'96 Won't idle / No power

[malibu]

Long time lurker; bought my '96 CE because of these forums. Now I need help.

Vette has been pretty much sitting for the last couple of years. Mileage was ~95K and was thinking about moving on to C5 or C6 and didn't want to cross 100K until I decided. Well I decided to clean it up and sell it, but she wouldn't start.

Fiddled around with obvious stuff and finally towed to mechanic.

• Fuel pump was bad (had just replaced about 3 yrs ago ad) - Replaced with OEM this time
• Had water in tank (had to drain to replace pump anywho) - it had been stored outside for a while, he said this can happen if drain plug in fill area gets plugged?
• They got it running but horribly rough - wanted another $400 to replace the plugs. I laughed and limped it home 2 miles.
• Changed the plugs myself :W (Not sure it was worth it)

==========
Buttoned her up tonite after work and she won't idle, has no power, takes several seconds for RPM to ramp up. Drove around the block a couple times. Stalled 3 times trying to get it up driveway.

• Not smoking
• Check engine light is on
• Checked fuel pressure - 40psi at the rail
• Pulled a plug to make sure they didn't foul out--looks new
• Jumped ALDL, no error codes

I've got a buddy is going to bring a Snap-on monitor over this weekend to see if any codes register. What else can I check? ARRRRRGH! She's getting back at me for making her sit for so long.

~Dan

 

[malibu]

As a follow-up in case anyone ever has a similar problem:

My buddy's Snap-on computer only showed that cylinders 1, 4, and 8 we randomly misfiring. 2 and 6 would occasionally miss. No other significant codes. Argh.

He called a chevy mechanic (we'r off at "Friend-of-a-friend" level now). He said pull the fuel rail, clean it out, and get the injectors cleaned.

Sent the injectors off to Mike @ New Era Performance in PA, and he brought them back from the dead. 5 of the injectors wouldn't even register flow. He had to back flush them several times, but got them all to within normal op-spec. Bolted it all up last night and it runs like a champ! I've got a small leak in the fuel regulator on the fuel rail, so I'll swap that out and we're good as new!

Moral of the story, don't let her sit and ignore her, cause she'll get cranky and make you pay!