Major Problems!!

So my 95 Riviera supercharged is having plenty of problems. First we took it into the shop to get the spark plugs and wires replaced due to terrible stutter problems. After that got replaced the same day i drove it home to hear some engine rattle. I got home and saw coolant was sprayed everywhere which we later found the hose from the water pump to the block had broke off the block. After that got fixed the car now idles terrible and has hardly any power. One guy thinks its the supercharger. Another one thinks the plugs and/or wires are not on right. Someone else thinks its the coil packs. 2 of the 3 coil packs were replaced. You can smell the gas and when you drive it idles bad but once it gets to higher rpms its fine but feels like you are driving a 3 cylinder car. Please help me figure out what is going on.

A few things:

1) the plugs and wires were a good idea. They were probably the cause of most of your stutter.

2) the water pump hoses need replaced after 10 years. If they're not, they can crack, burst, or break.

3) both of these issues, although not related, fall under basic maintenance. They were preventable.

4) supercharger - resist suspecting this, just because some guy points at it. He's doing that because he's unfamiliar, and assumes it must be the weak link. Supercharger failures are extremely rare in our cars. In all the years I've been reading at this and other 3800 sites, I can remember hearing about one blower going bad, and it wasn't 100% confirmed.

5) plugs & wires not being right - this would certainly cause your issue, and if it were my car, I'd be asking the shop to fix it, or at least verify they didn't make a mistake. Did the car run okay right after they did the work, or did it start after the coolant leak? If the car ran fine, the plugs & wires were probably installed correctly.

6) coil packs - if the plugs and wires were in really bad shape, they can damage the coil packs. If you keep the plugs and wires in good shape, the packs should last forever. Again, this is preventable maintenance (my packs are all original with 248k miles on them). There really isn't a need to replace 2 packs at once. Replace only 1 pack, then swap it out with the other 2 until the problem goes away, or something changes.

7) fuel smell - this has to be coming from somewhere, and if you can't see where, I'd have a shop find out for you. Are you sure it's unburned gas? Or is it rich exhaust? There is a difference.

Since you mention rattling and problems with high RPM operation, my gut says have an exhaust specialist check your cat convertor. That could be causing this.

Any SES lamp in the dash? Even if not, I'd have someone scan the car with an OBD 1.5 tool. This isn't common, so you'll need to call around. Any DTCs in memory should help you find the problem.

Good luck, and let us know what you find out.

The only problem is that this car sat for a year or 2 without maintenance before I received it. After we got it back from the shop is when i noticed the problem of the engine noise but did not notice the stutter anymore. Then I got home and saw the coolant everywhere and it sat for a day then we found the hose problem. After that we found out that the shop we took it to was known for messing up cars and have been sued before.

My dad got the car from a friend for $100 so it was a steal at first..now i know why they only wanted $100. They replaced 2 coil packs so it could start i guess. I really have no idea what was all wrong before I actually got it.

my $0.02:

- make sure the shop installed the right coils. For an SC riv they are different than for a NA (normally aspirated) car and if the shop put NA coils on it will still run poopy

- make sure the shop installed appropriate wires. Riv has a hi energy ignition and needs top quality wires to run right. If you did not use the Delco OE wires (which will only last you ~60,000 miles by the way) you might need to get a set, or a set of Taylor (http://www.taylorcableproducts.com/) or Magnecor (http://www.magnecor.com) wires. More than one member has installed new wires only to find that they don't hold up on the Riv at all unless they are OE or hi-spec wires. That is it is no guarantee that anything but the OE wire set is a problem, it's just frequently enough the case that the cheaper wire sets are as often as not, not worth the savings.

,- look for a cracked nylon fuel line in the vicinity of the rear bank of plugs (by firewall0 -- it is really cramped back there and at your car's age it would not take much to crack a nylon line while reaching around to change a plug. Once pressurized the gas would spray around.

- look for a failure on the fuel rail - for instance pull the vac line off the fuel pressure regulator and see if there is gas in it. IF so, replace the regulator . You will need rags and no flames anywhere while doing this... you'll have to relieve the fuel pressure then use snap ring pliers to get the FPR out and replace it. make the replacement.

- look for a rusted thru fuel line (you'll be under the car for this one)

- did the car overheat when the coolant line blew? Overheating can lead to other problems (warped heads) that will need to be addressed

Where is the fuel smell coming from most?

Hang in there. These engines aren't rocket science and for $100 honestly I would have bought the car as well even with the problems your having.

It would be easier to let you guys drive it than having me try to explain it lol.

I am pretty sure they are the right coils because it ran pretty good when i got it. It just needed new plugs and wires. Im pretty sure they were the right wires. The shop got them.

The motor could have overheated but when i noticed the needle on the temp gauge start to go above half I would take the car home. But it was basically running dry the first time I drove it home. And after that before we found the problem.

I have no idea where the fuel smell is coming from besides the engine...i can smell it while I sit in the drivers seat.

This is what the guy at the new shop we took it to said:

Hesitation or missfire
Noisy alternator belt, bearing noise and clunking when turning off engine
Supercharger noisy and fillings in supercharger gear case.

That doesnt tell me much.

Quote :

The motor could have overheated but when i noticed the needle on the temp gauge start to go above half I would take the car home. But it was basically running dry the first time I drove it home. And after that before we found the problem.

Needle above half isn't overheating. Needle close to the red is concerning. Running dry (without coolant) would definately cause overheating if left running for more than a minute or two. How long was the drive home?

If the heads or gaskets were damaged, the exhaust would be blowing out steam. If all coolant leaks are fixed, you can have the system pressure tested. A warped or cracked head reveal itself as a decrease pressure. A cylinder compression test can also reveal a damaged head. I seriously doubt you warped or cracked a head, but it's possible if the engine got hot enough.

the drive home wasnt too far about 3 mins and I never got on it. And i never let it get that hot so I dont think it overheated. It is really hard to explain sorry but im doing my best.

Brantea wrote:

I have no idea where the fuel smell is coming from besides the engine...i can smell it while I sit in the drivers seat.

Open the trunk, remove the lining. Then unbolt the fuel pump inspection panel. You may find that the ring that holds the fuel pump down in the tank has corroded, and the pump is sticking up out of the tank. That will give you a gas smell. Corrosion there is very common.

Slight fuel smell from the drivers seat is classic FPR issue. It also fits with some of your other problems.

Your FPR is a little thing attached to the fuel rail behind the supercharger to the right.. It will be under the plastic SC cover if you still have it on.


(very old pic, but I circled the FPR.)

Pull out the vacuum line attached to it and give the end of the line a smell. If it smells of fuel at all the FPR is bad and needs to be replaced.

If that is the case, let us know and we can help you source a new one cheap and get it changed.