car shutting off

[95Firebirdred]

I have no idea what is going on. i have a 95 firebird form with a lt1 350 . The car will run until it warms up then it will just die. Then the car will not crank back up for about 2 hours. i have put a new distributor, coil, and icm. What else could it be. i really don't know what else to do to it because i am not getting a ses.

[Orcus79]

fuel pump check the pressure, change the fuel filter. Take a look at your relays for the ignition and fuel pump.

Best Ideas I can come up with

[SINISTER-TA]

Did you put a new or used Opti in? This is a classic symptom of a bad Optispark or fouled plugs. I had this exact same scenario with my 94 Z28 a few years back. I changed everything including the Opti, wires and fuel pump and it still wouldn't start. Believe it or not...I changed the plugs and it fired right up. It was weird. The last thing I thought of.

[95Firebirdred]

i have brand new distributor coil icm plugs wires and fuel pump.

[95Firebirdred]

When it gets hot and the car shuts off. I can pull the wire off of the distributor and put a calibrated spark tester on it and it is not firing at all. Once the car cools down it will fire. Were is the ignition relay located. I looked in the fuse box and it wasn't labeled . the haynes manual is no help.

[Orcus79]

The relay will be under the hood some where chances are that it will be mounted to one of the fenders near the front of the car. There should/could be one or two plastic boxes with covers on them that house the relays.

[95Firebirdred]

i looked in the fuse box and that relay was not there. i don't know of a second box but i will look to double check. Could my computer be going bad? There is not a ignition relay unless it is called something else. I have an ignition fuse but it was ok

[Orcus79]

If you can get your hands on a known good computer from as close as match to your car as possible you could find out.

The other option is to get in on a logging/live view scanner to see exactly what may be going on. Sounds like something is causing it to shut down when it enters into closed loop. Just for shits and giggles cause I really am running out of possible Ideas, Try cleaning your EGR and throttle body. It is possible that the low idle circuit has become clogged.

Not have worked on one before. My knowledge is rather limited.

[95Firebirdred]

now it will only shut off if you get in throttle hard. could this mean that the distributor is not in the pin good.

[Orcus79]

Possible, Just curious, What do you mean by shut off? Like total die to where you have to restart it with the key? Or more like cut out then come back, like a miss or stumble. You know what, get the thing scanned for codes, Its not unheard of of the MIL/SES lights burning out.

[Orcus79]

Just thought of one more thing, have you checked the timing?

[95Firebirdred]

When i say cut off i mean that the car cuts all the way off. if i try to restart it right away it will hit and cut right back off. My ses light is working cause when i turn the key on it comes on. My timing is automatic on this car. It is all in the computer. I took a closer look at it just a little while ago and i think i am hearing a vacuum leak some where but i am not sure. Don't know if that would cause that or not. when it is just idling it will surge about 100 to 200 rpms but i have a 3.19 cam and was told that it would do that with that cam. I am really thinking about taking it somewhere now. i had a shop tell me that for 150 they would check all the sensors and wiring and find the problem for that. Is that bad if they can really find the problem

[Orcus79]

1059 is two hours of labor which is about right. Yes a vacuum leak can cause your problems, especially in the intake system. And with that cam it would only make the problem more pronounced. I would start with checking the TB and forward. The move to anything connected to the HVAC system forward of the fire wall.

How old is the battery on the car?

[95Firebirdred]

just replaced it about 2 weeks ago

[95Firebirdred]

i meesed with it today and when it cut off and i tried to restart it the car would not fire. so i pulled the key out of the switch and put it back and then it started right back up. but as soon as i touched the gas it died. i think the switch or the key may be bad now. What does anyone else think?

[SINISTER-TA]

It could possibly be VATS. Still sounds like the Opti to me. Did you do the cam yourself? Are you sure the timing marks were lined up correctly?

[95Firebirdred]

i had a shop do the cam. took car to a shop and it came back as a bad opti. i hate those damn things. i have one year warranty on it. i am going to swap it out and get a new one. i also thought about getting what optispark offers to do away with the distributor. it comes with the brain four coils and all the wiring. does anyone know if that is worth it. it is about 700 bucks.

[95Firebirdred]

it was the distributor. had a shop do it this time. drove it 20 miles and quit again. got a code for bad computer this time. got a new one and now the distributor is bad. all this time it was the computer. that is what they say. i will find out tomorrow or monday when they finish.

[seppburgh]

it was the distributor. had a shop do it this time. drove it 20 miles and quit again. got a code for bad computer this time. got a new one and now the distributor is bad. all this time it was the computer. that is what they say. i will find out tomorrow or monday when they finish.

Please post an update, this is a very interesting problem and the solution will be very helpful in the future to other Firebird owners.

[95Firebirdred]

i got my car back on friday afternoon. new computer and distributor. i have drove it all weekend and it runs great now. so it was the computer the whole time.