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My week couldn't be worse. My car is a nightmare.

Dulanic

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Well this week just sucked... well actually the last month. I got canned from my job last month, I had a company truck so it was my transportation. My car has had a transmission problem for over a year, so I never drove it. Well now that I need to find another job I need to fix the car... np I got my tax return and its enough to fix the tranmission ($900-1200) Well I tried to start it after a year... put some fresh gas in it... wont start, wont jump. Well ends up the battery wont take a charge or jump... so I put a car battery charger and after a day and a half the battery is working OK again which is good, its taking a good charge it just needed to be charged for a long time to get it going again.

Alright so now we got the battery going.... the starter turns over the engine but the car wont start... well crap. Try various things, nothing works. So I get it towed to my friends dads auto shop... he replaces the coil cable and it starts... awsome only $70 fix... so I drive it home, and am going to take it into the transmission place to get diagnostics done for $50 to figure out exactly whats wrong with the trans (It slips pretty bad, but its driveable). So I go out the next morning to start it.... Click.. wont turn over SOB! Now the starter is bad! So I get it towed to the transmission place... they dont normally replace starters but its not a tough job so they said NP well replace it then well check out the trans. Ok replaced the starter... it turns over now... BUT IT WONT START AGAIN! Ok well Im thinking its gotta be the distributor... maybe excessive moisture from sitting over a year or its just shot... Well the trans place isnt sure really, their not a auto repair place, they do trans. Well their gonna see if they can figure it out, cause if they cant I have to get it towed AGAIN to my friends dads shop.

Problem is since Im not working all this crap is gonna bring me over how much money I had... luckily I have a $1000 reinbursment check coming from the job I got canned on but that was to pay bills... so now I guess thoose have to wait because I need this car to get a job.

What a damned bad week... everything goes at once, happens everytime.

What do you auto freaks think? Should I just tell the trans place to replace the distributor cap? I mean Im pretty sure thats what it has to be.... if Im right it saves me another $70 in towing... they can do the work NP, they dont overcharge... I was told by 4 places theyd want $300 to replace the starter on it... the trans place was $207. They give me a discount because they do alot of buisness with my friends dads auto shop. Right now I plan to wait till noonish when they call and tell me what they think.... but what do you guys think? Is it almost surely the dist cap? Cause if so Ill take the risk of saving the $70 in towing it again and just have them replace the dist. cap and plugs.
 
Well, you should replace your battery if you didn't keep a trickle charger on it for the year it wasn't running. You will get stranded somewhere. Is there old gas still in it? Dist cap is an easy replacement and cheap, only 10 bucks or less. If turning over then it's not getting a spark or a strong enough one. If it won't jump then check ignitor. Grab plug cable #1 and see if a voltmeter is registering a spark to it when you try it.

Rob
 
I'd do as much of the diagnostics myself as possible. It sounds like you know what you're talking about under the hood, so rather than pay someone else to do it, do it yourself.

If your car sat for a year, there could be a number of problems besides not starting. I would check belts especially, and probably replace them. Many of the ignition components should probably be replaced. Start at the spark plugs, do wires, and ignition rotor, since it sounds like you have a carbeurated or throttle body injected car. ALso inspect the distributor cap for cracks. If you have one of the types where the terminals in the cap are part of the spark plug wires, don't replace the cap. But if the cap has terminals in it, then go ahead and replace it.

Put some of that stuff in the gas tank that is supposed to get rid of water. SInce the car sat for a year, there is a good chance that a lot of condensation collected in the tank. You might also want to replace the fuel filter, just so you know that's not a problem.

Change your transmission fluid and filter too. See if that helps the slipping problem. That will save you a lot of money if that's all it takes.

Sounds like a lot of stuff to do, but those items are all pretty cheap.
 
Originally posted by: MPowered77
Well, you should replace your battery if you didn't keep a trickle charger on it for the year it wasn't running. You will get stranded somewhere. Is there old gas still in it? Dist cap is an easy replacement and cheap, only 10 bucks or less. If turning over then it's not getting a spark or a strong enough one. If it won't jump then check ignitor. Grab plug cable #1 and see if a voltmeter is registering a spark to it when you try it.

