no starting condition !

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

Hi,
Big disappoint.

My friends 1997 Trans Am, it wont to start.

We have very good fuel pressure, 50 psi while cranking.
Brand new GM optispark, it has been already tested in another vehicle, its working rigth.
Brand New MSD coil, new GM icm and new opti harnes connector.
It has spark in every single wire. Fuel injectors are firing very good.
all fuses already cheked.
No codes from pcm. I already test this PCM on my 97TA and my car start immediately. so, pcm is good.
the car still... like backfiring by the TB.
The opti is rigth installed.
good compression, around 90-100 psi.
No cats.
after some cranks, I take out a couple of spark plugs and they are very wet.

please help.

[BrdWAtti2d]

I don't mean to sound like a smarta$$ but what did you do just before it broke all by itself?

Were all those components you listed replaced at one time?

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

I don't mean to sound like a smarta$$ but what did you do just before it broke all by itself?

Were all those components you listed replaced at one time?

this is the story.

the car was very loose of power but started after 2 o 3 attempts.
with over 100 k kms on the odometer and a leaking water pump, my friends takes the decision of replace the opti and WP.
Ok, brand new opti.....the car wont to start.
no codes !
the harnes from the opti was very damaged, it looks very bad, so we replaced it.
same condition, no start.
we performed a coil winding continuity test and the readings were over 9000 ohms.
We get a brand new MSD coil+ICM.
still no starting condition.

[BrdWAtti2d]

Double check the plug wires and make sure you have them connected to the opti in the right firing order. They would still spark, just at the wrong time. You said it is backfiring? That would be a sure sign.

[1slo_camaro]

take the plug wires off the plugs and put a screwdriver in the wires and crank it over you should see some type of a spark find the plugs that are wet and do that to those wires and more then likely you wont have any spark.

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

take the plug wires off the plugs and put a screwdriver in the wires and crank it over you should see some type of a spark find the plugs that are wet and do that to those wires and more then likely you wont have any spark.

what I did was, using a tester light pluged in the fuel injector harnes and a spark tester holding the spark plug no. 1 (out of the engine), spark plug wire attached to opti.
Cranking the engine and I see the spark at the same time the light flashing.
I did the same test on every single wire and injector. all 8 OK.

so, that make me to be sure about sparkplug wires order, plus checking the numbers on the opti.

[Injuneer]

Are you sure you have the Opti indexed correctly on the cam dowel pin?

What do you you mean by "car was very loose of power"?

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

Are you sure you have the Opti indexed correctly on the cam dowel pin?

What do you you mean by "car was very loose of power"?

Yes sr, am sure about that.

i mean the car was lack of power and hard to start.
the old opti was completely wet because a leaking water pump.

any input will be greatly appreciated.

[BrdWAtti2d]

after some cranks, I take out a couple of spark plugs and they are very wet.

That says those plugs aren't firing, if they were they wouldn't be wet. I assume it's wet with gas and not some other substance.

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

That says those plugs aren't firing, if they were they wouldn't be wet. I assume it's wet with gas and not some other substance.

thats correct, the sparkplugs come out wet of gasoline.

the corner mechanic said, ac delco spark plugs are very bad option, cause he has been in that kind of problems with other vehicles.
hes recommendation is to replace them with other brand.

am so confused about, how is possible a set of brand new spark plugs are not working????

what do you think?

[BrdWAtti2d]

I think he's full of it, I've never heard of a set of plugs failing out of the box, maybe one, but all 8?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

If you can find someone with a timing light you can clip it on a plug wire to see if the spark is getting past the OPTI. If it is you narrow it to a plug or a spark timing problem. If not you know to look at the OPTI or before. It's a good way to see if the electronics are working OK.

[Injuneer]

The only problem I've seen with the AC/Delco plugs it the tendancy to lose the little platinum pucks off the electrodes over time. When that happens, the gap get really large. Check the gap. Other than that, the AC/Delcos work fine in the LT1.

How "sure" are you the Opti is indexed correctly? Over the 10 years that I've been trying to help with these kinds of problems, I've seen numerous cases where people were "positive" they had the Opti indexed correctly, only to find out later is was not correct.

[Ger-Fire-Form-93]

update.

what do you think about these Compression readings ?

driver bank

105 ,90,80,90 psi.


passenger bank

100,90,95,80 psi

the car still no starting, a lot of compression is coming out through TB and some times with explosions.
The opti is correctly indexed.
fuel pressure 45 psi.
My friend said,
before all this happend, the car was runing poorly and overheating.
i THINK some valves have a massive leak or maybe broken head gaskets.
thats explain the no starting condition ???

thanks in advance.

[Injuneer]

How did you do the compression test?
-were all plugs removed
-was the engine hot or cold
-were the throttle blades blocked open
-how many revs did the engine make for each cylinder's test
-was there evidence of fuel in the cylinders
-did you deactivate the injectors

The numbers you are showing are very low. I'd expect to see something around 180-190psi, but that's assuming that you did the test correctly. And as low as the numbers are, the fact that they are all similar indicates that whatever is causing them to be that low is affecting all cylinders, not just one or two.