted by opening the hood and looking at it. If the engine is rocking to and fro, or is jittery, you may have something wrong. A well tuned engine (sans radical cam) should purr like a kitten. Spec's cam (or mine) which makes the engine growl more like a tiger, can contribute to throwing ones ears or eyes off track.
keviinnc, when the engine is hot, take a sprayer bottle of water and give your exhaust manifold/header a spritz at each exhaust port. A weak burning cylinder will burn the water off at a slower rate.

 

lol good point. my engine shakes all over the place when it is running RIGHT I guess I am just not used to an engine that sits still so my first impulse isnt to run and look under the hood

 

ok, i have replaced the plugs with recommended iridium plugs (7 each). I also replaced the plug wires with standard 7mm. i started it up and it still leaked gas out of exhaust, however; it did fire up nicely. after allowing the engine to warm up to 170-180. the leaked stopped, but there was still white smoke. (dont be alarmed, i have been told that if an engine is running super rich, white smoke will form.) while i was starring at the engine waiting for it to tell me where it hurts, i heard a vacuum leak. it was a two way check valve. it was broken. so, i replaced it and now it runs more rougher. when i give it gas it bogs down to 500 then bounces up to 1500 then settles at 900. wasnt doing this before. when i let it sit while i ran the the store for the check valve, i started it up and it was leaking gas again. i ohmed out the injectors and they all check out. i removed the fuel rail and pressureized the lines. no gas came from the injectors. i did the grease monkey way of checking the computer,( vigorously tapping while it was running). yes i cussed and kicked the tires. only cut myself once. damn heat shields. the engine is shifting to and fro as mentioned above. still has plenty of power.