89 Corvette delayed start

[95pologreen]

My corvette now takes about 5 secs to start, it usually would fire right up in like 1 sec.This problem occured the same day I went to a gas station that I do not normally use and put about 10 gallons of thier gas in my car. It still has power and seems to run good, but now has a delayed start it cranks good. Could this be a sign of bad gas?

 

[John Robinson]

It sounds like you got some gas with water in it. Put some dry gas in it and then top off with gas from some other station and see if that improves the starting.

 

[95pologreen]

I finished filling up the tank at the station I normally use. It held 10.4 gal. Do you think Chevron fuel system cleaner would do the trick to dillute the bad gas?

 

[mr.beachcomber]

I don't think that the Techron will help with the delayed starting. It wouldn't hurt though as it does an excellent job of cleaning the fuel system of gums and varnishes.

I have an '89 also, and my area of Virginia has mandated use of 10% ethanol for local air quality. We've had some problems in the past with local discount gas dealers including Sam's Club and COSTCO being supplied with 20-50% ethanol by mistake. Definitely caused starting/running problems for lots of their customers. I use alternate 1/2 tank fillings of Shell 93 octane and COSTCO 93 octane to stretch out my gas dollars to avoid tankfuls of bad gas; however, any top tier gas seller should be a safe choice.

Hope this helps!

 

[95pologreen]

I have driven the car about 6 miles since I finished filling it up. I went outside to start it a few hours later , it took so long that I almost thought it wasn't going to start. But it did motor fired right up and runned smooth. The cars exhaust smells like paint thinner, I know your not supposed to smell a cars exhaust but it was strong. While it was cranking I noticed that the security light was flashing. I had problems with it before when the light was flashing while the key was in the start position. The problem was the vats wires in the steering column, at that time the car would not even crank. I would turn the key to the start position and nothing would happen the motor would not even crank. I don't think its the vats because it still starts up.

 

[mr.beachcomber]

...The cars exhaust smells like paint thinner....

Classic symptom of too much ethanol blended with the gasoline. One problem that we have in Tidewater area of Virginia is that ethanol tends to absorb ground water leaking into older storage tanks making the cars hard to start. I would try driving the Vette for an extended period of time to burn off at least a 1/4 tank, and then refuel with premium from a top-tier supplier. The problem should lessen over time as you burn more of the bad gas and replace it with a top-tier premium.

BTW, you're correct about the problem not being the VATS. When VATS is the problem, you can't even crank the engine. Been there, done that with two '89s, and used VATS by-pass modules to correct the problem.

Good Luck!

 

[95pologreen]

I am writing this message to thank everyone for thier input on the car. I sold it today. The new owner said it could be a bad fuel injector. I'l tell you I have never seen a corvette drove the this guy drove it., he had the pedal to the floor the entire test drive. I was amazed by the power it had because I had never put it to the floor since I had it. I sold the car to him as-is. It passed California's tough smog inspection with hybrid like results. The HC was 0.05ppm and the CO was 0.00ppm. I told him to take it easy with the car because I don't think they were made to be floored all the time. It is now time for me to get my next corvette. I will poost back later on with pics of it.

 

[hotmtrsports]

Well, I guess that was one way to cure your problem. It is safe to say that problem will NEVER occur again for you!

:L

Curious if you're going to stick to C4 or go to C5 or C6?

Please keep us posted.

Thanks,

Chuck M