Rob
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was going to say, batt. probably won't hold a charge after being dead so long. Need a new battery almost certain. Maybe didn't even need the starter... ?
 
Before you do anything, best check that battery. I can almost guarentee it's bad, if it hasn't been used in a year. Try jumping before replacing anything else, the starter might not have even been bad in the first place. If it jump starts then replace that battery and be off.

Rob
 
The battery is fine, my friends dad ran a battery test on it and it checked out OK. Fuel pressure is also good, we ran a fuel pressure test. Fuel filter is good it was replaced right before I stopped driving it. That was a whole nother mess... right before I stopped driving it it would only go about 5MPH max and overheat like crazy... was a hole in the air intake pass the air sensor AND the fuel filter was plugged so the fuel/air ratio went CRAZY and it started dumping unburned fuel into my exhaust, which plugged up my cat and so the exhaust was plugged :Q

Was quite the mess. Anyways I cant check this stuff myself, its already at the trans place. My best guess is the dist cap is bad, so Ill just tell them to replace it and Ill pray for the best. I'll prob have them replace the plugs too since on the firebird their a PITA to get to and would be really hard to do on my own. So I think Ill just have them replace plugs and dist. cap and pray for the best.

I know the gas in it was getting a bit bad but its not the problem because like I said I drove it home after we replaced the coil cable. I already put 5 gallons of fresh fuel in there and dumped some fuel injector cleaner and some moisture remover in there... didnt want the bad gas to be gumming up my injectors, which I think already happened cause it runs rough too, but thats not my main worries right now... that may be because of bad spark is the dist. cap is bad. Ill just dump good fuel injector cleaner into my next couple gas refills once I get it running, should help a little.
 
Originally posted by: BooneRebel
For $1000 you could buy a running vehicle.
Click to expand...

I'm not too keen on buying a beater for $1000 when for a little more Ill get a decent car up and running... this needs to be done anyways.
 
Originally posted by: Dulanic
Originally posted by: BooneRebel
What year Firebird?
Click to expand...

95 5.7L V8 Formula

It ran GREAT before this.
Click to expand...

It's probably the opti-spark (distributor). The 4th gen f-body is known to have this part go bad when moisture gets inside. However, later 95 model came with vented opti-spark so the problem isn't as bad. Early 95 still came with the old style opti-spark. Do you know the manufactured date of your car?

IIRC, you can get a rebuild kit for ~$300. PITA to replace though, have to remove water pump.
 
Originally posted by: fastz28
Originally posted by: Dulanic
Originally posted by: BooneRebel
What year Firebird?
Click to expand...

95 5.7L V8 Formula

It ran GREAT before this.
Click to expand...

It's probably the opti-spark (distributor). The 4th gen f-body is known to have this part go bad when moisture gets inside. However, later 95 model came with vented opti-spark so the problem isn't as bad. Early 95 still came with the old style opti-spark. Do you know the manufactured date of your car?

IIRC, you can get a rebuild kit for ~$300. PITA to replace though, have to remove water pump.
Click to expand...

Ya I figured it was the distributor, trans place said there is no spark. So their gonna give me a call back soon, but I think were just gonna replace the distributor, what a PITA this is becomming.

 
Well the problems just keep adding up.... I got a new starter put in.... turned over again.... but no start. So they gave my car to the place next to them. They took 2 days trying to figure it out... they said it was the battery.... I didnt agree but they said their sure. Well ok they sent it back to the trans place and they fixed my trans... the thing was shredded, rebuilt it for $1600... was TONS of part damage. So its all done.... total bill $2000

Took it home... tried to start it today... NO START! Youve GOT to be kidding me. I call the place that put in the battery.. they tell me to tow it in. NO WAY! You guys misdiagnosed this and made me pay for a battery that I didnt even need! They basically say screw you. Well they will no longer get buisness from ANYONE I know. Screw it Im just gonna replace the whole ignition system, it needs new plugs and stuff anyways... cost me about $400 in parts, and Ill just do it myself.
 
