84 Camaro Stalls after 30 mile drive

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and I would like to ask for some experiential help from anyone who may have seen this problem before. My son just bought a 1984 Camaro Berlinetta from a collector of muscle cars. The car was not yet fully restored though it seems to have been reasonably maintained and is generally in road worthy condition. In his haste to drive it around for a while before performing all the obvious preventative maintennance and service items he's got himself stuck with it a couple of times now. It drives for about 30 miles and then the engine just dies. No warning, no strange behavior, just dash lights. When he cranks it again it feels like it wants to re-start, but no dice. Unfortunately it happens in the worst places so he has had to tow it eahc time, and by the time it's back at the house it starts again. We did inspect and replace the distributor. We did not replace the coil yet but I'm more suspicious of the fuel system, like the pump or something that controls the pump because he says it feels like it wants to start but won't.

Anyone seen this problem and could save us a lot of time debugging? We know it needs some work, but somehow I think this problem will be more fundamental.

Thanks

Please post more information, specifically engine size and Vin# for better responce. There are many variables that could attribute to your problems. This vehicle came with either mechanical or electric fuel pump depending on the Vin.
I would start with fuel pressure readings and filters. Vacuum choke pull off, air ducting etc. I would hate to send you on a goose chase without the right info though.
Get back to us and I'm sure you will get the assistance that you are looking for.

Ok satwood, this is what I make of it. You can leave out the distributor, because if it was that it would idle rough or not even start, and also it would just turn with no signs of "maybe it wants to start". It doesn't sound like it could be anything electrical either. So by method of elemination the fuel pump is the winner. And if you change that, might as well change the fuel filter. And if am not mistaken, 84 berlinettas are fuel injected, so if the fuel pump get to hot, it will shut off and restart after it cools down.

I forgot....... when is nice and cool, check the fuel pressure. Just turn the key in the on position and look for an air-valve kind looking thing, just be careful because it will shoot gas pretty strong. Then do the same thing once it dies, and if its the pump, then when you check it the pressure, well you know.

As I mentioned in my earlier post that the car would have a mechanical or electric pump, It appears that many of these cars had both. For obvious reasons look at the mechanical pump for leakage first. But My best Guess is that the electrical pump in the tank is failing. Proper fuel pressure testing is key to finding your problem, cold and hot when failure occurs.

Hi,

Thanks to both for your replies. We will start checking fuel pressure and I will get the engine and VIN codes. My son ahs the car in another state and he has been on a camping trip so that's why we have not been workin' on it.

I've read some postings about the low oil pressure switch and how it shuts down the electric pump if the oil pressure is low. If I assume for the moment that the car has electric or both electric and mechanical for fuel pressure, and I also assume the oil pressure gets pretty low in traffic on a hot day, is it possible it goes so low as to cutoff the electric pump? My son has since told me that he does get an oil light sometimes when idling in drive. We have changed the oil and oil level is good. I suspect the engine is worn overall, and maybe the pump is pretty used up.

If this could be a scenario, does anyone know where on the engine the switch is mounted?

Generally the oil switch is on the back of the engine just behind the distributor. You can create an account (no cost) at www.autozone.com (http://www.autozone.com) and retrieve a great deal of information on your vehicle. Give it shot!