crank no start....again!!

[sidwyz]

i beating my head against a wall.engine is obd1 355 lt1 so far, i changed the icm for a acdelco unit. have an accel coil showing 6.9k ohms. also have a series 2 msd opti with screw adjusted 2.5 turns from tight. engine also has cc 503 lt4 springs, hardened rods, 28# injectors and a mail order tune.

after my tune the car ran great! i drove the hell out of it. i noticed a difference at around 6k rpm. and a very small amount of valve train noise at starrt up, then would go away so for good measure i adjusted my rockers. well then after a few days it started missing after 5k rpm. then blowing black smoke at start up. then a horrible idle...then nothing.

as i mentioned i have 6.9k ohms on the coil. i have proper power and ground to opti, coil, and icm. i am also receiving a varied signal from the pcm which is only 1 year old. also have switched power to both pink and orange wires in the harness. i know one is supposed to be constant, and i will get to that when it starts. because it ran fine for 3 months with the power set up this way. i also have an external walbro 255 that is lower than my sump from my tank. and the filter is the fram race canister deal, that is before my pump. i also have a gauge at the rail that shows a solid 45 psi at KOEO. i also have new 10.3 mm plug wires and ngk tr55 plugs that i installed in February.

I have to get this car together by thursday...its my only transportation at this point, so my family is depending on it. anyone that has time to help me i would appreciate it more than i could explain.

[tleed]

Does it have spark at the plugs I did not have good luck with the msd opti's I had 2 die in a years time might want to take the cap off and check the rotor and did you locktite the rotor screws?

[sidwyz]

screws are done, and i have a random spark every now and then, it fired once after the opti installed but only for a few seconds, then adjusting the timing screw seemed to make a slight difference after if started, but i got nothing today.

another thought was maybe i fouled the plugs, but i didnt think i could foul platinum tip plugs can i?

[SSlowBoat]

screws are done, and i have a random spark every now and then, it fired once after the opti installed but only for a few seconds, then adjusting the timing screw seemed to make a slight difference after if started, but i got nothing today.

another thought was maybe i fouled the plugs, but i didnt think i could foul platinum tip plugs can i?

i wouldnt run platinum tip plugs, i fouled them alot, even stock. i switched to a basic ngk tr55 v groove. be very careful running lt4 springs with a cc503 up to 6k. lt4 springs are very weak, and are maxed with a hotcam, a 503 is bigger than a hotcam and bad things could happen.

if you are having random spark, i would pull that opti and check to see if the rotor isnt loose or falling off. also, those giant wires are putting alot of load on the high voltage side of the opti, you very may well have cooked the cap, even though msd is supposed to be stronger and better, there is always that chance. you confirmed there was a steady pulsed signal from the pcm to the icm on cranking? i had a similiar issue with a msd opti, and it was sending a mixed signal to the computer after it would heatsoak, which was sending a random pulsed signal to the icm, and the car would run, run like crap, then die and not start

[stngh8r]

Sounds like a bad coil or coil wire. Keep us posted.

[Fastbird]

MSD opti. Nuff said. That's where my money is at.

Do this: http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#opti_test

Posted from my LG G2

[sidwyz]

well 1st off, thank you to everyone that chimed in. im glad to see people actually reply here instead of saying "do a search"....smh...you guys are awsome

my theory of platinum plugs not fouling has left the building! all day wondering why my car wont start and it might as well been outta gas! lolz at least shes started with a healthy blue spark.

BUT...now i have a weird engine shake every few seconds. enough to shake the whole car a little. i keep reading all over the internet that its an lt1 thing....i dont buy it. ive checked for vacuum leaks, nothing...i replaced my iac and tps last summer...harmonic balance is new...entirely new fuel system. now completely new ignition system. o2 is new. hell every sensor in the car is new....im going to try playing with the spark advance screw in a few mins. any other ideas would be greatly appreciated

[JCzNova]

Spark advance screw?

[firebird_1995]

Yea the msd has a spark advance/retard screw. I would suggest not adjusting it.

[JCzNova]

Yea the msd has a spark advance/retard screw. I would suggest not adjusting it.

I had no idea. Gonna learn somethin today! Lol

[popo8]

Yea the msd has a spark advance/retard screw. I would suggest not adjusting it.

Lol..."retard screw." Sorry...Im juvenile.

LTXtech.com is my DRUG!

[firebird_1995]

They are definitely that.

