LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

HELP!!!! Loss of Power and Weird Whistling Sound

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Old 10-09-2011, 03:48 AM
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Default HELP!!!! Loss of Power and Weird Whistling Sound

I need some help, bad. I was at the street races tonight. Car was running fine. Then I raced my buddies WS6. After the race my car was running a little warmer than I would like. Like 240ish. So I cut it off for a little while. Turned it back on and there was this weird *** whistiling sound. Very high pitch. Like a turbo at like 40psi. The overheating stopped. But this whistle sound was scaring me. The cops showed up and busted the place. I hauled *** out of there. My car was running just fine. Normal temps, oil pressure, etc. Even kept up with a mach 1 on the way out. Then all of the sudden, my power just started dropping off. Temps were still fine. Oil pressure still good. No missing or sputtering or anything. It was running fine, but just no power. The whistling sound still there. The power loss got to the point where I couldnt even keep up with my buddies V6 camaro. Then it got so bad that my other friends z71 totally obliterated me from a stop light. The car was still running just fine. Just this odd high pitched whine and extreme power loss. I pulled in at the next gas station. It sat there for like 10-15 minutes while we all tried to figure out wtf was wrong with it. I started it back up and bam, my power is back. Not all of it, but its got enough to actually be considered a sports car. I drove it home just fine, whistling the whole way. Now I'm just so ******* confused. I have no idea wtf it could be. I've went through everything in my head. I assume the whistling and powerloss are related, but maybe I'm just so god damned unlucky that they are two separate problems. IDK. All the things that come to mind don't make any sense. Some one please help me.
Old 10-09-2011, 07:34 AM
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Did u check all the vacuum to make sure they are all in place on still connected
Old 10-09-2011, 09:51 AM
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check all of the intake ducts around and after the MAF sensor. Vacuumed leak is also very possible as stated above
Old 10-09-2011, 09:52 AM
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Check the air intake to see if there is any restriction. Is there a check engine light? Check the data stream if u have a scanner.
Old 10-09-2011, 09:53 AM
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Ever thought that it popped a head gasket? 240 is pretty hot for aluminum head. Loss of power maybe due to water or oil getting into places it should not and that's why the loss of performance. Its just a guess tho. You need to start diagnosis to figure out why and where.
Old 10-09-2011, 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by 96TransAmboosted
Ever thought that it popped a head gasket? 240 is pretty hot for aluminum head. Loss of power maybe due to water or oil getting into places it should not and that's why the loss of performance. Its just a guess tho. You need to start diagnosis to figure out why and where.
I would definitely have to agree with this considering the high speed fan doesn't even come on until 235 degrees from the factory.
Old 10-09-2011, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by speed_demon24
I would definitely have to agree with this considering the high speed fan doesn't even come on until 235 degrees from the factory.
Ya 240 isnt really bad at all.
Old 10-09-2011, 01:28 PM
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Originally Posted by jaycenk
check all of the intake ducts around and after the MAF sensor. Vacuumed leak is also very possible as stated above
I checked all the intake. Its all still there and hooked up. That was my first assumption when I heard the whistling before the power loss occured. I just thought my filter had come off of my CAI.

Originally Posted by 96TransAmboosted
Ever thought that it popped a head gasket? 240 is pretty hot for aluminum head. Loss of power maybe due to water or oil getting into places it should not and that's why the loss of performance. Its just a guess tho. You need to start diagnosis to figure out why and where.
That was my second assumption. But there is not a drop of water in the oil, and now it is almost perfectly and not over heating.

Vacuum leak is pretty much what I think I'm stuck with. I'm just not sure if it could cause a drastic power loss like the one I experienced last night. It was a good 100hp loss. The rpm's in 1st gear were climbing like I was in 4th gear at 15 mph. Very slow rpm climb. I'm at a loss here. I'm about to go disconnect every vacuum line and reconnect. Maybe I can find a problem. IDK. I'm about to go ape **** on this problem. I have no idea was going on with this bitch. Someone sugested Opti problems, but that doesnt explain over heating and whistling.
Old 10-09-2011, 04:35 PM
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Ok the whistling is solved. No major problem there. Over heating was because my fans were magically unplugged somehow. Loss of power I'm giving that to optispark. My car has no power after 3000 rpms and won't go past 135 mph any more. Sounds right to me. Any body got a better idea?
Old 10-09-2011, 05:20 PM
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hook a scanner up to it?
Old 10-09-2011, 05:59 PM
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So what was wrong with the whistling ??????
Old 10-09-2011, 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Luke1996ta
So what was wrong with the whistling ??????
Yeah curious too as to what the whistling sound was coming from? Also I too think you should have the car scanned, even if it is idling okay it sounds like you have some type of drivability issue.
Old 10-09-2011, 09:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Luke1996ta
So what was wrong with the whistling ??????
It was odd that all of this happended within 30 minutes of each other. Overheating, whistling, and power loss. Turns out they were unrelated. But to answer your question, where the bell housing and motor meet there is some kind of thin peice of metal that I suppose acts as a dust sheild or something for the flywheel. Anyways, it was loose frome the bell housing and the flywheel was pushing air through a small crack. It sounded like a 4 liter whipple super charger hitting 20 psi. It was stupid loud. Anyways, thats fixed. Just gonna buy a Chandler opti and put that bitch on there. I'm gonna replace plugs and wires while I'm at it. I should be good in about 400 bucks. I hope.
Old 10-10-2011, 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Mississippi
It was odd that all of this happended within 30 minutes of each other. Overheating, whistling, and power loss. Turns out they were unrelated. But to answer your question, where the bell housing and motor meet there is some kind of thin peice of metal that I suppose acts as a dust sheild or something for the flywheel. Anyways, it was loose frome the bell housing and the flywheel was pushing air through a small crack. It sounded like a 4 liter whipple super charger hitting 20 psi. It was stupid loud. Anyways, thats fixed. Just gonna buy a Chandler opti and put that bitch on there. I'm gonna replace plugs and wires while I'm at it. I should be good in about 400 bucks. I hope.
...until that Chandler opti takes a dump on you!
Old 10-10-2011, 02:26 PM
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I've heard nothing but good of chandler optis. Have you ever owned one? Id like input from folks who have actually used these in the past. 100 bucks does seem a little too good to be true...
Old 10-11-2011, 05:17 PM
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^In the begining they looked promising, but several have mentioned problems with the chandler opti's on this forum.
Old 10-11-2011, 07:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Mississippi
I've heard nothing but good of chandler optis. Have you ever owned one? Id like input from folks who have actually used these in the past. 100 bucks does seem a little too good to be true...
bought one a little over a year ago, worked fine. drove it for a few months, put in storage for six and pulled out in the summer and it worked fine.

don't see a problem yet...
Old 07-23-2013, 07:27 AM
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Originally Posted by 19firebird96
Chandler opti sparks are crap from my experience. I put a brand new one on and it was junk right off the bat luckily I had a stock cap and rotor and that fixed the problem but as for the warranty that's crap it was impossible to get ahold of them. All I got was a email of the address to send it to and asked for a phone number probably 4 times and kept getting the same email. Complete waist of money
Cool story, now put your shovel away from grave digging....



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