1987 Trans Am GTA

[billhayes1]

My son and I are considering purchasing a 1987 Trans Am GTA, the car is in great condition with one exception, it has not been started in six years. It has been garage kept under a tarp the entire time, also up on blocks. My question is what is the process for starting a car that has sat this long?

[MrPbody]

New battery... Remove the spark plugs. Squirt some SAE 30 (engine oil) in the park plug holes (just a little). Drain the oil and replace the filter. Replace the air cleaner element. Put new pugs in it. Drain the fuel tank. Puyt about a gallon of premium gas (fresh stuff) in there, along with a can of "tank dry" or similar product. A can of SeaFoam Fuel Injector cleaner can't hurt...

Assure the tranmsission still has fluid in it (no need to change it YET).

Drain the coolant. Refill with straight water. Flush it a bit, refill with water. Put in a new thermostat.

With the spark plugs still out, crank the engine until oil pressure "registers" on the guage (or the light goes out). Install the plugs and fire it up. Allow it to come up to operating temperature, watching carefully all the while, for leaks or other obvious problems.

Hoses and all other rubber parts should be checked as well.

Good luck!

Jim

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by MrPbody

With the spark plugs still out, crank the engine until oil pressure "registers" on the guage (or the light goes out).

GTA has a digital dash and it doesn't read until the engine fires (runs), atleast on mine anyway

Everything else is pretty much spot on. To add, be sure to check around in the engine bay very carefully for any signs of little critters nibbling on anything (ie wiring), and on TPI's rodents love to build nests inbetween the upper and lower intake plenum for some reason, seen one start on fire.

[billhayes1]

Well, we got this car in the garage and followed your advice almost to the letter, with a few extra precautions and when the moment of truth came we turned the key and nothing. The engine turned over fine and sounded good, no binding or scraping sounds. I gave it a couple of squirts of starting fluid and it started but only untill the fluid burned off.
I am assuming we have good spark but obviously doubt if the engine is getting fuel. Any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting?
Again, the car is a 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA 350cu 5.7l tuned port injection.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[wrightz28]

When you turn the key to the run postion do you hear the fuel pump prime? Note, it takes 30 second between each ignition shut off until the pump energize to prime.

[billhayes1]

After a little more troubleshooting I am fairly sure that the fuel pump relay is not pulling in, I am going to change the relay tonight and I will re-post.

[MrPbody]

Never thought about the digital thing. Good call... Maybe a mechanical guage as a "back up"?

Jim

[wrightz28]

Originally Posted by MrPbody

Never thought about the digital thing. Good call... Maybe a mechanical guage as a "back up"?

Jim

Yeah, started driving it this weekend and the gauges are just about as squirelly as the analog gauges