First off, the car is a 96 CE LT4 with the following mods...
-LT4 Hotcam
-1.6 Roller Rockers
-Holley TB
-Meziere Electric Water Pump
-MSD Opti Distributor
-MSD 6AL Ignition
-SLP triple claw CAI
-EM Coated LT's
-O/R X-pipe
-B&B Tri Flow 3" catback
-Holley AFPR
-SVO 30# injectors
-PCM4LESS Tune by Brian Herter

The car has 87,000 miles.

I dont believe the issues i am about to list are directly related. I believe it is just a coincidence but ill list them all.

Ok, i took the car out today for a quick spin. I got on it a bit just playing around a few times. First i noticed the guages on the cluster went blank for a minute and came back on. The needle guages were still working, just the Digital stuff in the middle went off for a minute and then popped back up.... Kinda weird but it hasnt ever done it before or done it again yet since. I then noticed my change oil light lit up while i was still driving. I just did an oil change on it 3 weeks prior and havent put but maybe 300 miles on it since. I pulled over and checked the oil and it was still minty clean and at the proper level. I'm assuming its one of those things that needs to be reset when the oil is changed right?? If so, i havent ever reset it before so if someone could chime in with a way i could reset it, that would be great!

Ok now for the issues, I get back into the car and turn the key to start it up again and the starter was turning over and it took a little while longer to fire up than usual. When it did fire, it idled high for a minute before settling down to a normal idle again. Keep in mind, the car is hot already so its the hot restarts so far that have this problem. I have yet to let the car cool completely again and try it. I was freaking out... its never done that before! It seemed to run normal after that but i know something still isnt right. Everytime i start it now, it turns over longer than it should taking longer to fire up. Im assuming it is a fuel issue if i were to guess but im looking for info. I was thinking maybe my fuel pump is getting weak or my AFPR is off a little considering the issues i had been having. I think this is the next step of it just getting worse. I looked at the AFPR and noticed the adjustment screw is broken off (Hopefully in the right position as its been like that since i bought it)! I am planning to order another one now for that reason just to be safe. I also noticed it flashes SYS on the guages right when i start it but then it goes away. Im not sure if i just never noticed it before and it always does it or if it is problem related.

These are a couple of other issues i have had since i have owned the car....

The check engine light comes on and off randomly. I ran the code and the code that came back was High Circuit o2 Sensors on both front left and right banks. The guy at the shop told me that means the o2's are bad. I bought new o2 sensors and installed them and cleared the code and the check engine light is still coming on and off.

Last issue and i previously posted about this but im hoping some of my new symtoms may make the problem more clear.... When i am driving the car, sometimes it cuts off and back on like a sudden misfire but it only happens for a split second. Its just like if i were to be cruising along and take my foot completely off the throttle and then slam it right back to the same place again. It does it the odd time when im driving normal but does it more commonly when im on the throttle a little more aggressive than usual...

Sorry for the long book of problems... Im hoping it all points to one simple problem that i can fix. Guages wise, the oil pressure, temp, etc all looks good! The car smells and seems to run on the rich side from what i can tell/smell but has since i got it. Better rich than lean so i left it alone. It may be contributing to the problems im having though.

LMK! Thanks!!

 

Some of the symptoms point to the battery/Alt. And some point to the fuel. 10% Ethanol? Some point to grounds. My advice ...one at a time, good luck.

 

Do you have an FSM? If the screw is gone from the AFPR, that could be a problem, as the fuel pressure could be low. You need to replace the screw or the AFPR to fix that problem. That could be why your car is having a problem starting. As for the other problems, you really need an FSM to figure out what is going on.

 

Check all of your primary electrical cable connections.

To reset oil change light turn on the key, press and release MET button twice within 5 seconds, press and hold gauges button. Oil change light will start flashing, hold the gauges buton in until it stops flashing and it is reset.

 

I'd verify all the wiring connections are tight...

- Battery cables (at the battery as well as at the starter and the ground)
- Wires at the junction block that's hidden behind the battery
- Red wire that goes to the alternator

Next I'd check alternator output.

I'd also check the o2 wiring. Might have a short due to the wires being burned thru (setting the o2 heater code as a symptom).

 

Thanks for the info guys! I called the previous owner (My buddy) and he said he was the one that broke the AFPR screw. It is still in there but it is unable to be adjusted anymore and i believe the pressure is still a little high from what he told me so that is probably the rich issue. He said it was at 46lbs and when he had it tuned, they said to turn it down to 42lbs and it broke somewhere in between. I took the car to O'Riellys and just so happened to run into a customer that had a Snap-On OBD2 scanner in his car that was nice enough to run the code for me. He said its throwing a high circuit code on one of the o2 banks meaning its running rich and pulling fuel because the car gets flooded with fuel at times while driving from what he said. He told me the exact details from what his scanner showed but long story short, im putting my money on the FPR so ill change that ASAP. It sucks though because i got that code before and changed both o2 sensors for nothing now that i find out they were still good. That sucks!

Anyway, after a little time went by, i went out to the car and it fired right up once it was cooled off. It was hard to start again after it was hot so the problem seems to be when the car is already warm. It turns over fast though so im not thinking my battery or alternator would be the issue. It just takes awhile to fire up so i would bet it is still fuel related. My volt guage is at 14 volts or slightly higher at all times so thats why i say i doubt it is battery/alternator.

Any other help is appreciated guys. Just wanted to give yall an update.

Thanks for the info on clearing my change oil light as well!!!

 

Isnt hard, hot restarts a sign of sometrhing wrong with the injector(s). I know it was on mine.

 

Hmm... Injectors should be good. They havent been in the car that long. They were brand new 30# SVO's....

They have been in the car long enough that the problem didnt start right when installed. It was just recently that it started having these issues.

 

Or a leaky FPR. Get that fixed and check back in.

 

Yeah, ill fix that first. Im about to start looking for a good place to order one from.

Any ideas?

 

That battery is probably on it's way out. (SYS) Happened on mine, too. Mine said 14.1 volts when it was running, but that was the alternator output. My battery died 2 weeks later.
If you have your owner's manual, the reset procedure for the oil change indicator is in that book.

 

Hmm... Ill have the battery checked tomorrow then to be safe.

I would think the starter would begin to drag and turn slower though if the battery were getting weak. I suppose it still a very good possibility.

Thanks for the info so far guys!

 

Too bad that guy said your o2's were bad.

But that's the place to start. Put your multimeter on the o2s' power feed, check for power. Then see if the o2's ground will carry current.

That's a pretty simple circuit to follow. Find the short there, and see what other problems go away. If no other problems go away, you can still scratch the o2 problem.

If you got a FSM, find the o2 ground wire circuit, follow it, and see what other devices' grounds are integral with the o2 sensor.

 

Thanks for the help Schrade! Ill try all of that.

Weird thing is, i drove the car yesterday and didnt have any issues with it. It fired right up both hot and cold so i guess it was just a fluke. Im still going to look into the grounds and such. Im sure there is still a problem somewhere on the teeter totter... lol

 

bumping for myself....

 

Mine did that years ago, and I believe it was the opti related, it's been so long and I've had so many issues that I forgot exactly was it was. Good luck! Mine runs great now, but over the years, I've had to replace the opti (x2), opti harness, coil, maf, o2s, battery, etc. Finding and fixing these electrical bugs sucks ****