Hello People of the Vette.

This is my second post, so if I do anything wrong, I will take the heat and apologize now.

My situation is that I bought a 92 LT1 almost two years ago and it has just sat and sat because I was taking care of my mother. My first post was about a "SRS" light coming on at dead stop when started. I believe it was SRS, but I'm dead tired and spaced out the lights verbage. Actually, I think it's "ASR" now.

I've spent ten hours trying to fix my new problem (not ASR) myself and need input. I am not going to refer to traction control light problems in this post because the car has died on the driveway.

The only thing pertinent to this dead car request for help (knowing OPTI will come up) is this.

I had finally thrown a full shutdown of the anti-lock brakes and both service ASR and service ABS stayed illuminated, and I had been sent code checking method by another member. Well, I also had been having random battery drain problems, so I was determined to get the codes now solidly set.

In fear off draining the battery again, and possibly loosing the code(s) before I got to it, I set up an auto maintain Sears 2 amp charger that safely keeps it fully charged. Now the mayhem.

I had the charger set on the LF tire and heard rain was coming last week so I lowered the hood to protect the charger. I'll try to put a pic of that here. Oh well, can't figure that out. Just wanted to insert a Jpeg.

So, It rained and poured for 18 hour for 80% of the time and I completely forgot the hood was propped half open. When I came out and saw my mistake I was mad, but thought it would be no big deal.

I started it and it immediately sounded like it was running on four cyl's max and shut it right down. Then I swore. Next I looked to see that all engine wetness and condensation was non-existent...Esp. plug wires.

Second start, it went a few seconds and died for good. sorry, but this is another $%#& Opti thing I believe.

My diagnoses so far and what to do next request.

1. Fuel Pressure on Rail 43ish and prime feature heard. Long pressure hold is present.
2. Pulled number 6 plug wire, attached a new plug and laid on engine within site...got spark and it seemed to spark at the correct pace.
3. Pulled that plug (6) because that would be the most gas fouled (because cyl. had no spark for some cranking time) and saw and smelled no fuel.
4.Started reading all the Opti stuff and bent over and saw a red dis. cap with sharpie marks for plug running. Previous owner was a likely gearhead BTW, because he had an MSD, K&N, and other stickers under the hood. The cap was as if it was just put on...clean, bright red and also there were new plug wires I should mention they are just 7mm AC's
5. I believe, the last guy changed this OPTI out for sure because I only see the red epoxy cap on the MSD kits.
6.After reading so much about this OPTI stuff I ascertained that he had the vent kit on, however the intake vacuum line and the line to the air intake were both cracked and therefore doing nothing.
7.My questions are, could the vacuum line drier system for the cap not being in operation cause all that rain and moisture in the air to get into the cap? Should I just plan to dig down and see what I see with the opti. Also, forgot...NOID light...all injectors firing. But I went a step further and pulled the drivers side rail up just enough to see some spray from the only injector I could safely plug in without stretching wire.And this is where I'm baffled. The #3 injector when cranking for ten seconds or so, only "sprayed" 2 maybe three times and a minute squirt was observed. Not enough to even dampen a paper towel.
So, can a no start 92 still throw any codes just cranking it for a cumulative 4 minutes or so, or does it need to run to set any ignition codes?

"Bless me Father, I have left a long rambling post in a Corvette forum)
No problem my son, just say 500,000 Hail Mary's
9.Lastly, I am pretty good at feathering an ether can as to keep it running (just once) and the sparks seemed to be firing in the correct order (smooth engine). Since then, I've tried everyday and it still just turns over.

Thanks and this is my Mulligan for the forum...

 

I'd help you if I could, but I have an 84 and don't know much about optis except they sure do cause problems. This will bump your post up to the top and hopefully someone will be able to help you. Good luck. Willie

 

Perhaps you could help me to boil down and understand your problem, do I have this right?

The engine will only start and run with a sniff of ether into the inrake. When it does start by this method, there are no misfires, indicating that all cyls are firing. Fuel pressure at the rail checks out normally, and the fuel pump runs as normal.

This to me indicates a fuel injection issue. I would first check for codes, you can do this without equipment, you can learn how to do this using "search" on this forum.