[SSlowBoat]

If you want to keep your motor from cooking itself i wouldnt touch that screw. Set it to what msd sets it to out of the box and leave it alone, bad things can come from playing with it

[sidwyz]

Ok ok. Point taken. Its 2.5 turns out..but im still at a loss with this. Gonna get back at it tomorrow. And if someone comes across a good deal on some springs let me know please.

[sidwyz]

i pulled all the plugs except 5&6 for obvious reasons lolz, got em all cleaned up with brake clean, also wires didnt get burned, they are new. i checked their routing, they are all where they need to be. one of the wires seems a little funny on the plug but its deffinalty a metal to metal contact.


im going to check my lifters and make sure i didnt over tighten any of them. Im still running the stock rockers so my springs arent binding. i didnt know they had a tendency to break.....after the adjustment im going to take her for a ride on the highway to get all these leaves and dust off her before she goes to the car wash. I will post an update tonight of how the idle is when i get home.

[sidwyz]

so i forgot to put my hood pins in.....and i lost it shifting into 2nd...stupid. but that lead me to pick up a decent fiberglass ss hood! after i get it together, primer and all...now the car sounds like its drowning its self under load. But it drove fine when i lost the hood....wtf! so im going to see if maybe i fouled a few of my plugs. I hear these foul easy so im going to clean them again and see...if its not one thing its another i guess

[sidwyz]

so i cleaned up my plugs and it runs alot better. but puffs black smoke when i give it gas. so i went ahead and adjusted that spark screw, this did give mme better results. right now it 1.25 turns out and doesnt puff black smoke....now its white on decel after i stab the throttle. like it did before my tune. I dont believe im leaking coolant into my cylinders, ive checked my oil and my coolant. all looks good.

problem is i still have that engine shake....i unplugged my MAF sensor and the engine tried to die...then it caught itself at the last minute, that means its working correctly right? i dont have a working DLC so i cant read the grams per sec/min....is there another way to test this sensor?

[MoeHorsePower]

Never clean plugs that have been carbon fouled, they will never respond like new plugs, don't matter if they were only run for a few minutes with heavy fouling. If a customer comes in with it missing and they tell me they clean the plugs, I will not tune it until fresh plugs are installed

[sidwyz]

i dont want to sound childish when i say this but...why? i thought them fouling was just giving the electricity an easier road to travel than jumping a gap. im guessing your saying somthing like im going to have an orange spark when i previously had a blue spark?? but i thought that had to do with loosing energy between the coil and plug. if i got all the energy to the plug....i dont see how only half of it would jump, i thought it was an all or nothing deal at that point.

[sidwyz]

im not saying i know more than anyone else, if that was the case i would have a perfectly running monument of vehicle perfection...instead i have....my camaro lolz

[Injuneer]

If there is any carbon residue, it can provide a track for the spark to travel from the center electrode to the shell (ground) of the plug, rather than jump the gap. Carbon is a conductor. That's why carbon tracking in a distributor cap can cause misfires. Many years ago, we cleaned plugs buy sand blasting them in a machine specifically made for cleaning spark plugs, but many years ago, we weren't seeing the very high voltage levels required to fire the plug like we have now. The higher the voltage, the more likely it will find a track other than the gap.

[MoeHorsePower]

If there is any carbon residue, it can provide a track for the spark to travel from the center electrode to the shell (ground) of the plug, rather than jump the gap. Carbon is a conductor. That's why carbon tracking in a distributor cap can cause misfires. Many years ago, we cleaned plugs buy sand blasting them in a machine specifically made for cleaning spark plugs, but many years ago, we weren't seeing the very high voltage levels required to fire the plug like we have now. The higher the voltage, the more likely it will find a track other than the gap.


Exactly, thanks for clearing that up for him

[sidwyz]

ok. from what i read it caused more problems with lower discharge ignition systems because they didnt push enough to force the jump. that sucks i have to throw away 40.00 worth of plugs that didnt run 50 miles smh. guess i have more stuff to buy.

[sidwyz]

so im installing acdelco rapid fire single platinum plugs today. will report my results in about an hour. Thank you for the advice. it helps to hear from people who have been around the block a few times.

[sidwyz]

well i have learned my lesson. if you cant afford brand new top of the line everything. dont do it

[Black Wolf]

Have you done a scan for codes?
My car was running great, then it wouldn't start, when it did start with the gas to the floor, I couldn't go forward, but backward only. Changed Opti-spark, still same problem-run scan for codes and got PO100,PO118 and P1115, Cleaned MAF, Installed new ECT sensor and now it starts and runs great.

[sidwyz]

im trying to properly download scan9495 right now, and awaiting parts in the mail to construct a obd1 to usb cable per garys instruction stickie