Need Help to ID an engine and starter issue.

Never mind what I said about the 202,292. I just realised that is the partial vin, I will get the number stamped in the block tonight.

Couldn't tell by your numbers, but the heads have definitely been changed if nothing else... If the heads were changed the intake would have to change too, what with the different angle on a couple of the intake bolts on 87-up.

Check your timing. If your timing is advanced too far you can get kickback which will break the nose off your starter.

CVR or Jeg's mini starter, goes for between $120-140. Works with 153 or 168 tooth flexplate/flywheel. I doubt the starter is the problem though.

-Matt- "..."

Thank you for your advise. I still haven't pulled the Engine Casting Number yet, I'll go digging around for it on Saturday. Once I get a new starter I will check the timing. This is much more fun then the 87 Formula I have. All I ever needed to do with that is a seatbelt clip and MAF sensor.

"Shawn Murri" wrote: > One of my ponies is an 82 Z28 I purchased last Summer to > remind me of the Z > of my youth. > It came with a broken starter. > The starter was new, so I took a trip to Canadian Tire to get > the Bosch > starter swapped. > Installed the new starter, played with the car over winter, > ran it around > the block etc. > This spring the starter breaks, same way as last time: The > metal housing was > smashed where it pops out to engage the fly wheel. > I took it off, took slowly turned the fly wheel to check it > for obvious > broken teeth or a warp but could not see anything wrong. When > I installed it > it seemed to line up nicely. So I wonder if the engine is not > from an 82 > Camaro. The reason I wonder this is because the valve covers > bolt down the > centre not around the outside. > Before I get a new starter I want to make sure I know what the > engine is. > The numbers I can read off the block show an engine suffix of > DF9? I can't > find that one anywhere. Whole code looks like K0310DF9. The > block code is > very hard to read but the last numbers are definatly 202 or > 292. 202 is the > 82-85 305, as far as I know they do not bolt down the middle > of the valve > covers. > > So I think the questions I need to ask are: > 1/ Is this an 82-85 LG4, if so does this mean it has a > different top on it? > 2/ What else should I look at before putting in a third > starter? Could it > be electrical or does the flywheel need to come off? > 3/ Lastly, Canadian Tire just gave me a full refund on this > starter since > they didn't have any at the store near my house so I am going > to use it to > buy something other then Bosch. Any suggestions? > > Thank you > > Shawn

I had the same problem with a ?90 RS once, 10 starters later I realized that one of the cylinders was filling up with water, from a blown head gasket, or crack in something important, and when the piston tried to compress the liquid, ..................WHAMMO! -Broken starter! 8O

The name for this condishion is Hydro-Lock. Vaper lock is when Pessurized Gasses, or Vapors do the same basic thing. Charles

I thought vapor lock was the old condition where the fuel vaporized in the fuel lines because of underhood heat and couldn't fill the carb?

You are right about hydraulic lock. However, vaporlock occurs in older style fuel systems, when the fuel boils in the line from the tank to the pump and the pump tries to pump vapor, which it can't. Occurs often on hot days with 50 Chev pickups with big sixes and 1bbl carbs.

You can either wait for the vehicle to cool, or use starter fluid. If you use starter fluid, the engine vacuum sucks the vapor from the line, and cool liquid fuel from the tank, effectively overcoming the vaporlock condition.

Vapors are compressible. Liquids are not.

Vapor lock is almost impossible with modern fuel systems, which have the fuel pump away from the hot block, sometimes even inside the fuel tank.

There is also a problem sometimes with brakes, where they get hot enough to boil the fluid, and some refer to that as vaporlock. Again, the vapor is compressible, and this results in loss of braking, just like when there is air in the line.

You can Vapor lock a Piston. If you have a exhaust blockage (often a muffler full of rust, or a cogged cataletic converter), you can cause the cylinders to keep compressing the same mixture. It will only compress So much, the cylinders volume will fill to 100% and it can over ride the intake valves.

I have a 1991 Cavalier RS 3.1 V6 with this problem. Once the exhaust is glowing cherry red in the day light, it builds pressure in the cylinders high enough to keep the intake vales from opening, then the engine dies. Since it's a rust box with 189K on it Im just going to part it out.

Charles