I needed to replace my water pump, and because the pump had leaked onto the distributer, I replaced the distributer and the plugs and wires. When the water pump leaked onto the distributer, the car stumbled and then cleared. After sitting for about an hour, it would not start. After reading about all the optispark problems, I decided to replace the distributer with the water pump. Now that all these parts have been replaced, the car will only start if you floor the throtle, as if it was flooded. It idles very high and smells like it is running very rich. If you apply the throtle, it stumbles badly. If you let it run for aboaut 10 minutes, it shuts off. The check engine light is not on. I have OBD1 and OBD2 code readers, but neither will read the codes.

Question one is what do the members of this board reccomend for a code reader?
Question 2 is what the hell is wrong with this engine.
Thanks, Randy:banghead:

Sounds to me like you made some mistake on reassembly. Plug wire locations or something. It is possible to install the distributor wrong but I doubt it would run this well if you had.

Well, from what I just learned recently here on AF, the '94 and '95 Caprices had a OBD-I/OBD-II hybrid which could only be read by an OBD-II reader with OBD-I Hybrid reading capabilities. (See the recent thread "'94 Caprice - $200 - Rear end wrecked")

[quote=Filliflier]I needed to replace my water pump, and because the pump had leaked onto the distributer, I replaced the distributer and the plugs and wires. When the water pump leaked onto the distributer, the car stumbled and then cleared. After sitting for about an hour, it would not start. After reading about all the optispark problems, I decided to replace the distributer with the water pump. Now that all these parts have been replaced, the car will only start if you floor the throtle, as if it was flooded. It idles very high and smells like it is running very rich. If you apply the throtle, it stumbles badly. If you let it run for aboaut 10 minutes, it shuts off. The check engine light is not on. I have OBD1 and OBD2 code readers, but neither will read the codes.

Question one is what do the members of this board reccomend for a code reader?
Question 2 is what the hell is wrong with this engine.


this sounds like a very large vacuum leak. recheck all vacuum lines look carefully where the opti electrical connector on intake manifold connects for vacuum line problems. what manufacturer did you go with on the opti ? did you modify the opti so that it will vent and if so did you use the proper componets to acomplish this ....?

Retrace your steps carefully, something is either not connected at all, or imporperly connected. :thumbsup:

A 94 b-body has a vented opti stock. The unvented one was never used in this platform.

Thanks for all the info. Turned out to be a faulty coolant temp sensor. It was reading -37deg. and was the problem. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

Thanks for all the info. Turned out to be a faulty coolant temp sensor. It was reading -37deg. and was the problem. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

very high resistance open circuit will give this reading.....what opti manufacturer did you use ?