Originally posted by: Dulanic
Well this week just sucked... well actually the last month. I got canned from my job last month, I had a company truck so it was my transportation. My car has had a transmission problem for over a year, so I never drove it. Well now that I need to find another job I need to fix the car... np I got my tax return and its enough to fix the tranmission ($900-1200) Well I tried to start it after a year... put some fresh gas in it... wont start, wont jump. Well ends up the battery wont take a charge or jump... so I put a car battery charger and after a day and a half the battery is working OK again which is good, its taking a good charge it just needed to be charged for a long time to get it going again.

Alright so now we got the battery going.... the starter turns over the engine but the car wont start... well crap. Try various things, nothing works. So I get it towed to my friends dads auto shop... he replaces the coil cable and it starts... awsome only $70 fix... so I drive it home, and am going to take it into the transmission place to get diagnostics done for $50 to figure out exactly whats wrong with the trans (It slips pretty bad, but its driveable). So I go out the next morning to start it.... Click.. wont turn over SOB! Now the starter is bad! So I get it towed to the transmission place... they dont normally replace starters but its not a tough job so they said NP well replace it then well check out the trans. Ok replaced the starter... it turns over now... BUT IT WONT START AGAIN! Ok well Im thinking its gotta be the distributor... maybe excessive moisture from sitting over a year or its just shot... Well the trans place isnt sure really, their not a auto repair place, they do trans. Well their gonna see if they can figure it out, cause if they cant I have to get it towed AGAIN to my friends dads shop.

Problem is since Im not working all this crap is gonna bring me over how much money I had... luckily I have a $1000 reinbursment check coming from the job I got canned on but that was to pay bills... so now I guess thoose have to wait because I need this car to get a job.

What a damned bad week... everything goes at once, happens everytime.

What do you auto freaks think? Should I just tell the trans place to replace the distributor cap? I mean Im pretty sure thats what it has to be.... if Im right it saves me another $70 in towing... they can do the work NP, they dont overcharge... I was told by 4 places theyd want $300 to replace the starter on it... the trans place was $207. They give me a discount because they do alot of buisness with my friends dads auto shop. Right now I plan to wait till noonish when they call and tell me what they think.... but what do you guys think? Is it almost surely the dist cap? Cause if so Ill take the risk of saving the $70 in towing it again and just have them replace the dist. cap and plugs.
Click to expand...


Damn, what kind of job were you canned from? That truly sucks to hear this.
 
First to answer your question after a month 😛 I was a Field Technician doing instalation/repair/maintence on Mills/Lathes...

Ok I FINALLY have the car fixed!!!! Yaaaa! They ended up replacing the battery and said that was it for sure... fixed my trans... between diagnostics... new battery... new starter... and rebuilding my trans (It was SHOT, metal chips all over inside it) it ended up costing me $1900... My car was running really rough, and I got it home... it didnt start again!!!!!!!! Well ends up it would only start when it was warm outside. Well it had to be the ignition system, so I bought a set of Taylor Spiro Pro wires, 8 NGK 55 Spark Plugs, and a MSD Blaster Coil... my friend helped me replace it all.... and GOD is replacing wires/plugs and PITA on a LT1. Well during this we found the problem! The MORON who had the car before me gapped the plugs at .090 instead of .050!!!!! Anyways we finished it all up and the car runs GREAT it runs alot smoother, and my gas milage shot up a TON. Before I was getting 180 miles to a tank... 15 gallon tank. And that was 50/50 highway and city. Ive been having alot of fun and giving alot of gas and driving really aggressive (Hey after I year you miss 300HP hehe) and Im already at 180 Miles and Ive still got just under a half tank left, so Ive almost double the gas milage.
 
glad you got it fixed.. too bad you had to replace a bunch of expensive stuff only to find out it was a cheap problem
 
Originally posted by: d33pt
glad you got it fixed.. too bad you had to replace a bunch of expensive stuff only to find out it was a cheap problem
Click to expand...

Not too much besides the battery and the coil cable... which got replace twice cause I got a wire set hehe. But I really needed a new battery anyways. The starter really was dead. The only part that really sucked was finding out the trans was just totally annihilated and needed tons of parts replace, and spending hours upon hours trying to overcome the asshat design GM did while replacing the wires and plugs.
 
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