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'96 Camaro problems

Hogback Fabrication

Hogback Fabrication

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My brother has a '96 Z28 Camaro (LT1) and its recently been hesitating and lower on power.

It has a lot of mods, 1.6:1 roller rockers, headers, exhaust, intake, chip to compensate for the mods, etc.

The car ran perfect until recently. The only code it pulls is some emissions thing (its had this code for a long time).

The distributor is not very old and its an MSD replacement for the opti-spark. Plugs and wires are in good shape.

Replaced the fuel filter today, no change. Could it be a weak fuel pump? Or maybe something else like a crank position sensor that's not tripping the CEL? TIA
 
sounds like a weak fuel pump to me, you are pretty much decsribing the same thing my Burb did a few years back...

it throws the code for the O2 sensor, saying something like a "lean reading"

mine got so bad it would buck, spit, sputter, and every now and then spit out the intake,,,it was nasty.

couldn't tell anything was wrong with it though just by listening to it idle.

replaced the fuel pump and i thought i had a new truck.

get the tool to check the fuel pressure though before going to the trouble of dropping the tank,,,i had the '88 IROC Camaro, and did the same thing, it was a real PITA to get that pump changed. well, without cutting up the floor of the car...
 
38377k5 said:
The car ran perfect until recently. The only code it pulls is some emissions thing (its had this code for a long time).

The distributor is not very old and its an MSD replacement for the opti-spark. Plugs and wires are in good shape.
Click to expand...

What code does it throw? Is the emission thing the EGR valve? That'll cause it to run bad. I'd double check the optispark too.
 
toomany said:
What code does it throw? Is the emission thing the EGR valve? That'll cause it to run bad. I'd double check the optispark too.
Click to expand...

Its not the EGR. He told me which code it was throwing and i didn't recognize WTH it meant, I don't remember exactly which code it is. That code has been on for a couple years and it had been running fine. The car idles fine.

How do I check if the fuel pump is bad?
 
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get a gauge, they have a port on the fuel rail to check pressure, and if it's bad, you gotta almost remove the rear end to get it out.
 
just get the shocks bolt off, then u can drop the rear enough to get the tank out i have done enough of them. :crazy:
 
What was replaced just befor the Z started running bad? I have a 97 that did the same thing and I went through 2 opti's from msd before getting a working one. and sadly this one is on the blink only 5 months later. Let us know more info. What did you change? What were you doing when you noticed the problem? Did it just start for no reason whatsoever? Amazingly enough these questions usually lead to "The night before I raced a few guys but no big deal" and that will be a cause.
 
Mountain_man said:
What was replaced just befor the Z started running bad? I have a 97 that did the same thing and I went through 2 opti's from msd before getting a working one. and sadly this one is on the blink only 5 months later. Let us know more info. What did you change? What were you doing when you noticed the problem? Did it just start for no reason whatsoever? Amazingly enough these questions usually lead to "The night before I raced a few guys but no big deal" and that will be a cause.
Click to expand...

Nothing has been changed on the car in a while, the hesitating kind of came out of nowhere. I think the distributor from MSD has been in there for a year or so.
 
then continue down the road to check fuelpump then move onto something simple like plugs. My Z28 didn't like champ plat plugs at all. Went to Iridium plugs and BAM works great. Gapping all correct. Might want to also check into a simple 6-7 dollar can of Seafoam for the fuel? (Or whatever you prefer I just have awesome luck with that stuff) And see if you can't improve it even more. Fuelpump is the most likely cause it seems. But just some more down the road for ya.

And CPS rarely go bad on this vehicle. While possible I suppose. Jumped time maybe?
 
first of all when you say its running bad, is that All the time, and while idling, or only when driven and put under a load?

not real familar with lt1's but the first thing i'd do is hook up a scanner. CHECK CODES.
that will be telling you what is wrong.
then like you said, if its just an egr, air, or evap code, forget the codes and move on.

definately check fuel pressure. i mean duct tape the gauge to the windsheild and go drive the car around.

can't you get something kinda like a snap on scanner to monitor your real time data and see that all your sensors are reading within their appropriate values? If your Coolant temp sensor for the computer goes out and reads dead cold but somehow doesn't throw a code, it will run like crap. you will be able to see that with a scanner.

last, if it runs crappy at idle or low load conditions, you can put the car up on jackstands and hook up an oscilliscope on it and at least track it down to which cylinder is abnormal compared to the others by watching spark wave patterns.

:wink1:
 
Right, first things first. Hook up a pressure gauge, tape it to the windshield and drive it. If it ends up being a fuel pump, prey that it's new enough to have the plastic gas tank because those are gravy. Just remove the exhaust, track bar, and track bar brace. Then drop it down.
If it's the older metal tank... have fun:crazy:
 
Ryan B. said:
first of all when you say its running bad, is that All the time, and while idling, or only when driven and put under a load?
Click to expand...

The car idles fine, it hesitates sometimes while driving at part throttle mostly in the 2000-4000 RPM range.

It doesn't hesitate at WOT but it does seem down on power lately.

I will put a pressure gauge on it when I get a chance, thanks guys :bow:
 
how many miles are on the car? stock fuel pump? um, yeah. those always go out.
i got 131k on my '01 Z28, stock fuel pump... *knocks on wood*

if it still leaves you guessing :confused:,
i'd also maybe check the MAF sensor, and see if you can swap it with a buddy's for a quick lap around the block.

:wink1:
 
I have a'96 V6... so maybe this wont help...

I had a severe hesitation...

it was a combination of 2 things..

1. vacuum leak... there is a elbow that looks like a 90 degree spark plug boot... and that big that goes to the intake (we used a sparkplug boot to fix mine)
then
2. Bad Mass Air Flow sensor... just unplug it.... and try .....
I have gone though 5 from autozone in a year and now I am out of the 1 year warranty... sucky remans..... I havent replaced my maf yet and it does freaky stuff with slipping the tranny and stuff....

p.s. I just rolled 200k miles.... 200,028
 
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