another lt1 no start thread

[1sicks10]

ok guys, ill try to make this as short as possible. i bought my 95 z28 back mid october, its a m6 with 120,000 miles. the kid i bought it from had it for a few months and the opti gave up on him so he bought an accel opti and i think he got 2 weeks out of it so he figured since the opti was new it must be something else. he basically threw a bunch of new parts at it and it still didnt fix it. list of new parts includes- pcm, icm, msd coil, fuel pump, plugs, wires, tps, maf, water pump, both temperature sensors. i hauled it home knowing the accel optis are pretty much worthless, ordered a new one (not a reman) from the local parts store slapped it on and fired right up. all is good put new wheels and tires on it, got tags that friday and hit the road. car ran great, drove it alll over the place and put almost 2000 miles on it in a week. fast forward to the following friday, my bday was thursday so i took off friday and decided to take the car to the track. all was good until i went to leave for the track. on the way there it developed a bucking under light throttle but if i kept the rpms up it didnt seem to do it. get to the track, make 2 runs in the 15 second range and come back to the staging lanes and the car dies with no warning. got it pushed to the pits and messed with it for a little while and found one of the big vacum lines to the throttle body was rotted and fell off. got some line and patched it up and fired right up and ran with no issues at all. made 4 more passes that night with the best being 14.4 @98mph. on the way home it started bucking again but made it home. saturday morning went to leave and made it to the end of the driveway and it died, immediatly checked the vacum line again and it was still good. let it sit for a week, hit the key fired right up and ran for about 5 seconds and shut off. tried again and nothing and i noticed the security light didnt go out so i figured vats. hooked it up to a scanner and got a code 46 vats fuel enable problem. got some resistors and put togehter the right combo to get the right ohms. this past friday i come home to install it and realize somebody hsd broke into my garage and stole EVERY tool i own ( another story) so i got some tools to fix it. got it done, security light went out but still no start so i hit it with a little bit of starting fluid snd still no start. so thats where im at right now, my car dont run and no tools to try and diagnose. sorry for the life story but trying to give as much info as possible. im sure im asking the right people so fire away and thanks in advance

[js96ss]

Sorry for your loss, but you don't need expensive tool to check for spark, just a screw driver, and a cheap noid light will check for injector pulse or just pull off the fuel rail, And you only need your ears to hear if the fuel pump is priming. Going to need to know those to basic things. Spark and Fuel.

[1sicks10]

thats the problem, i dont have a single tool left, they took everything. ill start replacing them after xmas. the fuel pump is priming when i hit the key.

[Fastbird]

I'm wondering if the vats box itself took a shite. If that's the case you wouldn't be getting any security notification and it definitely wouldn't get fuel. Seen it happen. Have you checked for spark? Don't really need a tool for that.

Sucks about your tools man. Hope you had renters insurance or something to cover them.

[1sicks10]

no renters insurance or nothing, im shit out of luck. wouldnt the security light still be on if the tdm module was bad cause the light went out after i installed the bypass? im leaning towards it dosnt have spark cause it didnt even so much as hiccup when i hit it with starting fluid. even if the injectors arent getting a signal it still shouldve fired off on starting fluid if no fuel was the issue. im open to all suggestions cause ive owned chevys all my life and this has by far given me the biggest headache but damn its fun when it runs lol

[Fastbird]

Check for spark. Just pop a plug wire and have someone crank while holding it near a ground. If no spark there, move to the coil wire. No spark there......coil or ICM. Spark at coil but none at plug... well......you know where that's leading.

[1sicks10]

yup sure do, already had the debate on yellowbullet over a gm opti or msd so ive already prepared myself for the worst. i just wanna get it going so i can put the 4.10s in it

[Fastbird]

If you're gonna spend for an MSD, I'd recommend a few bucks extra and put a dynaspark in it. Better IMO.

[1sicks10]

havnt heard anything about a dynaspark. whats the deal with them, why are they worth more than a msd and where do i get one?

[casey20000007]

I have the MSD pro billet one and it's bad ass have not had any problems whatsoever "knock on wood"


SMOKE TIRES NOT DRUGS

[1sicks10]

how long have you had it and what kinda warranty does it have? its only gonna be bolt ons and either cam or spray

[Badbird_96]

Larry has a dynaspark for sale at a good price. Its on the 2nd page iirc

http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20905

[1sicks10]

I'll keep that in mind, are they as good as the GM optis? Majority says use GM. Do they have a warranty? I'm kinda hoping its the coil ( msd)

[1sicks10]

I mean a warranty through dynaspark, not Larry.

