Girlfriends camaro

[1 RedHot TransAm]

Hey guys need a little input here, My girl friend has a pewter 99 3.8 camaro with
20,xxx miles that she has'nt driven for about four years. Last week-end I pulled her out and changed the belt, battery coolant,tranny fluid and oil. Everything things seems to be all good exept one thing, when we start it she turns over for like 3-4 seconds and has a real weak start. I'm wondering maybe if its dirty fuel injecters??? Any input would be great, THANKS!

[az gt eater]

i would start with fuel filter, and clean the maf. hope you dont have any gasket issues.

[95camaroZNC]

Might be something simple like the battery or the starter, but you just said you replaced the battery? My LT1 car did that when the starter started to go out.

[1 RedHot TransAm]

Might be something simple like the battery or the starter, but you just said you replaced the battery? My LT1 car did that when the starter started to go out.

Yeah I threw a brand new battery in there for her. Hmm personally I thought it was the starter too, but my girlfriends dad shot that theory down and said the car has hardly been driven. Could that be something that would go out from sitting around for years?

[1 RedHot TransAm]

i would start with fuel filter, and clean the maf. hope you dont have any gasket issues.

Thanks i'll definatly try that . Hope theres no gasket issues, could that happen with such a low milage car from just sitting in a garage for that long?

[1 RedHot TransAm]

Oh yeah and one other thing, she runs like a champ when Its driven, also if I turn the car off after its already been started right away it starts right up, but after it sits for about a half hour it starts all crappy like I posted above =\

[95camaroZNC]

The starter, and yes, my lt1 car was a weekend car for the guy i got it from. It did alot of sitting in the garage. Id have the starter checked just for shits and giggles because it sounds almost exactly like what my car would do..

[az gt eater]

ok, im gonna have to be captain obvious here before justin gets on. Does it throw any codes? Best place to start. You basically have three things, air, gas, and spark. Air should always be constant. Spark changes, but the problem is usually hard ware related. Wires, plugs, etc. If it runs fine, its fine. Fuel is another thing altogether. You have so many components involved. MAF,injectors, fuel pump, fuel filter, even the fuel rails, and o2 sensors. I suspect your problem lies there. I just pointed out the two easiest points of this system. I would read the codes, and clean the MAF, and change the fuel filter regardless of what codes you read. IF it's been sitting that long, you may have to drop the fuel tank, and replace it. It may have a varnish line on the tank, or the fuel pump itself. Or the lines are bad for the same varnish reason. See where I'm going? Pull th e codes, clean the maf, and replace the fuel filter. Run some octane boost through it. Next, O2 sensors. It could be a prob not related to time. Hell, you could have a loose, or corroded ground wire on the starter. Bring it to me, ill help you. From here? Hell.

[1 RedHot TransAm]

Thanks for all the helps guys, i'll look into all these opinions no doubt - Jason

[1 RedHot TransAm]

Yeah, probably not the problem but will still look into it. btw whats up with switching your car status as "1999 trans am red" when you have a green LT1 you mocking me or something =\

[1 RedHot TransAm]

ok, im gonna have to be captain obvious here before justin gets on. Does it throw any codes? Best place to start. You basically have three things, air, gas, and spark. Air should always be constant. Spark changes, but the problem is usually hard ware related. Wires, plugs, etc. If it runs fine, its fine. Fuel is another thing altogether. You have so many components involved. MAF,injectors, fuel pump, fuel filter, even the fuel rails, and o2 sensors. I suspect your problem lies there. I just pointed out the two easiest points of this system. I would read the codes, and clean the MAF, and change the fuel filter regardless of what codes you read. IF it's been sitting that long, you may have to drop the fuel tank, and replace it. It may have a varnish line on the tank, or the fuel pump itself. Or the lines are bad for the same varnish reason. See where I'm going? Pull th e codes, clean the maf, and replace the fuel filter. Run some octane boost through it. Next, O2 sensors. It could be a prob not related to time. Hell, you could have a loose, or corroded ground wire on the starter. Bring it to me, ill help you. From here? Hell.

Thanks dude I am thankful for the help. - Jason

[Cutlass]

how's that 4 year old gas??
Does it crank slowly or does it crank at a normal speed but just takes longer before it starts

[1 RedHot TransAm]

how's that 4 year old gas??
Does it crank slowly or does it crank at a normal speed but just takes longer before it starts

Well we have gone through 2 tanks of gas since she started driving it.While holding the key forward It makes that "err "err"err" sound for like 5 seconds before it actually starts, Then after it actually starts the engine sounds real weak when it gets going, but after that its totally normal dunno what to think. Thought i'd ask some opinions on here before we bring it into a mechanic and get screwed over lol

[Cutlass]

I'm a mechanic...you won't 'get screwed over' by me. Bring it down here to Madison
Sounds like it could be a low fuel pressure problem.

[99yellowz28]

put on a fuel pressure gauge and see if it looses pressure while engine is off may have a leaky injector and takes those 3-4 second to build up enough pressure to start then start it and check pressure again while running and if normal should rule out fuel issues if its low throw a filter on and if its still low you may have a weak fuel pump