My wife's '95 LT1 Caprice won't start. It cranks over but won't run. The car has 134,000 on it but the Opti was replaced at 90,000 along with the plugs and wires. Tried starting fluid through the "home plate" hole in the intake elbow and it tried but still would not start. Have not been able to look for spark yet.
She said it was stumbling and not running right as she drove it last.
Search will give you an idea of the surprisingly high number of air, fuel and spark issues there are causing no-start given the info provided so far. Give an indication of what you've already found (and subsequently tested) from search for bonafide help and further direction. Also good to know more of symptoms JUST before total kaput. Fill up? Big gulley-washer? Lube service or other shop work?
BTW, that many miles/years ago on the Opti replacement they were likely still using sufficient supply of the legitimate brands back then.
For example: If your fuel injectors are working you can rule out VATS, the injector 1/2 of the PCM and 1/2 the OPTI (low res signal).
Then if you do not have spark you can look at the the coil for the icm signal and if it is not there look for the PCM to ICM signal. If you have the PCM signal you may have a ICM/coil problem.
Parts swapping without testing electrical issues can be frustrating and expensive.
Use a volt meter not a test light for safety of the PCM.
I will drag it home tonight so I can check for spark. The Opti was only a few years ago but the car gets 20,000 miles or more per year. I think the Opti was a remaufactured unit not a new one.
given your brief description and no real "testing" anything....it could be several reasons why it does not start. Any response would be just a "guess"
would advise you do the basics and check fuel & spark
a fuel pressure gauge would show immediately if you do in fact have good FP to rule that in/out
old school way of spark check is pull the easiest plug to get to (#1) and with plug wire on and plug laying on engine metal crank motor...do you see spark??
you mention the car was "stumbling and not running right.." before it would not start anymore....that could be fuel or ignition...you need to rule one out and go from there
from a ignition standpoint the symptoms do point to opti....but again it could be something else so do the 2 basic diagnostic first.
if your CEL light is on you would need to scan car to see what that code is which would also help narrow down the "why" no start cause
I finally got the car home to take another look at it. She tried to start it again so the battery was dead. After charging i went to key it to "on" to listen for the fuel pump but I bumped it to "start" and it fired right up. There was some noise on the drivers side and it was from the plug wires. I shut it off and checked for cracks or wires that were pinched or crossed but nothing looked/felt bad. Fired it right up and drove it 15 miles and it was fine. Now the wife doesn't trust it.
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