88 camaro starting problems

[randal]

I have an 88 camaro. Last week I drove it for about 20 minutes then parked somewhere, when I came back to start the car it would turn over but wouldn't fire. I ended up coming back the next day and the car started just fine, I drove it to a garage and it died in the parking lot. The repair shop looked into it and said there was a short in the ignition distributor that blew out the fuel pump. Both were replaced. After I picked up the car I noticed it was blowing out quite a bit more white smoke (it has for quite a while now coming off a dead stop.. the car burns oil) Now 3 days after getting the car back and after a $430 bill (there were a couple other misc parts needed) the car is once again not starting when it's warm.

I'm curious if anyone can give me any advice. Any ideas on what the problem could be? and just as important, how do i deal with the repair shop that looked at the car? I dont' really care to take it back to them since the car appeared to run worse after I got it back and is broken 3 days later. And at the same time I don't care to be paying them $430 when the car hasn't been fixed at all.

[N20LT4Bird]

I am assuming this is a TPI or TBI car. A short in the distributor wiring should not have anything to do with the fuel pump. It sounds like he was trying to "shotgun" the problem by replacing several parts at once and giving you a bogus story. Sounds like he missed too

The warm no start could be one or more of several things from bad ect to bad coil or ignition mod to computer, etc etc... It would take some looking into, but shouldnt be a hard diagnosis.

I would take it back to the "technician" and explain that it is doing the exact same thing as when it left. You've got to give him a chance to rectify the situation because it could have been an honest mistake. Dont pay him anymore. He should credit you the fees you've already payed toward the real fix. If he doesnt, the only way to get your $ is to sue.

I live in NY state and here the Dept of motor vehicles oversees all repair shop practices. The biggest threat here is to report the shop to DMV. That usually gets action from shop owners FAST! They dont like the DMV poking around even if they are in the right. That may be different where your from though ... look into it.