[cholmes729]

I got a new(refurbed) MSD unit for sale, 200 bucks cheaper than new price. MSD replaced the cap,rotor, optical sensor, and wheel, and updated the harness. I think the problems with the older MSD optis were there optical wheel, MSD told me they had a few revisions since they first came out, mine has the latest revision. I have repair paper work with it also. Mine is for a 95-97 LT-1

[Fastbird]

They dynasparks are proven performers, great customer service, top notch stuff. The price is what keeps them from exploding opti's all over the LTx world.

[McCauleyWB]

I mean a warranty through dynaspark, not Larry.

I believe Dynaspark has a lifetime warranty. May want to confirm that. There is the occasional issue reported, but the company has great customer service. I am also running a Dynaspark unit without issue.

[96LT1355Z28]

Dynaspark has a lifetime warranty, there is a small cost for a full rebuild if needed. MSD is the same way it's just over $100 for completly rebuild one. GM opti's are known for the most reliable optical sensor but the newer more $$ aftermatket has stepped up. Delco opti's are all remans from Mexico now so who klnows what they'll turn out to be. Here's a good deal on the GM opti's: http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread.php?21007-Found-a-wicked-deal-on-GM-Opti-s-if-anybody-needs-one
Dynaspark: http://www.dynaspark.net/

Sucks to hear about your tools man.

[1sicks10]

Thanks guys but now I really don't know which one to buy if need be. I'm torn between the 3

[96LT1355Z28]

Not really a wrong choice, MSD and Dynaspark have a longer warranty. Delco is only a year but cost's less! If you go with a delco loctite the rotor screws. I'd try and get some tools and diagnose as much as possible before throwing an opti at it! You may be able to rent some of the tools you need from the parts store.

[1sicks10]

I'll be 100% sure its the opti before i yank it apart. If it is I'll try top buy one from a member if possible. I'm not gonna put junk in it that's for sure. I missed a burnout contest at my buddys house last week cause i couldn't get it going, i need to redeem myself lol.

[1sicks10]

update, i finally had a few minutes to mess with the car. picked up a spark tester and tried #1 plug first, no spark. went to the coil next, no spark. ok boys, lets hear some ideas, could be icm if i remeber correctly

[chile]

Its easier to the icm before yanking out the opti.

[Project96]

Try taking the ICM to the parts store & have them test it. Auto zone tested mine when I was going through my issue.

[1sicks10]

lol very true, the kid i got it from just put it on there before i got it and never got it to start so its got a week of run time on it but im pretty sure it was the cheapest one the part store had. i would kiss the ground if thats all it was lol

[1sicks10]

it is to damn cold here to be replacing an opti outside lol

[popo8]

it is to damn cold here to be replacing an opti outside lol

lol.... no garage!


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[1sicks10]

2 of them but both full lol

[1sicks10]

ok guys, i already have my icm spaced off of the head. what is the best stuff to put on the back of the new one before i put it on the sink?

[chile]

Heat shink paste check radio shack.

[popo8]

Dont people use dylectric grease for that also?

[1sicks10]

ive heard of people doing that but ive read its not good, the grease and compound are two different things

[Project96]

It's more of a thick toothpaste than a thin grease.

[firebird_1995]

The grease is more of an anti corrosive/ water displacing mixture. The paste actually helps absorb heat away from the icm and into the heat sink.

[popo8]

The grease is more of an anti corrosive/ water displacing mixture. The paste actually helps absorb heat away from the icm and into the heat sink.

ok... i use the grease on my plug wire ends.... that makes sense then


Larry (Popo8) Co-owner
LTXtech.com

[Mr. Brett]

Definitely use thermal transfer paste on the back of the ICM. With the tiny heat sink and horrible stock location, you want every little bit of help you can get to keep that thing cool. I used Arctic silver paste, but you can use any off the shelf stuff. Radio Shack should have something.

[1sicks10]

thats what i thought, just wanted to double check. gonna through a new icm on monday night and hope for the best