I’m curious if anyone has had this problem with a chevy celebrity, first of all its 1989 chevy celebrity 2.8 v-6 with 143,000 miles on it, I have owned it since april of 2009 and it ran great until the summer of 2010, then a problem started to occur. When the car is cold it starts, once warm it may not start for hours which doesn’t work for a daily driver. Now I have changed fuel pump twice, fuel regulator twice, new fuel rail, fuel filter, crankshaft sensor, mass flow sensor, ignition module three times, coil packs once, spark plug wires, fuel injectors once with a new wire loom to the injectors, ecm twice thinking it was the computer, ignition switch once, new starter, new battery, even got a new radiator to try to keep the car cooler, but nothing helps, it will start when cold but will just turn over but not start up till it cools off. Also it will after driving for a while and the car is warm will from time to time just shut off and not start again, I am stumped on this car and am looking for any help that I can find, much appreciated if anyone can help me out.
You could have bought a different used car for all of the parts you’ve dumped on it.
Have you even simply tried to determine whether you are missing spark or fuel during these no-starts? That’s the place to start. Use a spare plug or a spark tester to check for spark. If you have spark, spray some starting fluid into the intake & if that gets it to fire then you’re probably looking at a fuel issue.
Figure that part out & report back.
For a fee, usually 1-2 hours at shop rate, you could have a certified mechanic troubleshoot your problem. That would have been cheaper than what you have spent on unneeded parts so far.
BTW, how is the idle speed when warm. Is it high and/or just a little rough?
Sounds like a main or fuel pump relay to me…
These vehicles also have a problem with the ballast resistor. When it starts to fail the coil will receive little or no voltage as the engine heats up. The coil can also fail when the engine heats up as well. Check the spark when the engine is hot and won’t start.
Thnanks guys for the quick responses, I should have mentioned cigroller that we have put a spark tester on it and cold there is spark, warm there is no spark, and we have had a chance to spray the starting fluid in the intake when it is hot and doesnt want to start and it still does not start. I does have 40 lbs of fuel pressure with the key on and engine off.
Keith the idle speed is warm, and when I mean warm, I am talking normal operating temp. The car doesn’t overheat because I just put a new radiator on it, but the idle speed doesn’t seem to change except that when it’s warm I expect it at any time to just set off, and then won’t start again for hours.
peacesells560 ill check into that relay, but if the relay failed would it still give 40 lbs fuel pressure with key on engine off?
Missileman is the ballast resistor easy to get to? Ill check the manual. Being that it looks like a fuse may be it seems that it would cut out if not working properly or over heats. Ill give that a shot and even look in to the fuel pump relay even thou there is pressure when i check it it may just not register right. But if not ill let everyone know if its still not running when hot. Thank you all for taking your time to answer.
I don’t know a thing about ballast resistors, but the problem is obviously a loss of spark. Given all of the parts you already threw at it ballast resistor sounds good to me. Whatever it is, it seems clear that it is specific to making the ignition system work.
Yes you are right, ill be replacing that for sure. Thank you.
My brother had a similar problem several years ago with an 88’ model Celebrity 2.8. I just double checked with him and it turned out to be the ballast resistor. It was killing power to the coil when the engine was hot. Like yourself, he replaced several parts before discovering the real culprit. Here is a picture of what it looks like:
missleman was your brothers electronic fuel injected or the distributor model?
I think it was the fuel injected model. He can’t remember because it was several years ago.
Went to oreillys and they do not list a ballast resistor for the fuel injected no distributor engine, so its back to square 1! They say this engine doesnt have that or a condensor, althought it still has the same symptons as a car with a distributor and ballast resistor, which i find out that my car doesnt have one.
One thing I did discover from the factory manual is that there is supposed to be a shield under the coil pack. My car doesn’t have it, so I’m wondering if that could be it.
Since you say that the ignition isn’t working when the engine is warm I suggest you check to make sure the ignition system is getting power to it. This is the first step to do on this kind of problem.
A no spark condition that disappears when cold generally indicates a control module problem. Here is a diagnostic chart to follow to determine the problem.
I want to thank everyone that repsonded to my issue, I have finally got the car to run and it turned out to be a 4.75 dollar shield that was left off of the coils a while back when the car was worked on when this first came up. I had bought a shop manual and in an exploded view of the coils module setup it showed a metal shield that goes under the coils, went to chevy garage and they located the only one in the country from Alabama and installed it with brand new coils. It has been running now for over a week and starts warm or hot anytime, so I guess that was it. Again thank you all that responded with great tips. If I ever need help again Ill be back.
I might have spoken too quick. After I left work last night, it took five minutes to get it to start. So guess it’s time to check out that diagnostic chart now…