[smartinz26]

So after letting it sit in my unheated garage for 2 months my 94 Camaro lt1 wouldnt start, It was running perfect when it was parked. this was the cars first winter up north as i just bought it from TX last april. From what I gather the car had a newer cap and rotor as in less than 2k miles but could be years old. but i am not sure how old the optispark unit is. All I knew was it ran like my old LS1, smooth and never skipped a beat.

I went out to move it so a friend could use the garage and normally i just tap the key and it goes... but this time it cranked and cranked and cranked. got alot of gas fumes so it must be flooded. I floored the pedal to clear the flood then I ended up killing the starter. after 3 tries and it almost ran and bucked a little.
So next week put in the new starter (oh what a joy that was with the auto) turned the key. it just cranks, floored pedal it almost goes, then after a couple more tries its alive but running like poop. so i let it run outside because it reeks of gas... after 10 min i jump in to take it around the block then it has no power and backfiring/misfiring under a load. so i pussyfoot it around the block and it stalls but restarts at the stop sign... so I just let it cruise easy back home where i put it right back in the garage.

So now i'm stuck with age old debate... I dont want to replace EVERYTHING... Where should I start. I just assume pull the opti off and inspect it to see if it corroded sitting the garage while it was winter for 2 months. That just makes me angry.

 

[Racy Roadmaster]

Well, the first thing is ,you should never let a car sit and idle for 10 minutes if you know it' running rich,AN EXCESS OF UNFIRED GAS IN THE CYLINDERS DOES SOMETHING called fuel washing the piston rings,which
is very bad. It esentially puts tremendous wear on the cyl walls and rings and when that kind of thing happens you get alot of blowby and reduced power, just stick that fact somewhere in your brain for future reference. I would look at the opti and see if you determine if any anti freeze seeped
on to it. You may want to put some fresh gas in it and if your oil smells like gasoline you should drain the oil and put in fresh. ed

 

[FormulaJoe]

I had a similar problem after letting my firebird sit for a few months over the winter, turned out to be corroded opti internals.. Didn't run that rich but backfired and was really low on power.. Might be your problem, might not be. Sounds like you do have an ignition problem somewhere... Check your plugs and wires for a start.

I wouldn't just start replacing parts... You gotta figure out what the problem is before throwing parts at it and potentially wasting a lot of money..

 

[Beef supreme]

Start with the big three, fuel delivery, ignition, and timing.