 

Thanks

As far as the starting fluid, I have always done that to quickly see if I have fuel. I cannot stand the cringe of trying to keep an engine running on ether because those horrible pre-ignitions that usually happen are just not a nice sound.

So when I said "sounds to be running in the right order", it is opposed to the opti-spark rotor just jumping to ground inside the cap. I meant that it was only kept running for 8 or 10 seconds. That made me feel that the rotor was probably giving out the sparks in a dry environment.

So I hooked up a fuel pressure gauge next and it has good pressure.

But on that fuel side, this car has been driven 200 miles home when bought and started very often since. I was always amazed how immediately it started, with never anything but running sweet. So, this went from a perfect runner to dead after a long rain and the rear or the hood propped up about 18 inches. That's the hair puller.

Therefore, I am inclined to give the actual eight injectors a pass and since I have not been around this engine, that something got moisture in it (connection)? enough to make the system not work correctly.

Does anyone know off any testing of the opti that can be done without going down there and physically pulling it, like is the connector able to be gotten to without disassembling any coolant lines?

And again, does anyone know if a code can be set when a code setting activity happens while just cranking.

The main thing that I'm stuck on is the fact that I have injector pulse and apparently injector(s) opening because I may be wrong, and such a small squirt is given during cranking so that what I saw was the normal spray.

And is it anyone's opinion that the red cap I see down there is definitely aftermarket?

Thanks

 

- Red cap = MSD opti, or at least the MSD cap
- It won't set/store codes until it is running
- Can't test the opti other than checking voltages at the different pins

It is likely one of two issues....
- Bad opti
- Fried ECM

The fact that the ECM got rained on points to it. Having said that, the MSD opti is notorious for failure.

 

Where are you located? Perhaps someone close to you can help out.

 

Was hoping this was going to be about bed wetting.
Oh well

 

TMI

 

I'm in Naperville, Illinois. I was thinking about the PCM about 50/50 with the opti after reading up on the opti as being suspect.

But I've seen some messages relating to the opti that refer to guys who have washed their underhood areas without problems.

I'm sure they would not aim water directly at the PCM, but I will be carefully removing it soon and bring it inside and put it on a semi-warm radiator for a while and go from there.

Thanks

Will reveal findings to help others when those findings happen, which hopefully will be soooooon.

 

OHM check all injectors. One shorted injector will shut down all of them. Since it runs on ether then fuel delivery is the most likely problem.

 

Thats what I was thinking. It runs on ether, so unless that's just from "deiseling", the opti/ignition sounds like it's okay.

 

Since it's so cold and other things, I can't look at the car for a day or two. However, I did have a question.

I originally thought I would not have this vette long so I did not get an owners manual or service manual.

But, I'm kind of hoping my finances can keep it with me now, as I would like to have my way with it. It is a good year as far as the first after long low horsepower years and is the first for traction, anti-lock and the LT1 engine which now has me interested.

I turbocharged a smallblock 72 El-Camino around 1980-82 and it is in mothballs as they say in "the barn". That will see the light off day this year finally.

My question relates to the fact that there is a down-loadable 93' owners manual, which I do have and the fuse blocks and especially underhood fuses and or relays seem to be very different.

I have the right in your face fuse cover on pass side dash with twist to open.
Also, I found a fuse block with eight in it under the dash, however my radio is one off those crackling and such when I bought it and now is completely dead.

So as a side note when I get to pulling the receiver under the rt. dash, I was reading that three separate and poorly marked fuses need be all good for the Bose to work. Does anyone know those fuse locations?

Sorry I intermingled that.

The main question as far as getting it running is that the 93' manual says fuses and relays are in plain sight near the battery area. I haven't pulled the battery yet. Is there a fuse/relay block hiding behind it?

Thanks if anyone know that....

 

If you plan to keep this car, by all means get the correct year FSM. Just recently on another thread, someone posted a photo of what looks to be a new manual he had just bought on ebay, he said $66. The '92 and '93 are very similar, but not identical. This is a one-time investment that will save you $$ and heartache on almost every repair. Note that the complete '92 FSM consists of two red volumes and two small supplements that were omitted from the original when published.

 

FSM should be your very first investment...

As for the PCM, water on the outside should not bother it. The connectors are designed for exterior use, and the electronics are Conformal coated on the inside to protect against water moisture, and vibration.